Piling on the riches, in November a 1,200-square-foot study gallery will open, highlighting the museum's most recent costume and textile acquisitions.
"Oh yes, we are excited!" said Dilys Blum, curator of the department. "It means we can borrow exhibitions. We can get things out we've been collecting for years. We can create our own shows. We can do all kinds of things on a permanent basis!"
The costume and textiles expansion to the lavish new ground-floor gallery, plus an entire upper floor in a wing of the Perelman building, is about much more than increased display space.
The galleries, along with a spanking-new study room and a high-tech apparel conservation center, can potentially help Philadelphia establish itself as a fashion destination beyond the realm of retail. The city has a shot at becoming a fashion-study resource, where understanding the roots of style involves serious scholarship and well-constructed clothes are the equivalent of high art.
"We wanted people to have access to collections that have been packed away for years," said Dorrance Hill Hamilton, whose $5 million gift helped underwrite the new Dorrance Hill Hamilton Center of Costume, Textiles and Design. "I was always startled with how small a space the fashion and fabrics area had in the museum."
Fashion is so much a part of our current culture that we've become slightly obsessed with it. There are numerous fashion-related TV programs, from how-to-dress reality shows to the catty fashion-mag drama series Ugly Betty. Fashion departments at universities have seen a spike in enrollment. Fashion-based museum shows have been going strong nationwide and have done well locally, too.
