In 2023, MHS intern Clare Barnett began to create an online newsletter. Until now, the number and quality of the garments preserved at the Allis-Bushnell House Museum was unknown. Subsequently,  “Costume In Detail” reveals these objects, and delves into our impressive collection of historic fashion.

In each issue, Clare offers original research on the fashions she examines. To illustrate, this publication is akin to garment analyses on FIT’s Fashion History Timeline.  Clare prepares a new issue every few weeks, so readers should be sure to explore this page frequently.

Clare spotlights a different garment in each issue. Thus, she reveals how certain items of clothing were perceived by those who wore them, and how these garments have survived for centuries. Without doubt, the acts of making, wearing, and keeping clothing have their own language. 

We may view the wear and tear our clothing collects as a drawback. However, the “weaknesses” of those materials are the very details that tell our stories. Importantly, hints about people of the past are revealed in the hundreds of garments of the MHS collection. They all can be decoded to reveal small portions of life in bygone times.