The door, locked to most, hides a secret of campus. To the left and right, and even straight ahead, rooms overflow with clothes. Some are ‘60s patterns and trends, others are silk kimonos from pre-1900. There is even a 100-year-old replica of an 18th century French Court gown worn to costume balls in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
The Leila Old Historic Costume Collection commands much of the first floor, which is actually upstairs, of Gertrude L. Hays Hall. The collection first started in the early 1900s, when a gift was given to the family consumer science department by an alumnus. Leila Old, a professor at the University of Idaho, organized the clothes in 1970 after almost 30 years of donations and gifts. It became the Leila Old Historic Costume Collection after her in 1981. There are over 10,000 items in the collection, dating from the Civil War to the present, and all articles have some connection to the University of Idaho.
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