Kent State Fashion Museum unveils European regional dress exhibit

Take a step back in time with the new European regional dress exhibition at Kent State University Museum opening Feb. 2. 

Stitched: Regional Dress Across Europe opens at 11 a.m. Tuesday. The exhibition displays clothing from Eastern and Western European countries like Norway, the Netherlands and Romania and aims to highlight similarities between their regional styles of dress.

The museum opens Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday admission is free from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free for any student, staff or faculty member with a KSU ID. General admission is $6. The exhibition remains available until Dec. 19.

Kent State University Museum Curator and associate professor Sara Hume specializes in European regional dress and said she created the idea for the exhibition, chose the featured items and dressed the mannequins.  

“It’s always exciting to see it come together and to see it really done and our exhibition designer does a great job, it’s very bright and bold,” Hume said. “It’s really great because you see these things laying in the closets and they look kind of sad and they sort of come to life when you put them on the mannequins. Then you see them take form and see how beautiful they are.”

Attendees can purchase tickets online to reserve a time in advance so the museum knows how many people are in the building as they operate at a limited capacity, Hume said. Face coverings are required at all times inside the museum. 

“I think it really is a sensory experience,” Hume said. “There’s a lot of bold colors and a lot going on and a lot to look at. It makes an impression as you stand there from a distance, but it really invites close looking because the pieces, the workmanship, the embroidery, the knitwork, the lace, just the hand workmanship that goes into all of these pieces is worth really examining and taking time looking at them.”

Contact Catie Pusateri at [email protected]