News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville History Museum has a new exhibit highlighting the history of local fashion.
Museums Manager Beth Thompson said that “What We Were Wearing: A Timeline of Cookeville Fashions” came about as a partnership with Hannah Upole of Tennessee Tech’s Department of Human Ecology. She said all of the pieces from the university’s historic costume collection.
“And most of these pieces have been donated through the years from different people in Cookeville,” Thompson said. “Some of them, people would know, and some of them were just average Cookevillians like you and me.”
Thompson said that to go along with each era of clothing, they have paired different excerpts of what was going on at that time.
“It starts with long hunters that established this area in the early 1800s and it goes on forward into the Victorian era,” Thompson said. “Then we go into World War I, World War II, there are certain things in Tennessee Tech’s History.”
Thompson said that one of the most interesting things about the exhibit is to see how fashion recycles itself over the years.
“What goes around comes around, it comes right back around,” Thompson said. “And what’s funny is you can see elements of today’s fashion in Victorian-era pieces. So it’s fun to see how things evolve and even how they don’t evolve through history.”
Thompson said that the exhibit runs until April 16th. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
