This is an ongoing volunteer project with the Carondelet Historical Society, which I am really passionate about. I’m lucky to have the exclusive privilege of visually preserving their collection of donated clothing!

Clothing worn in this project was borrowed from a collection of donated clothing belonging to the Carondelet Historical Society (CHS); They can’t possibly preserve these garments for all eternity so they are currently stored away and occasionally put on display. These clothes were generously donated by family of the garment’s original owners. Some of the articles have documents regarding the history of the items including who wore them, what year and to what occasion, other times I’m left to guess (I’m rapidly becoming somewhat of an expert on pre-1950s fashion history!).

The photos I take are used to document and visually preserve this old clothing. They will be used in the on-site catalogue and educational material and prints to display and to be resold in their small gift shop. This project will show future generations what these garments really looked like and how they might have been worn.

I like having variety in my portfolio, and love the challenges of communicating the beauty that I see in people of all colors and shapes thru my photography. However, for this project of borrowed clothing, these pieces seem to be mostly between size 0-4.