GINGER ROGERS: DRESSED TO IMPRESS

February–May 2024

State Historical Society of Missouri Center for Missouri Studies​
Missouri Historic Costume and Textile Collection ​
Department of Textile and Apparel Management ​
College of Arts and Science ​
University of Missouri

Dressed to Impress: A History​
Costume
Archives​
Exhibition Images ​
Student Designs
Printable Illustrations

Exhibition curated by Nicole Johnston of the Missouri Historic Costume and Textile Collection, University of Missouri. Assisted by Dr. Joan Stack, Curator of Art Collections, State Historical Society of Missouri and Sarah Lawrence, Collection Assistant, University of Missouri.

Legendary Academy-Award winning performer and Missouri native Ginger Rogers (1911-1995) maintained one of the longest successful – and stylish – careers in entertainment that spanned over six decades from the 1920s to 1984, revolutionizing the Hollywood musical in a legendary partnership with Fred Astaire and successfully transitioning across film, television, stage, and radio. Throughout her career, Rogers used clothing to strategically craft her own unique persona that became a visually-recognized trademark of her success.​

The MHCTC celebrates this career and a new collection of Rogers costume and archives in an exhibition that explores Rogers’ understanding of the complex relationship between dress, the body and the viewer experience. The first of its kind to apply these elements of humanities and design scholarship to Rogers’ costumes, the exhibition “Ginger Rogers: Dressed to Impress” provides a rare glimpse of Rogers’ clothing and accessories from later stages of her career and highlights connections to earlier films such as Top Hat from 1935, Flying Down to Rio from 1933, and more!

Rogers’ costume and unique sense of style also impressed and inspired undergraduate students in the Department of Textile and Apparel Management at the University of Missouri whose designs are included in both physical and virtual exhibitions.

GINGER ROGERS: A HISTORY

Explore the history of Ginger Rogers’ award-winning career that spans over six decades.

GINGER ROGERS COSTUME

View the Ginger Rogers Costume Collection online.

All of Ginger Rogers’ clothing on exhibit was gifted to the Missouri Historic Costume and Textile Collection (MHCTC) in the Department of Textile and Apparel Management (TAM) by two individuals: Roberta Olden, Rogers’ personal assistant from 1977 to 1995, and Marge Padgitt, founder of the Owens-Rogers House Museum in Rogers’ birth home in Independence, Missouri. As the steward of much of Rogers’ costume and clothing, Olden selected the MHCTC as the permanent home for garments carefully curated over the last two years from Rogers’ nightclub revue and stage career.  In 2021, Olden was referred to the MHCTC by Marge Padgitt who also gifted a variety of clothing, magazines and other media from her own curated collection. These gifts became an opportunity to introduce Rogers’ iconic fashion and talent to a younger generation of college students and showcase the University’s unique research opportunities and creative design scholarship to broader national and international audiences.

GINGER ROGERS ARCHIVE COLLECTION

View the Ginger Rogers Archive Collection online.

EXHIBITION IMAGES

GINGER ROGERS PROJECTS

Over the past two years, students in six TAM courses were introduced to Ginger Rogers, many for the first time. Highlighted in the exhibition and in the virtual exhibit are over fifty garment and textile designs inspired by Rogers’ fashion and legendary career. Classroom projects were directed by Dr. Kerri McBee-Black, Cheyenne Smith and Graduate Instructor Mackenzie Miller.

GINGER ROGERS PROJECT: TAM 2280

View all 21 apparel designs by students in Textile and Apparel Management 2280 Apparel Production inspired by the MHCTC’s Ginger Rogers Collection.

GINGER ROGERS PROJECT: TAM 2380

View 18 apparel designs by students in Textile and Apparel Management 2380 Patternmaking inspired by the MHCTC’s Ginger Rogers Collection.

GINGER ROGERS PROJECT: TAM 2580

View 14 apparel designs by students in Textile and Apparel Management 2580 Apparel Production inspired by the MHCTC’s Ginger Rogers Collection.

GINGER ROGERS PROJECT: TAM 3380

View 15 apparel designs by students in Textile and Apparel Management 3380 Apparel Draping Techniques inspired by the MHCTC’s Ginger Rogers Collection.

GINGER ROGERS PROJECT: TAM 4980

View apparel designs by seven students in Textile and Apparel Management 4980 Apparel Production Management Senior Capstone inspired by the Ginger Rogers collection.