Wichita Wore What? A Century of Local Fashion: Free Exhibit

Wichita Wore What? A Century of Local Fashion. This FREE exhibit features clothing and accessories worn in Wichita from 1888-1988, surveying changes in both apparel and lifestyle. It also features clothing worn by key figures in Wichita’s history, including the city’s first female mayor, Connie Peters, and civil rights icon Chester I. Lewis.

Wichita Wore What? A Century of Local Fashion spotlights our city’s fashionable history. In 1870, Wichita officially boasted about 700 residents. By the turn of the 20th century, however, Wichita had become a major regional center offering a wide variety of shopping spots, places to see and be seen, and residents eager to assert their identities as refined citizens of the world. With nearly a dozen department stores dotting the downtown area alone, Wichitans could admire and purchase the latest styles from the East Coast and beyond. As the city continued to flourish after World War I and World War II–with the success of companies including Coleman, Metholatum, Travel Air, Beech, Stearman, and Cessna–residents continued to embrace the most up-to-date designs.

Wichita Wore What?. The exhibition includes designs by superstars like Sadie Nemser, James Galanos, Geoffrey Beene, Halston, Norman Norell, Oscar de la Renta, and Bill Blass. 

Wichita Wore What? A Century of Local Fashion is drawn from the collections of the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum and local collectors. 

Dates: January 21 – June 18th, 2023

Where: Wichita Art Museum – 1400 Museum Blvd, Wichita, KS 67203

Cost: FREE 

Click HERE to learn about 1400 By Elderslie, the restaurant at WAM

Click HERE to read about Wichita Art Museum FREE admission for the permanent collection