Ohio State has built up one collection that could make any fashionable diva incredibly envious: a collection of 10,000 dresses, shoes, hats, jewelry and accessories.

The Historic Costume and Textiles Collection, located in the Schottenstein Wing of Campbell Hall, has been archiving men’s, women’s and children’s clothing and textiles since the 1940s. A select theme is placed on display in the Snowden Gallery each year.

The collection contains garments dating to the mid-18th century, and historic textiles which date to prehistoric archaeological fabrics. The collection spans the contemporary age, containing fashions and textiles of today.

“It is a physical documentation of dress history,” said Jessica Strubel, the collections manager for The Historic Costume and Textiles Collection. “Being able to see and touch garments in class is better than just looking at them on slides,” she said.

“The collection is also a good means of historical and cultural research,” said Daina Palermo, curatorial assistant for the Campbell Hall collection.

Each item is catalogued and carefully prepared for storage in one of the storage rooms in Campbell Hall. Students and companies are permitted to enter the archives for research purposes.

“The collection is not only a path for looking into the past. It also provides ideas for new designs. We have had many companies come to study the clothes of different periods in order to inspire new designs,” said Kathryn Jakes, an OSU professor of consumer and textile sciences.

The collection contains garments created by legendary designers such as Ungaro and Dior, Strubel said. The most recent large donation of a single designer’s work were pieces designed by Arnold Scaasi, Jakes said.

The collection not only focuses on designer pieces, but holds ethnographic items, or folk dress, Palmero said. We have an Afghani burkah, traditional Indian saris, authentic Masai jewelry, Japanese komonos,and many other items, Strubel said.

The curator, Gayle Strege, selects what will be displayed in the galleries and opens the exhibit to the public from fall until spring each year, Strubel said.

“Gayle uses the summer to pick the theme. It’s kind of like choosing a research topic,” Palermo said.

The galleries presented exhibitions such as fashions on and off the stage, American design from 1900-1946 and the current presentation of “Capital Fashion.”

The display focuses on merchant-tailors and dress-makers in Columbus from 1851-1965, Palermo said. It looks at how Lazarus and the ready-to-wear industry shaped Columbus fashion, she said.

“Because textiles and clothing are so intimately connected with people throughout their lives, understanding textiles and clothing gives us physical evidence for human behavior and creativity,” Jakes said.

The galleries are open from Wednesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the collection archives can be researched by appointment Monday thru Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.