Conservation Concerns in Fashion Collections

Kelly L. Reddy-Best is associate professor in apparel, merchandising, and design at Iowa State University and the curator and director of ISU's Textiles and Clothing Museum. Her work has appeared in many journals, including Fashion Theory, Dress, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, and Journal of Lesbian Studies. Dr. Margaret T. Ordonez is the founder of Ordonez Textile Conservation Services, where she has been conserving objects for the Tennessee State Museum, the Kentucky Museum, and private clients. She also works as the copy editor for Dress: The Journal of the Costume Society of America. She is professor emeritus of textiles, fashion merchandising, and design at University of Rhode Island.

"Conservation Concerns in Fashion Collections is simple, concise, practical, and clearly structured. The authors appreciate the issues facing collections of dress, especially those in smaller institutions without easy access to conservation and scientific expertise. The awareness... of the complexities of long-term preservation are realistic and frank, and clearly rooted in the authors' own experiences." -Costume Journal "This book is a user-friendly guide and a go-to reference that will be continuously reached for by students, professionals, and private collectors." -Elizabeth Way, Associate Curator, The Museum at FIT, author of Black Designers in American Fashion "Because of their innovative constructions, materials, and finishes, 20th-century clothing can be as challenging to preserve as garments from hundreds of years earlier. This book will serve as a valuable resource for anyone charged with conserving, storing, and exhibiting vulnerable 20th-century fashion collections." -Linda Baumgarten, author of What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America. "This book should be on the reference shelf of anyone in the cultural heritage field who is responsible for costume, costume accessories and textiles collections."-M. Geiss-Mooney, costume/textile conservator "This book is an invaluable resource for all caretakers of fashion collections, including conservators, collection managers, curators, archivists, registrars, dealers, collectors, and more." -Sarah Scaturro, Eric and Jane Nord Chief Conservator, Cleveland Museum of Art and former Head Conservator, The Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art