Tulane University Special Collections announces a new exhibition:

Cut from a Different Cloth: Fashion Selections from 
Tulane Special Collections

September 11, 2025 – May 29, 2026

*Opening reception September 11, 2025, 3:00pm – 5:00pm.

Free and open to the public.

Refreshments will be provided.

Tulane University Special Collections (TUSC) invites you to join us for our fall exhibition, Cut from a Different Cloth: Fashion Selections from Tulane Special Collections. Curated by Faye Daigle and Kevin Williams, the exhibition considers fashion, clothing, and dress as vital sources for understanding a region’s material history. Items featured offer unique insight into how individuals and communities in New Orleans have used clothing and style to navigate the city’s many cultural scenes, blur social boundaries, and adapt to its challenging climate. From Canal Street department stores to nightclubs, college stadiums, and the city streets during Carnival, New Orleans has served as a unique backdrop for its residents to express their identity, creativity, and community through dress.

On display are architectural drawings and period photographs of dress shops and department stores; design drawings and pieces of costume and Carnival jewelry; items related to Tulane campus styles, including cheerleading uniforms; photos of musicians and audiences, including a jacket worn by musician Louis Prima; drag and LGBT material culture; fabric sample books; period ephemera; and more. We hope visitors will be encouraged to reflect on the vital role fashion relics play in preserving a city’s cultural memory and complex social histories. 

Cut from a Different Cloth opens September 11, 2025 and is on view through May 29, 2026 at the Tulane University Special Collections 2^nd Floor Gallery, 6801 Freret Street, Joseph Merrick Jones Hall, on Tulane University’s Uptown campus. Hours are 10am–4pm Monday-Friday. Admission is free and open to the public.

For more information contact:

Kevin Williams, Coordinator for Exhibits & Outreach,

Tulane University Special Collections

(504) 247-1836

[email protected]