VintageGriffin.com

I love and collect textiles that are transformed into garments, and I also love ethnic textiles. So does the Textile Research Centre Leiden in the Netherlands. A 1920s gown formerly in my collection is now in theirs, and I'm so happy it's found such a great home where it will help educate others about the importance of preserving our textile history.

It's part of an online exhitibition, and will be part of an in-house exhibition as well.

Textile Research Centre Leiden in the Netherlands

From the museum's "about" page...

The Stichting ("Foundation") Textile Research Centre (TRC) was established in 1991 with the stated aim of supporting the academic research of archaeological and anthropological textiles and dress in the widest sense of all these words. The TRC is affiliated to the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, and also works closely with various departments of Leiden University.

In particular, the TRC is involved in the study of Dress. Namely, what men, women and children do to their bodies; what they wear and carry in order to say who am I, what am I, and where am I going. Everyone one in the world is involved in dress. We use it to say "I am young, old, female, male, single, married, religious, rich, poor, I have dreams."

An important part of the TRC's work is the building up and study of a textile and dress collection. The TRC now has a collection of over 4,000 garments and accessories from a variety of cultures from around the world. Literally from the Andes to Zanzibar. The oldest textile in the collection is over 7,000 years old, the youngest was bought new a few weeks ago.

The TRC is active in carrying out research and making the results available in various forms, such as academic and popular articles, books, exhibitions, lectures and courses.


Specialisations
The TRC has two main specialisations. Firstly, the TRC has a large collection of Middle Eastern dress for men, women and children, mainly from Egypt, Iran, Oman, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia. It is also building up a strong Coptic monastic and liturgical collection reflecting an ancient Christian community within the Muslim World.

The second specialisation is Dutch Regional Dress. This part of the collection is a recent 'addition' and is currently being build up. It is the intention to have outfits and representative garments for men, women and children, from all the main groups who, during the 20th century, wore Dutch regional dress, urban dress and uniforms.

Where can I find this?

http://www.texdress.nl/recent%20acquistions.html