Elegance, Taste, and Style: The Mary D. Doering Fashion Collection

On view in the Mary Turner Gilliland and Clinton R. Gilliland Gallery

This exhibition is generously funded by Thomas L and Nancy S Baker Museum Exhibitions Support Fund and Charles and Ellan Spring

Colonial Williamsburg has the unique opportunity to share an important historic dress collection. This exhibition leads you through 50 years of one woman’s passion to create one of the greatest private collections of early textiles, accessories, and costume assembled in the United States. Mary D. Doering, a lifelong curator, educator, and researcher, used her collection to teach hundreds of students and researchers about changing fashions, taste, design, and style. Doering carefully and thoughtfully selected every object in her collection. The exhibition features 18th- and early 19th-century women’s and men’s clothing as well as accessories and textile documents.