The costume and textile collection numbers approximately 12,000 items and spans the 17th century to the present. The costumes constitute the museum's best known collection; it is recognized nationwide by costume historians for its excellence in 19th century women's clothing.

Search selected collections online
Women's Footwear	The Fan Collection

Samplers	Women's Headwear	Women's Costume

Published Research featuring the Costume and Textile Collection

Books

Women's Shoes in America: 1795 to 1930 by Nancy Rexford Kent State University Press, 2000

Letters from an American Utopia: The Stetson Family and the Northampton Association, 1843-1847 In the essay "The Camel and the Needle: Silk and the Stetson Letters," Marjorie Senechal reconstructs the process of silk production at the Northampton Association drawing in part on nineteenth-century letters from the Stetson Collection. University of Massachusetts Press, 2004

Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans & Fashion, 1840-1900 by Joan Severa Kent State University Press, 1995

Massachusetss Quilts: Our Common Wealth edited by Lynne Zacek Bassett A publication of the Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project University Press of New England, 2009

Magazine Publications

Woven Bead Chains of the 1830s by Lynne Zacek Bassett The Magazine Antiques, December 1995

Alba Stramesi Fiorentino in Crafts & Stories from Ellis Island Piecework Magazine, September/October 1996

The Silk Industry of Florence, Massachusetts by Ann Feitelson & Peter Weis Piecework Magazine, January/February 1999

The Needlework of First Lady Grace Coolidge by Lynne Zacek Bassett Piecework Magazine, July/August 1999

Three Gownmakers in Northampton, Massachusetts featured in Gownmaking as a Trade for Women in Eighteenth Century New England by Marla Miller Dress, a publication of the Costume Society of America, volume 30, 2003

Fashion and Frugality: English Patterned Silks in Connecticut River Valley Women's Dress, 1600-1800 by David E. Lazaro Dress, a publication of the Costume Society of America, volume 33, 2006

Fact Sheet
This collection includes approximately 400 dresses; 90 coats; 140 shawls; 350 hats, caps, calashes and hoods; 100 pairs of shoes; 110 pelerines, chemisettes, and undersleeves; 40 jackets and sacques; 350 items of women's underwear and nightgowns; 70 parasols and umbrellas; 200 bags, purses, and wallets; 240 fans; 500 pieces of jewelry; 70 military uniforms (men's and women's); 250 items of men's outerwear; and 500 items of baby and children's clothing. The collection includes accessories such as collars, cuffs, ties, fichus, buttons, pieces of dress trimming, ribbons, pieces of dress fabric, etc. The textile collection includes about 100 quilts, blankets, bed covers, and overshot coverlets; scores of sheets and pillowcases, tablecloths, napkins, and window coverings. Among these textiles are important early and mid-eighteenth century examples of linen napkins, crewelwork bed hangings, calamanco quilts, sheets, and blankets from prominent Northampton families. Approximately 50 samplers and embroideries, mostly from the late eighteenth and early 19th centuries, are included in the textile collection. Historic Northampton also has an impressive lace collection (approx. 1000 pieces), ranging from small scraps and doilies to large veils and shawls. Approximately 35 hooked, braided, and Oriental rugs are owned by the museum.