Streamline Moderne
At the end of each year, our team reports on the Museum’s activities from the past twelve months – including what objects have been added to the Permanent Collection. As we compiled our list of 2015 acquisitions, there were a few unforgettable pieces that... Read Article ››

Skyscraper Style
In the 1920s, America's booming economy sent real estate prices–and buildings–soaring sky-high in crowded cities like New York and Chicago, where land was scarce and there was nowhere to go but up. Towering new edifices of glass and steel rose... Read Article ››

Embroidered cotton lawn dress, c. 1923
  Day dressc. 1923Cotton lawn with machine embroideryGift of Mary Davenport2000.219.2 Made from cool, lightweight cotton lawn, this sleeveless 1920s dress is the perfect spring frock. Like many fashionable 1920s dresses, it is shaped only by minimal... Read Article ››

Evening dress, c. 1926
No matter what your feelings about director Baz Luhrmann's new cinematic adaption of  F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel The Great Gatsby, you can't deny that the film is generating interest in 1920s fashion. Though reaction to the... Read Article ››

Jeanne Lanvin fashion figure
Fashion Figure Winter 1921 Jeanne Lanvin Museum Purchase 2008.25.1 The original purpose of this extremely rare Jeanne Lanvin (1867-1946) fashion figure is a mystery. It may have been associated with an extensive display of figures at the International Silk... Read Article ››

Evening dress, 1925-27
  Vibrant patterns and bold colors are common characteristics of textiles dating from the 1920s. Rejecting the Belle Epoque palette of off-white and cream accented with pale pink or soft blue, textile designers drew from a variety of eclectic sources to... Read Article ››