fashionpodcast

Stop by for a visit!

The Ramona Pioneer Historical Society and the Guy B. Woodward Museum.

645 Main Street

Ramona, CA 92065

760-789-7644

Open Thursday through Sunday, 1-4pm.  Special tours are available for groups upon request.

Or, visit them online at www.woodwardmuseum.org

2007 marked my 8th year of attending the Costume Society of America’s Annual Symposium. I’ve always looked forward to it as an opportunity to learn more about my field (there is some exciting research out there on historic costume and textiles!), to network, to make new friends, and to grow as a professional. This short video captures some of the highlights of the symposiums, as seen through my eyes. Thank you to everyone who offered to speak on camera and everyone else who simply made this symposium a meaningful experience.

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Any museum professional will tell you that if you intend to work with historic garments and textiles, you must love vacuuming. Safely conserving and caring for historic garments and textiles is not like caring for the clothes you wear each day. While you might feel the urge to take that 1906 lingerie dress with stains on the skirt and throw it in the wash — stop!!! Historic garments often do not have the integrity to withstand the agitation of the modern washer and dryer, and bleach — that lovely whitener — can degrade the fibers further as well. So, instead we turn to vacuuming. Vacuuming may not remove all the stains and soils you see on a historic garment, but it will lift any superficial dirt and eggs and leavings of bugs that can damage the garment. More rigorous care is left to professionals who will carefully wet clean the garment. But, that is for another day. Just like laundering, vacuuming historic garments is a whole different ball game from vacuuming your house. Watch the following video to learn more.

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Photography is an important part of recording the garments in a collection. AT the Guy B. Woodward Museum, CSA Angels assisted the museum in taking record shots of their garments. In order to facilitate quick and easy identification and access, these photographs will be clipped to the flat storage boxes in which the garments will be stored. The following video walks you through the photography process.

Musical Accompaniment: “No Train Today” by Jer

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When an artifact is donated to a museum it is accessioned into the collection, a process by which the artifact is given a unique number and any information about it is documented in museum records. While at the time of accessioning, each item is a valuable addition to the museum’s collection, we often need to reassess our collection to weed out items that are no longer the best representations of their period or that require too much care to stabilize and preserve for the future. Here, Margaret Ordonez and Sharon Davis discuss the need for and challenges of removing artifacts from a collection.

Musical Accompaniment: “Martha’s Dance” from A Year of Songs by TK Major

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CSA Angels at the Guy B. Woodward Museum discuss the challenge of accurately dating historic garments and textiles. This task is not always easy, but through research, deductive reasoning, a little help from friends, we try to determine when, how and why these garments were made and worn.

Musical Accompaniment: “Martha’s Dance” from A Year of Songs by TK Major

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Last summer I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Guy B. Woodward Museum of History in Ramona, California through the CSA Angel’s Project. Each year, the Costume Society of America gathers 20-30 volunteers to assist a museum in need near the location of their annual conference. The CSA Angels come from a range of backgrounds to include museum curators, professors and graduate students, and independent researchers in the area of historic costume and textiles. They offer the host museum their knowledge, skills, and time to train staff in safe conservation practices and garment identification. At the end of two, hardworking days, the CSA Angels leave the museum with a new start towards caring for their artifacts. Many thanks to all of the CSA Angels who participated in this program and members of the Ramona Pioneer Historical Society who opened their homes to us and worked hard alongside us. A special thanks to Sharon Davis, curator of the museum, and Margaret Ordonez and Martha Grimm, CSA members who organized the 2007 Angels project.

Like many local museums and historic homes, the Guy B. Woodward Museum is an invaluable resource of regional history artifacts, supported by the hard work and dedication of part-time staff and volunteers. Adequate, climate controlled space and funds for supplies are always a challenge. In the face of these limitations, the Guy B. Woodward offers the public an opportunity to visit Old West California. Visitors can explore their complex of historic buildings, including the historic Verlaque House, the Barnett Barn, the Bancroft Memorial Rose Garden, a dress and millinery shop, a cowboy bunk house, wagons, and much more, while viewing a small portion of their fabulous collection of artifacts. Once the turkey capitol of the world, the museum offers regional history at its best in the form of the royal attire of past Turkey Queens. Furthermore, the Guy B. Woodward Museum was selected by the Cowboy Hall of Fame to host the memorial exhibit for Casey Tibbs, a World Champion rodeo rider and local Ramona resident. In addition to these collection highlights, the museum offers a wonderful selection of Indian and pioneer artifacts as well as tools and farm machinery from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Their research library is also an important resource for visiting scholars. Located just a hour’s drive from downtown San Diego in the historic Santa Maria Valley, the Guy B. Woodward Museum is a jewel in the desert.

The following video is a conversation with Sharon Davis, curator of the Guy B. Woodward Museum of History.

Musical Accompaniment: “My Second Mistake” from A Year of Songs by TK Major

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Welcome to the Fashion Podcast.  The Fashion Podcast is the creation of Elizabeth Lykken, assistant professor of design and fashion at Stephens College, Columbia, MO.  Intended as a collaborative effort in bringing the field of clothing and textiles online, comments and podcast submissions are encouraged.  Please share with us the activities in your school, museum, and personal research.

Each December, the School of Design and Fashion at Stephens College host an open house where students exhibit their semester’s work to the community. Join Elizabeth Lykken and Michael DeMaria as they interview students in Elizabeth’s sophomore draping and patternmaking course about their design process, challenges, and inspiration.

Music accompaniment: “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt.

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