Condition is not directly correlated with age. Your costume pieces may very 
well have condition issues and absolutely require a complete evaluation before 
you decide how to mount them. The evaluation doesn't need to be completed 
by a conservator, you can do it, but you can't skip that step. 

Familiarize yourself with some readily available literature. I suggest you start 
here: 
http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/publications/conserveogram/cons_toc.ht
ml
and then move to here: 
http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/publications/ccinotes/index_e.aspx
And then check out the technical publications available from here: 
http://www.aaslh.org/leaflets.htm

You'll find a wealth of info on how to condition report costume as well as how 
to make simple mannequins from ethafoam (tm), batting and muslin. 

Diane Gutenkauf
Director
Robert R. McCormick Museum
[log in to unmask]

On Thu, 6 Dec 2007 11:25:20 -0600, O'malley, Erin 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Hello All,
>
>I am in need of advice in how to display textiles, specifically
>children's theater costumes for an upcoming exhibit.  We have yet to
>acquire any mannequins, and at the most we may be able to acquire only
>one or two.  We are look for an inexpensive way to hang the costumes in
>the exhibit as we have no budget.  
>
>There are also some hats which we would like to display.  Does anyone
>have a good way to do that?
>
>Also the costumes are from the 50s and 60s, so there shouldn't be any
>issues regarding condition.
>
>Any advice you could give would be wonderful.
>
> 
>
>Erin O'Malley
>
>UTA Special Collections
>
>

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