After Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes Giving Tuesday, the international day of giving to charities and non-profits. The FIDM Museum urgently needs your generous support. We have less than a month to raise the funds to purchase the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, a one-of-a-kind private collection of 1,400 rare objects representing 400 years of fashion history, including a rare 17th-century man's doublet, garments and accessories worn by European royalty, and pieces by 22 haute couture designers including Paquin, Doucet, Chanel, Callot Soeurs, Worth, Fortuny, Lucile, Félix, Beer, and Lanvin. The collection has been on loan to the FIDM Museum for the past three years and it has served as a valuable tool for education and outreach, as well as a stunning complement to the museum's permanent collection. If the Larson collection becomes part of the permanent collection, it will serve as a cultural treasure for our visitors and an inspirational and educational tool for generations to come. If not, it is in danger of being dispersed forever or absorbed into another private collection, inaccessible to students, researchers, and the general public.

We are still a long way from our fundraising goal and hope you will consider supporting the Larson campaign this Giving Tuesday. You can make a contribution online or by mail, or donate by texting "Museum" to 243725. Donations are tax deductible; if your company or organization has a matching gift program, your support will go even further. You can also help by simply spreading the word on social media, using the #4for400 and #GivingTuesday hashtags. The FIDM Museum has until the end of 2015 to finish raising the necessary funds, so please help save 400 years of fashion history!