Natasha, PhD student in Apparel Studies, minor in Museum Studies and Art History: I recently completed my MA in Art History from the University of California, Riverside, and am now beginning my PhD in the Apparel Studies program at the University of Minnesota, focusing on dress, history, and culture. However, my true passion is for the textiles that are spun, woven, dyed, and constructed to form those garments. Luckily for me, my position as Collections Assistant at the Goldstein coincides with the start of a new textile storage project. I have been asked to lead a team of volunteers to organize and rehouse the Goldstein's diverse collection of textiles. With over 4500 objects in this collection, I will have the opportunity to learn about everything from blankets and shawls to rugs and table linens. In the meantime, I will assist the Goldstein's fantastic staff with a myriad of special projects and everyday tasks. Each experience - whether it is sharing the collection with my fellow students, researching an object, or assisting with a gallery opening - is an exciting step closer to my goal of becoming a textile curator.

Sharlene, Master of Art student in Graphic Design: I graduated this past May with a degree in Architecture with a minor in Public Relations and Advertising from North Dakota State University. I am originally from Duluth, Minnesota, and am excited to earn my Master of Arts in Graphic Design at the University of Minnesota. This year at the Goldstein I am in the position of the Communications Assistant and will be responsible for anything related to the PR for the museum. My weekly duties consist of updating Facebook statuses, posting the blog, sending out eblasts and also am the person to go to when anything needs to be designed for the museum. I was fortunate enough to start my position over the summer and have learned so much and have worked with some great people already. Working for the Goldstein is such a great opportunity and I am looking forward to what is yet to come for me as the Communications Assistant.

[Background] Hello all! My name is Issa Mello and this spring I've been selected as the University's Lila Bath Intern. This means I get to spend a week in San Antonio, Texas at the University of the Incarnate Word studying and analyzing all of the culture, dress, and the extensive Lila Bath costume collection. Throughout my trip I'll be posting a couple blogs and plenty of pictures to share my experience with you! To read her previous blogs click, BlogPost1, BlogPost2 and BlogPost3

After coming back home and looking back on the many inspirations from my week in San Antonio, I had a tough time choosing a direction to go in. There are many different facets and styles of Lila Bath and each is so unique, yet cohesive to her personality. I started sketching designs based on some outfits that I was intrigued by. I'm a very hands-on learner, so I also draped some muslin to get a 3-dimensional feel for Lila's work. From draping the pleats, style lines, and details of Mexican and Southern Texan dress, I took some of their design elements and incorporated them with my own personal aesthetic. I was really intrigued by the results in the sketches and beginning draping phases. I was surprised how much of my personality aligned with Lila Bath!

The elements from the Lila Bath collection that I focused on were well-placed and detailed embellishments, pin tucks, and layers of lace or netting. I explored different sides of these elements, but ultimately wanted to focus on the layering effect of lace on top of a fabric. Because I'm interested in childrenswear, I was hoping to design a child's garment as well as a woman's outfit. Dr. Perez had some great feedback with my designs and helped me with deciding between women's and children's designs. Below are the final two designs that I'll be constructing as a capstone project. The girl's dress will have both lace inserts as well as lace overlays, depending on the placement. The woman's outfit has shorts with smaller lace or rick-rack diagonal strips. The top is still up in the air; I may go for a plainer look with the slouched t-shirt with lace hem or the more structured, asymmetrical top. I am hoping to show these two outfits at an event in the fall celebrating the Lila Bath legacy.

Left: Photograph of myself in front of Warhol's Mao at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Right:This is a photograph of a selection of Kim's book purses and her design center that consists of thousands of books and a (very) wide selection of fabric.

Growing up in an artful environment has always left me wanting more. Working in the Goldstein Museum of Design at the Gallery satisfies the constant craving I have to be surrounded by art. It's really hard to say exactly how working in the Goldstein affects me. It satisfies the intense "art craving", but once I leave, my head spins with inspiration for my own art. It's kind of a problem I have. I'm inspired by everything. I can find inspiration in, very literally, anything. It must be a part of my mother in me. My mom Kim Wendlandt is a local artist in my hometown of New London, Minnesota. She's a mixed media artist that began making handmade paper and gradually worked up to, what she is most well-known for, making book purses.

My mother taught me to find beauty in any object. So when I look at the art on display in the Goldstein Gallery, I am truly in awe of each and every object.

Hannah Wendlandt

Hannah is an UMN senior majoring in Psychology with a minor in Art

[Background] Hello all! My name is Issa Mello and this spring I've been selected as the University's Lila Bath Intern. This means I get to spend a week in San Antonio, Texas at the University of the Incarnate Word studying and analyzing all of the culture, dress, and the extensive Lila Bath costume collection. Throughout my trip I'll be posting a couple blogs and plenty of pictures to share my experience with you! To read her previous blogs click, BlogPost1 or BlogPost2

Wrapping up the last two days of an incredible journey in San Antonio! Thursday we visited a specialty shop for quinceanera dresses, such as the one pictured below. This establishment had two floors. The first level was for wedding, prom, bridesmaid, and honorary court dresses, and the second level was dedicated to quinceanera dresses and men's tuxedos. The space allotted for quinceaneras was easily the largest, which says a lot about how big these celebrations have become! The dresses definitely showed some distinct personality, and there were a lot of fun design details and construction techniques to observe.

After lunch on Thursday I had a chance to meet with Ms. Alexander, a faculty member at Incarnate Word. She showed me some of her and her sister's embroidery, beadwork, and fabric manipulation techniques that they had learned from classes, studying abroad, or techniques they picked up from various surface design books. The patience and expertise that the Alexander sisters show in their work is unbelievable. Watch out for when the Alexanders graduate; they plan to open a school to share their wealth of knowledge of beading, embroidery, and surface treatments.

My final day in San Antonio was spent getting to know the town and seeing some of the main attractions. The day started off at the Museo Alameda and its exhibition, "Revolution and Renaissance". Although the museum did not allow any photography, there was a gallery of gorgeous watercolors by Ruben Resendiz, and some cool historic pieces of costume and interior design dating from the 1910s to present day. After a stroll through an outdoor tourist marketplace, we stopped for lunch at a popular Tex Mex restaurant. Walking off lunch wasn't that difficult with walking around downtown San Antonio to see the Alamo and the river walk. I learned a lot about the Alamo and Texas history that I never knew!

The river walk was beautiful, even if about a tenth the width of the Mississippi River that I'm used to. The landscape architecture, fountains, and surrounding buildings made for a great landscape.

We made some other stops at some tourist markets, including a local wine tasting, and before I knew it, the week was up and I was headed back to the airport. I wasn't leaving empty handed, though. I have a lot of inspiration and ideas for the final capstone garments! My final blog will show you some of the ideas, sketches, drapes, and possibly test garments that will evolve into my final garments. Thanks for sharing this journey with me!

top left: One of the elaborate and decorated dresses for a quinceanera celebration. The skirt features layers of tulle, as well as a collapsible hoop skirt and a layer of petticoats.
top right: One of the garments from the Alexander sisters. In this garment many different beading and embroidery techniques were used, including classic Japanese surface detailing, French and American techniques, plus vintage beads and embellishments.
bottom: Remember the Alamo! The front of the most famous building in San Antonio.

[BACKGROUND] Hello all! My name is Issa Mello and this spring I've been selected as the University's Lila Bath Intern. This means I get to spend a week in San Antonio, Texas at the University of the Incarnate Word studying and analyzing all of the culture, dress, and the extensive Lila Bath costume collection. Throughout my trip I'll be posting a couple blogs and plenty of pictures to share my experience with you!

Day one highlights include visiting the Witte museum and its exhibition of Fiesta gowns. Fiesta is a spring festival to honor the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto. Activities carry on over about a week span and include a royal court of 24 duchesses and their escorts. During the celebrations one is crowned queen and one is selected as a princess. Their dresses are the most elaborate part; these artworks can take several months to create and often weigh more than 40 pounds! The train, which is the focal point, can hang either from the shoulders or from the waist, depending on the design. The queen would always have it hang from her shoulders because she has sleeves and a collar to help designate her as queen. Fiesta usually has a theme to coordinate the week's events; this can be anything from cities to museums to history.

Day two consisted of researching the Lila Bath collection at the University of the Incarnate Word. We were honored to be joined by Donna Muslin, a good friend of the designer Lila Bath. Ms. Muslin shared with us the story, personality, and style of Lila Bath. It was amazing to hear about the person behind the designs and see Lila reflected in her work. Her garments show attention to details: hand painting and hand beading, embroidery patterns, pocket placement, combinations of unconventional fabrics (monta, typically used for tablecloths, with lace), tiny pintucks, even lining up buttons to match the fabric. All of the garments were fabulous to see and inspect "gloved-hands on"! Later in the evening I was able to select a few garments as inspiration for two garments that I will complete as a reflection of my experience in San Antonio.

The third day of the trip included learning about the "quinceanera" celebration. I spoke with several students from UIW about their own celebrations. Quinceanera is a Latin American celebration for a girl's 15th birthday; it marks the transformation of a girl to a woman. The day starts off with a traditional mass, with blessings for the birthday girl, her gifts, and her guests. Then the party moves to a reception, where the birthday girl receives her "last doll", is transformed from her youthful accessories to new ones, and is paraded around for all to see. The dance floor is opened up by the birthday girl and her honored court (7 girls, 7 boys) for a traditional group dance, a modern dance, a combination, or both! A father-daughter dance, brother-sister dance, or any other relations can share a dance with "Miss Quince" before the dance floor is open to all. Overall the celebration takes all day and makes for an event that will never be forgotten. Of course, throughout the night, the dress and the girl are the stars.

top left: From 1961 Festival when the theme was "Court of the Americas". This was the duchess of Haiti from that festival.
top center: This garment was given to Donna Muslin from Lila Bath, along with the necklace. The dress was crocheted, but also has hand-beading on the larger sections.
top right: A quinceanera dress from a student at UIW.

Hello all! My name is Issa Mello and this spring I've been selected as the University's Lila Bath Intern. This means I get to spend a week in San Antonio, Texas at the University of the Incarnate Word studying and analyzing all of the culture, dress, and the extensive Lila Bath costume collection. Throughout my trip I'll be posting a couple blogs and plenty of pictures to share my experience with you!

Before I get too far into the trip, here's a little background information about me. I'll be entering the fall semester as an Apparel Design major in the College of Design, University of Minnesota. Born and raised in Plymouth, MN, a northwest suburb of the Twin Cities. I found my passion for apparel design at a rather late stage, after completing my freshman year at the U. Ever since then, however, my courses, classmates, faculty, and of course, family and friends have inspired me to delve further into my interests. Along this journey I've discovered an intrigue for children's wear as well as surface and textile design. Both of which I hope to explore further during the production of my senior line in the fall.

Throughout my time in San Antonio I am looking to learn a few surface design techniques that are used in Southern Texas and Mexican dress. These techniques can be meticulous, but are very characteristic and common in traditional Mexican dress. I also am curious about the quinceañera tradition, the celebration for a girl's 15th birthday. This event is a very important part in a girl's life and is treated much like a wedding, with a lavish dress, dinner, and party. Living in Minnesota for my entire life, I don't have much knowledge about this event and I would love to learn to how dress is involved and its associated meanings for the birthday girl.

top left: Myself at "Twelve: XII", the apparel design senior fashion show 2012
top right: A dress I designed last summer, including ombre dying and detailed style lines. Three words to describe my design aesthetic would be thoughtful, inspired, and practical.
bottom right:The Lila Bath Gallery at The University of the Word Incarnate in San Antonio, Texas. (photo via http://www.uiw.edu/fashion/lilabathgallery.html).