An ever evolving narrative of fashion

Operating under the auspices of the College of Visual Arts and Design, the TFC is one of the most acclaimed fashion archives in the country. These artifacts of dress were collected by a variety of notable groups and individuals whose taste and connoisseurship continue to inspire students, researchers, and visitors.

The TFC has been featured in exhibitions at the Kimbell Art Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Meadows Museum, Fashion on Main, the UNT Art Galleries, and the Greater Denton Arts Council. TFC artifacts have been loaned to the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, the George W. Bush Presidential Library, the de Young Museum, the Museum at FIT, and the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In 1938, when Stanley and Edward Marcus preserved examples of top designers' works in honor of Carrie Marcus Neiman, co-founder of Neiman Marcus and arbiter of taste for the store. Nearly 200 pieces of apparel from Carrie Neiman's personal fashion collection became the basis of the Dallas Museum of Fashion.

1953

After her death in 1953, the Carrie Marcus Neiman Foundation maintained the collection until the Dallas Fashion Group, now Fashion Group International, secured space at the Dallas Market Center in the 1960s.

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69

In 1969, the Dallas Museum of Fashion was officially combined with the original Neiman Marcus Collection.

1989

Renamed the Texas Fashion Collection in 1989, Patti Lou Cobb joined the staff at UNT and brought museum standards and practices that improved the level of preservation for the collection.

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93

In 1993, the university provided a newly renovated building that consolidated the collection into Scoular Hall, the first time the entire holdings were in one location.

2013

Since 2013, the Texas Fashion Collection has been in Welch Street Complex 1, which also houses the UNT fashion design and fibers programs. These upgraded facilities include a 4,500 square foot climate-controled room with an open storage model, allowing daily access for curatorial staff and volunteers and for small groups of visitors.