Cheri:

When I was in graduate school at the University of Georgia, one of my fellow
graduate students and I curated a two night exhibt with historic gowns and
mustache cups  from the university's collections.  We tried to pick the most
stable of gowns, but some were too exquisite to not use.  We scrounged for
mannequins and small dress forms, and very carefully took the gowns from
their stable storage environment, placed them on the mannequins, and then
removed them 2 days later.  I would not (personally) reccommend using any of
the fragile gowns unless you can lay them flat in some kind of an archival
environment with diffused lighting.  Also, wear clean clothes and cotton
gloves.  (I'm sure you know all of this, so why am I telling you this?
Habit, I guess)  Have you contacted the Cincinnati Art Museum?  They have a
wonderful costume collection and do a great job of rotating/displaying their
costumes.

Please let me know what transpires.  Also, I have a friend who teaches at
Bowling Green-
Her name is Tracy Ruhlin and she is in the Fabric/Art department.

Good Luck-

Stephanie Lewis Robertson @ the Indianapolis Art Center