Texas Fashion Collection

06/01/2026

This ensemble features coordinated patterned textiles, likely created through resist dying and block printing techniques. Both textile treatments have long histories in India, where these cotton fabrics were created and transformed into a dress and jacket by House of Arts.

Image 1: Halter bodice of a dress made with green fabric with a geometric brown floral print, plunging neckline, patterned band from the empire to natural waist, shown on a white mannequin

Image 2: Detail of a dress waistline with bright green lining framing a design house label, with a bold patterned waistband and green and brown printed skirt fabric

Image 3: Detail of the jacket and bodice of a green and brown floral print ensemble

05/28/2026

This recently donated dress is easily identifiable as a Bob Mackie design, featuring his signature beads and sequins, a figure-hugging silhouette, and a sense of theatricality. Luckily celebrity reporters made narrowing down additional details easy, as a similar design was recently sported by Sabrina Carpenter! We love welcoming this Spring 1986 “Swamp Dress” to our permanent collection!

Image 1: Detail of the bodice of a dress with all-over sequins in iridescent black, teal, and pink creating the illusion of boning, with bright pink lining in the background

Image 2: Bob Mackie designer label on pink lining fabric with iridescent beads and sequins in rows and creating fringe

Image 3: Cocktail dress of black fabric with all-over black and cool-toned sequins creating the illusion of a corset and shawl draped over the hips and legs, with beaded fringe at the sleeves and hem, shown on a white mannequin and white background

Image 4: Singer Sabrina Carpenter wearing a black and cool-toned sequin dress, posing at a red carpet event

05/25/2026

This 1950s Sophie dress features feminine details - a shaped waist, pleats to fill out the skirt, and a floral textile. That fabric offers a dimensional print with overprinting or overlapping colors to create depth in pinks, blues, and purples.

Image 1: Detail view of the bodice of a dress made of white fabric with a dense, complex blue, pink, and purple floral pattern, with a high neckline and narrow waist, shown on a dark brown and white background

Image 2: Day dress made of white fabric with a dense, complex blue, pink, and purple floral pattern, with a high neckline and narrow waist, shown on a dark brown and white background

05/21/2026

Roberto Cavalli worked in Florence, Italy, a cultural region known for artisinal textile production. Here we see Cavalli’s innovation with leather, with bands of brightly-colored material screen printed with delicate, metallic floral patterns. These bands emphasize the silhouette of the jacket, creating a V that emphasizes the shoulders and narrows the waist.

Image 1: Detail of teal, orange, red, and dark blue leather creating angled stripes meeting at a center zipper, with a black leather sleeve across the top

Image 2: Front ¾ view of a black leather ensemble with striped, colorful bands of printed leather at the sleeves, making a V across the front, and as trim at the bottom hem

05/16/2026

Innovative designer Lucie Ann created elegant but accessible peignoirs and lingerie of nylon tricot and trimmed with marabou. Sets like this loose, dark floral one were popularized by stars like Eva Gabor.

Image 1: Front ¾ view of a black peignoir set with light pink flowers trimmed in dense black feathers, shown on a brown mannequin and white background

Image 2: Back ¾ view of a black and light pink floral nightgown of gently gathered tricot, shown on a brown mannequin and white background

05/15/2026

Paris, Milan, London, and Denton! Fashion is alive and (archived) well in our fashion capital!

Almost 20,000 pieces--from haute couture dresses to unknown but historic artifacts--are housed at the University of North Texas.

05/12/2026

Created by the Oscar de la Renta brand for Summer 2019, this dress features two very special details. First, the black textile includes dimensional flowers, which are part of the woven pattern of the matelasse fabric. Second, the structured semi-sheer bodice keeps it shape through an interior corset, which the brand had pre-manufactured and the stitched into the dress.

Image 1: Cocktail ensemble of black sheer fabric with delicate all-over multicolored floral motifs, with long sleeves, natural waist with a tie belt, and full skirt, shown on a white mannequin and white background

Image 2: Detail of black fabric with an uneven texture, with dimensional floral motifs in various colors

Image 2: Detail of a tan interior structure of a dress with bust cups and boning

05/05/2026

Amy Zerner creates art-to-wear garments that are both practical and beautiful! The front of this “Sun Garden” design looks like a typical denim jacket, but the seams, yoke, and hem feature patterned textile panels. The back of the jacket serves as a canvas for a collage, with angled and layered textiles creating a sense of depth in an imaginative landscape.

Image 1: Denim Jacket with floral patterned panels, shown with black pants on a white mannequin

Image 2: Detail of the back panel of a jacket, outlined in floral woven bands with a cool-toned collage of textiles creating an abstract landscape with flora and fauna applied over the top

04/26/2026

This ensemble was acquired by Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson at Neiman-Marcus in Dallas, Texas. Mrs. Johnson wore the ensemble while her husband was Vice President of the United States, including at the ceremony held in the East Room of the White House on January 29, 1961. In 1966, Mrs. Johnson donated the ensemble to a charity auction in Dallas, from which it was purchased by Mrs. Clint Murchison, Jr. Mrs. Murchison donated the garment to the Dallas Museum of Fashion - now called the Texas Fashion Collection.

Image 1: Dress ensemble of blue-green brocade with a fur collar, fitted waist, and ¾ length sleeves, shown on a white mannequin and background

Image 2: Photograph of Lady Bird Johnson wearing a brocade ensemble with a fur collar, standing next to her husband and President and Jackie Kennedy in a formal ballroom, surrounded by other people