Something old: Ohio State to exhibit historic and contemporary wedding gowns

Ohio State's Historic Costume and Textiles Collection will open And the Bride Wore… on Sept. 17. The exhibition will feature two installations of historic wedding gowns from the museum's collection-one set of gowns will be on display through Dec. 13, while another will go on view Jan. 21-and is organized around several themes.

"We did a wedding dress exhibit back in 1997, which was more of a typical timeline exhibition," says curator Gayle Strege. "But since then, we've gotten a lot of really interesting gowns with interesting stories behind them, and we wanted the focus to be on the dresses."

The exhibition's thematic areas include "Something Old," featuring gowns dating to 1880; "Something New," featuring contemporary gowns through 1997; "Something Borrowed," featuring dresses borrowed or recyvled from a previous bride; and "Something Blue," featuring non-white wedding gowns. In addition, gowns worn by wartime brides will be on display, as will be dresses worn by multiple generations of brides in the same family. Each installation will feature about 15 gowns.

Highlights include a Badgley Mischka gown from the designer's first bridal line, a gown from 1880 that was re-worn for the bride's 50th wedding anniversary, a 1919 dress worn by a French bride moving to the U.S. with the husband she met during WWI, and the 1907 gown worn by Florence Rector, who designed Ohio State's Oxley Hall.

The museum is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday noon to 4 p.m.

Top: Henriette and Colin Robertson posed for a wedding photo in France before moving to Colin's home in Washington. Photo courtesy OSU Historic Costume & Textiles Collection