West Dressed, curated by Annette Becker, draws from the holdings of the Texas Fashion Collection, which is part of the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas. The Texas Fashion Collection was created by a variety of notable groups and individuals whose vision and style continue to inspire students, researchers, and visitors.

1. West Dressed
Fashions Inspired by the American
Frontier
On Exhibit at Northpark Center,
Dallas, TX
Through June 17, 2018
Presentation created by Christine Miller
for posting on www.Explorefiber.com

2. West Dressed, curated by
Annette Becker, draws from the
holdings of the Texas Fashion
Collection, which is part of the College
of Visual Arts and Design at the
University of North Texas. The Texas
Fashion Collection was created by a
variety of notable groups and
individuals whose vision and style
continue to inspire students,
researchers, and visitors.

3. West Dressed, organized by the Texas Fashion Collection at the University of North Texas,
explores the ways in which the American West has sparked the imaginations of American,
Native American, and international fashion designers. Popular understandings of the region
are developed through modern visual and material culture, often reflecting contemporary
ideas more than specific history. Spaghetti westerns, tall tales, and other larger-than-life
stories offer recreations and reimaginings of the past that inspire nostalgia, escapism, and
fantasy.
Designers often draw from their own cultural experiences with the American West, offering
new ways of thinking about familiar materials and motifs. Dusty roads and cacti find their
way into textile design and make reference to cross-country road trips. Feathers, fringe,
and floral fabrics recall “old west” and prairie-style dress that makes us feel connected to our
country’s rugged history. Bold geometric motifs inspire thoughts of the Southwest, a region
that continues to incorporate traditional craft in its vibrant cultural landscape.
It is important to note that the identity of the American West is inextricably linked with
Native American culture. This exhibition offers examples of designers who have appreciated
and appropriated Native tradition and craft. Contemporary ensembles by Jamie Okuma and
Marisa Mike offer direct engagement with this history, with both Native designers exploring
their own cultural histories through fashion. Together, these designers offer myriad ways
that clothing reinforces and challenges our understanding of the American West.

4. Marisa Mike (Navajo, born 1979)
Evening dress, 2018
Pendleton wool blanket and silk chiffon
Museum Purchase, 1028.006.011
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
Marisa Mike adds to a history of material and cultural exchange
through her elevated use of wool blankets produced by the
Oregon-based mill Pendleton. With industrial looms, synthetic
dyes, and a market hungry for “Indian trade blankets,”
Pendleton over-took Navajo production of wool blankets in the
late 1800s. Their brightly colored patterns drew haphazardly
from Native culture - often combining symbols from different
tribes and fabricating new designs - which has been
instrumental in modern (mis)understandings of Native motifs.
Popular inside and outside of Native communities, these
blankets are often gifted during special occasions and used by
Navajo sheep-herding families - like Mikes’s - who created the
blankets with wool from their flocks.

5. Karl Lagerfeld (German, born 1933)
Chanel (French, founded 1909)
Sheath dress, Pre-Fall 2014
Alpaca-wool-cashmere knit
Museum Purchase, 2018.006.001
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
From Chanel’s controversial Métiers d’Art Paris-Dallas, this
dress was part of a “cowboys and Indians” themed collection
that premiered at Dallas’ Fair Park in 2013. From rust-toned
prairie dresses to saddle-shouldered jackets to feather
headdresses worn by caucasian models, the event offered
what Karl Lagerfeld called “not Dallas cheerleader, but the
West of the Mexican border in the time of the Civil War, a more
romantic Texas fantasy,” and “a reinvention of something I
don’t really know, but that I like to play with.”

6. Designer unknown (American Indian)
Day dress, 1950s
Cotton, ric rac, and tobacco can lids
Gift of Joy Losee, 2017.001.003
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
This inventive garment appears to be a fashionable
interpretation of a Jingle dress, a garment connected with
prayer, healing, and women’s strength in Native communities.
Jingle dresses originated with the Ojibwa people near Great
Lakes region and spread across the United States through
powwow circuit. When worn as regalia, the rows of metal
cones - traditionally made of curled tobacco can lids - are
activated through springlike steps in time with drum beats and
singing. The length and design of this dress, however, suggest
it was worn as a fashionable garment inspired by Native and
Western Dress.

7. Yves Saint-Laurent (Algerian-French, 1936-2008)
YSL Rive Gauche (French, founded 1966)
Peasant-style blouse and skirt, 1978
Printed cotton
Gift of Carol Nathan, 1996.025.024, 031
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
In a style often referred to as “rich peasant” or “hippy de luxe,”
Yves Saint-Laurent’s designs from the 1970s drew broadly
from ethnographic dress from Russia and Eastern Europe and
historic styles from the United States. His ready-to-wear
garments use a restrained color palette, delicate floral cotton
fabric, and simplified silhouettes to create nostalgia for more
humble styles of dress.

8. Ralph Lauren (American, born 1939)
Prairie-style ensemble, 1978-1979
Cotton lawn, lace, and wool
Gift of Tracy Achor Hayes, 2002.004.040
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
Known as an all-American designer, Ralph Lauren has built a
career on clothing defined by its “Americanness.” From preppy
New England elite to Colorado cowgirl, Lauren draws on classic
American tropes to create romantic interpretations of the past.
Many people were introduced to Lauren’s self-described
“celebration of the American spirit” in the 2018 USA Olympic
team uniforms, which included fringe-trimmed and beaded
suede gloves and rugged, work boot-inspired footwear.

9. Roberto Cavalli (Italian, born 1940)
Ensemble, late 1970s
Screen printed leather
Gift of Shaindy Fenton, 1984.011.079
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
Utilizing a special technique for printing on leather, Roberto
Cavalli brings artistic interpretations of Western-style motifs to
a material traditionally associated with the rugged outdoors
and historic craft.

10. Zandra Rhodes (British, born 1940)
Evening dress, 1976
Screen printed chiffon with faux pearls
Gift of Carolyn Williams, 2016.011.016
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
Inspired by a road trip through the American Southwest and
Mexico, textile and fashion designer Zandra Rhodes created
several collections inspired by the colors, iconography, and
patterns she viewed through the windows of her Volkswagon
camper. This “Cactus Everywhere” print, featured in her
collection “Across the USA - Cactus and Cowboys,” shows
Rhodes’ trademark fantastical colors and flamboyant
interpretation of a novel landscape.

11. Todd Oldham (American, born 1961)
T-shirt dress, Spring 1994
Digital print polyester knit
Gift of Todd Oldham, 1999.003.110
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
Referring to nostalgia for road trips, domestic travel, and mid-
century leisure, Todd Oldham reproduces photographs from
Arizona Travel Magazine through novel digital printing
technology. This design was worn by Wesley Snipes in the cult
classic film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie
Newmar, which tells the story of three New York drag queens
who embark on a road trip to Hollywood, landscapes not unlike
the ones on this dress.

12. Barbara Grimes (American)
Gossamer Wings (American, founded 1993)
Skirt suit, 1990s
Suede with turquoise, coral, & heishi shell beads
Gift of Mercedes Bass, 2005,006.002
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
As a native home to Pueblo Indians and a former colonial
capital of the Kingdom of New Spain, Santa Fe has a rich,
complex, and often problematic past that permeates its visual
and material culture today. Santa Fe-based designer Barbara
Grimes draws inspiration from many parts of this history,
combining Native motifs and beading with European luxury
materials and construction techniques.

13. Jamie Okuma
(Luiseño and Shoshone-Bannock, born 1977)
“Art to wear” ensemble, 2017
Digitally printed polyester and silk satin
Museum Purchase, 2018.006.012
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
Creating a tension between the historic and contemporary,
Jamie Okuma utilizes antiques beads in her modern textile
design. Okuma updates motifs and materials traditional to her
culture by digitally printing her beaded work on stretchy
synthetic materials, offering artistic and accessible versions of
her fine craft.

14. Mountain Artisans (American, 1968-1978)
Hostess dress, ca. 1975
Quilted cotton and lace
Gift of Louise Gartner, 2008.001.003
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
To elevate the value of traditional craft and textile skills, the
co-op Mountain Artisans focused their designs around quilting,
handwork, and other labor-intensive techniques that were
promoted by the American craft revival movement of the
1960s and 1970s. Clientele appreciated the non-profit’s hippie
aesthetic, back-to-the-earth agenda, and connection with
American history.

15. Giorgio di Sant’ Angelo (Italian, 1933-1989)
Day ensemble, 1969
Cotton, synthetic velvet, and ribbon
Gift of Bert de Winter, 1973.001.018
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
Known for his romantic and eclectic “haute hippie” designs,
Giorgio di Sant’ Angelo is credited with introducing Native
American imagery into high fashion. Looking to traditional
cultural dress and craft from around the world, Sant’ Angelo
and his contemporaries problematically cast this imagery as
primitive, treating it as a visual and metaphorical escape from
the troubled Western world.

16. Zandra Rhodes (British, born 1940)
Caftan-style evening dress, 1975
Printed chiffon with velvet ribbon
Gift of Mrs. Dan Williams, 1994.007.024
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
Textile and fashion designer Zandra Rhodes drew inspiration
for her “New York and Indian Feathers” collection during a visit
to the National Museum of the American Indian in New York.
With an eye for materials and pattern, Rhodes was “knocked
out with the intricacy of the beautiful feathers and the way
they had used dyed porcupine quills as beads” and likened the
work she saw to Tudor embroidery from her home country.

17. Jules-Francois Crahay (Belgian, 1917-1988)
Lanvin (French, founded 1889)
Evening dress, 1970
Printed wool with applied buttons
Gift of Betty and Edward Mattil, 1900.334.002
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
The House of Lanvin, historically known for its richly dyed
textiles and exotic embellishments, expanded its artistic scope
in 1970 with its first collection explicitly catering to American
taste. Jules-Francois Crahay, who created both the prints and
the silhouettes for Lanvin, capitalized on his new audience’s
appetite for ethnic-inspired and American heritage designs,
drawing from Native American and “gypsy” motifs.

18. Mary Katrantzou (Greek, born 1983)
Day dress, Autumn/Winter 2016
Digitally printed synthetic with appliqués
Loaned by Mary Katrantzou
Rather than looking to the historic American West, Mary
Katrantzou explores this topic through visual culture, popular
history, and fantasy. Debuted on the runway with country
music playing in the background, this graphically bold dress
draws inspiration from Western styling of 1950s American
dress, technicolor landscapes from spaghetti westerns, and
Texas-inspired iconography and patterns.

19. Neiman Marcus Man’s Shop
Western-style men’s suit, 1936, 1957
Wool with chain-stitch embroidery
Gift of Stanley Marcus, 1979.008.110
UNT Texas Fashion Collection
From the wardrobe of former head of Dallas-based department
store Neiman Marcus, this suit represents Stanley Marcus’ deep
connection with Texas. Originally purchased for the 1936
Texas Centennial, the suit was refitted for a 1957 western-
themed party at brother Edward Marcus’ Blackmark Farm to
honor Coco Chanel.