About Our Collection

The University of Connecticut's historical costume and textile collection is a growing collection of garments and textiles from all over the globe, but specializing in items from New England. We collect, repair, maintain and accession the entire collection on the UCONN Storrs Campus. Since 1898, when the Home Economics Department was created, many talented professors and students have worked endlessly to amass over 8000 items, 3500 of which are garments.

About This Website

This website is being constantly updated with new clothing as the imagery becomes available. The process involves taking a piece clothing from the collection, dressing it on an appropriately padded dress form, taking 360 degree photos, digitizing it, and adding the images into our database which makes it available to you. We are working to create as large a collection as possible, absolutely free of charge. We want to be accessible to the world for educational and research purposes and encourage the exploration of history through clothing. The idea began as a free database of clothing that transcended language barriers so anyone in the world could learn and explore. We have worked hard to keep this idea alive while being comprehensive, but user friendly.

Our Mission

The Historical Collection of Costumes & Textiles is designed to develop and expand the foundations of historical studies as well as costume and textile technology. We stress analytical skill as it relates to the structure and purpose of the item within the context of the society that created it. A secondary goal is to preserve the history of this area of New England and to understand the lives of its people with the goal of educating others about those people and their lives through clothing and textiles.