Wadsworth Atheneum

Hartford, Connecticut. An American museum with permanent collections of outfits and fabrics. The women’s outfits date back to the mid-eighteenth century, with a collection of American high fashion. There is a unique collection of costumes from Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, along with sketches by the artists who worked on them. There is a varied collection of fabrics, ranging from fifteenth-century Italian tapestries to contemporary textile art. The collection of silks by the Cheney Brothers, the largest manufacturer in New England for over a hundred years, is available to scholars. The well stocked library is open to the public. The museum’s collection is shown in special themed exhibits twice a year.