A vintage blouse from the MMAC
Permanent Collection

The Vintage Clothing Collection consists of over 2,100 textiles from the mid-1800s forward. The core of the collection was assembled by costume designer and UM Assistant Professor Stephanie A. Schoelzel, who taught Fashion and Costume History from 1970-1976. Schoelzel gathered garments formerly used in the UM Theatre Department or were Shakespearean stage costumes, identified some of the most significant pieces and gifted portions of her personal collection to the Montana Museum of Art & Culture.  Highlights of the collection include a selection of Hennessey store hats (1820-1972), dresses worn by Ella Maud Lockley, wife of noted Missoula architect A.J. Gibson, a handmade dress of silk taffeta check dating from the 1840s whose fabric matches a swatch originating from China in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, and garments designed by Charles Frederick Worth or the House of Worth from the 1890s.