The LSU Textile & Costume Museum offers changing exhibitions of regional, national and international interest. The scope of the museum's collections are global. Included are prehistoric and ethnic textiles and costume, as well as contemporary high fashions and high-tech textiles. Types of items consist of apparel, accessories, household textiles, piece goods, books, patterns, and a variety of items related to textile and apparel production, use, and care. As part of the Department of Textiles, Apparel Design, and Merchandising, the museum promotes conservation, research, teach, and public service. Research includes studies of the technical, aesthetic, historic, and sociocultural significance of textiles and apparel. It is a component collection of the Louisiana Museum of Natural History at LSU.

The organization, Friends of the LSU Textile & Costume Museum, supports the goals and functions of the museum by providing funds for artifact purchases, exhibition mounting, educational workshops, and other activities throughout the year. 

 

TCM Logo

Accession # 1987.003.0020

One of the LSU Textile & Costume Museum’s most treasured holdings is a 1966 woman’s special occasion dress designed by one of the country’s most acclaimed fashion designers, James Galanos (1924-2016). As the recipient of multiple international awards for his design work over his 46-year career span, Galanos was known for his use of couture techniques and fine craftsmanship. May Cross John Baynard, the museum donor of the garment with such a prized label, was a treasure in her own right and a most ardent supporter of the museum in its early days. She was not only a major donor, but was also instrumental in organizing the museum’s support group, the Friends of the LSU Textile & Costume Museum, and hosted the museum’s first gala in 1995. Due to the piece’s importance to the museum, it was selected to be rendered into a fashion drawing format by retired New York Women’s Wear Daily illustrator Steven Stipelman. The image now serves as the museum’s logo.

New Exhibition Now Open

Women Fashioning Women Exhibit

Women Fashioning Women

From the Collection of the LSU Textile & Costume Museum

October 1, 2023 - March 28, 2024

More InformatioN

Come Visit

Admission is free!

Human Ecology Building
330 Tower Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70803

Hours of Operation
Monday- Friday: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Closed daily for lunch from 12:00-1:00 pm

Weekends: The first Sunday* of each month from 2:00-4:00 pm

*excludes holiday weekends

Phone: 225-578-1087
E-mail: textile@lsu.edu

Parking

The parking lot behind the Human Ecology Building has been taken over by construction crews working on adjacent buildings. Unfortunately this means that visitors to the museum will need to avail themselves of the nearby street parking.


Donation from The Valentine

The LSU Textile and Costume Museum is the grateful recipient of over 400 exceptional artifacts from The Valentine Museum of Richmond, Virginia. This acquisition includes a wide assortment of fashions of the twentieth century from both European and American designers. Included in the vast gift are couture garments by Jeanne Paquin, Christian Dior, and Jeanne Lanvin, among others, as well as examples of lesser-known fashion designers such as Anne Fogarty, Ceil Chapman, Nettie Rosenstein, Stephen Burrows, and Willi Smith. 

Three garments from this acquisition were displayed in our most recent exhibition, "Til' Trends Do Us Part: A Retrospective of Changing Fashion in Bridal Wear." These include a homemade wedding gown from 1837, an 1865 gown attributed to the famed couturier Charles Fredrick Worth, and an 1878 bustle-period gown made by New York City dressmaker Mrs. E. Hynes whose shop was located at 90 W. 11th Street, NYC. 

Valentine Donated Gowns
Homemade Gown
Bustle Gown