Dress and Drinks: Texas Fashion Collective

 Join us this month as we speak with Annette Becker, Director of the Texas Fashion Collection at the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design. Committed to education and access, both the Collection and its Director manage to fulfill and exceed this in a myriad of ways.

While earning a BA in Art History and English and MA in Art History, with a minor in Art Education, Becker found herself not drawn to the often “elite” works of some art forms, but rather “one of the most accessible forms of design and history.” Namely: dress. As a student herself at UNT, she saw how the Collection housed “garments representing a wide range of lived experiences, and in a public university that serves a great number of first-generation students and students of color.” Becker particularly hopes all visitors and viewers can find reflections of their own lives in the collection, and in turn better understand that of others.

While created primarily as a design research resource, the Texas Fashion Collection more recently has begun to explore links between design and cultural histories, “grounding the artifacts in lived experiences,” and helping people think more acutely about their personal and collective relationships to dress. In line with their ethos of fostering connection and understanding, the collection frequently embeds itself in other places and cultures; “because the TFC doesn’t have a dedicated exhibition space, our exhibitions are mounted in cultural spaces around the country,” Becker explains, which also surely lends itself to the variety of her work. As part of a small and dedicated team, Becker works on “curating [and installing] exhibitions, creating educational programming, engaging with stakeholders, mentoring students, cataloging artifacts,” and one of the TFC’s latest moves in expanding access: the collection’s digitization efforts. Since beginning as Director in 2016, the collection has “built up [its] representation on the University of North Texas Digital Library to over 8,300 artifacts represented by over 52,000 images” – all freely available, and freely reproducible for educational and non-profit purposes.

To learn more about the Texas Fashion Collection and Annette Becker, join us for this month’s Dress & Drinks on Wednesday, March 29 at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific.

Our Cocktail for the Evening: Paloma

Paloma, Spanish for “dove,” is thought to have been invented in Tequila, Mexico, though no one knows for sure its true origins. It is always made with two essential elements: tequila and grapefruit, the state fruit of Texas.

• Lime wedge, for optional rim
  
• Coarse salt, for optional rim
  
• 2 ounces tequila
  
• 1/4 to 1/2 ounce lime juice
  
• 4 ounces grapefruit soda
• Wet the rim of a glass with lime and roll in salt. Add ice, tequila and lime juice to glass. Top it off with the grapefruit soda!

Non-alcoholic Version

• Juice of 1 lime
  
• 2 ounces grapefruit juice
  
• 2 ounces club soda
  
• 2 ounces agave
• Combine lime juice, grapefruit juice, and agave with ice in a cocktail mixer, and shake for 30 seconds. Pour into a glass and top off with club soda (or seltzer) and enjoy!