Textiles

The museum’s Heritage Fashion Runway is a rotating exhibit showcasing women's, men's, and even children's fashions from times past, including dresses, uniforms, and leisurewear.

The garments, many in pristine condition, range from ornate beaded wedding dresses to military dress uniforms to children’s recreational apparel and more. The popular Mad Hatter exhibit showcases millinery fashions from 1850 to 1950. Another popular case displays the construction of a corseted dress.

Inside Out

A Victorian-Era dress displayed inside-out demonstrates its construction.

Construction of a Dress

This dress displayed inside-out shows the hook and eye closure of a bodice and the shaping of the waist.

1860s Wedding Dress

Detail of hand beading on a women’s hand-sewn 1860s dress. Handmade in San Francisco, the waist is a mere 19 inches.

1860s Wedding Dress (detail)

Detail of hand beading on a women’s hand-sewn 1860s dress. The amount of clustered beadwork makes this dress relatively heavy.

1926 Wedding Dress

A wedding dress made of salmon colored organza elaborately decorated with hand sewn beads and patches of pale green organza. It was worn by Mary Pinza when she married Jacob Locati on October 21, 1926.

1926 Wedding Dress (detail)

A detail from a 1926 wedding dress shows the hand-sewn beadwork on the organza.

Mary Pinza and Jacob Locati

Mary Pinza wearing the salmon colored wedding dress when she married Jacob Locati on October 21, 1926.

The museum occasionally exhibits some of the fantastic hand-sewn quilts from the collection, the oldest of which dates to before the Civil War. Whether used as bedding or decoration, these quilts document the cultures, lives, and times of the people who made them.`

Log Cabin Quilt (detail) (Copy)

Sarah Jenkins Buroker made this Log Cabin quilt during the mid-19th century. Based on the thread and fabrics, it could be as old as 1840. Many quilts of this pattern were made during the Civil War. The red square in the center represents the hearth of the cabin.

Victorian-Era Crazy Quilt (detail) (Copy)

At the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, one of the most popular exhibits was the Japanese pavilion with crazed ceramics and asymmetrical art. Women were eager to incorporate this look into their quilts. With decorative stitches on each seam, crazy quilts were great creative expressions. They were very carefully planned, although these quilts look haphazard.

Whig Rose Quilt (detail) (Copy)

Mary K. Clark finished this quilt in 1854. It contains over 350,000 quilting stitches and over 1000 pattern parts. It is a wonderful example of stipple quilting, a type of freeform stitch. The name “Whig Rose” was inspired by the 1828 Presidential election. The Whig party hoped to beat out Democrat Andrew Jackson.

Mary K. Clark (Copy)

Mary Clark in an undated photo. She was the maker of the hand-stitched the Whig Rose quilt.

WWI Red Cross Quilt (detail) (Copy)

The Gardena Ladies Aid Society made this quilt during World War I to raise funds for the Red Cross Auxiliary. Each square has the name of a Touchet-Gardena contributor. The names of four local service men are embroidered near the center. It was auctioned in 1918 to raise funds at a “Victory Celebration.” The successful bidder paid $110 the equivalent of over $1,899 in 2016.

Textiles

Pioneer Village

Transportation

Fort Walla Walla Museum