Lively photos of fashion trends and campaigns from decades past are taking over Hill Memorial Library during October.
The “Centuries of Style: A Retrospective of Dress” exhibit offers an insightful peek into the daily wear of people in the past from around the world.
Fashion photographer and University alumna Jane McCowan’s work serves as the paramount aspect of the exhibit. McCowan traveled between California, Paris and New York, shooting fashion advertisements and editorial spreads. The photos display another side of history and tell the story of American lifestyle in the past. While each photo is a posed advertisement, they offer a candid look at the values that our nation held highly at the time.
This photo exhibit shows how fashion was used as a method to further distinguish the rich from the poor. A few of the photos picture waspy-looking women clad in dollar bills with risqué captions about fashion as a commodity.
There’s an everyday-dress history lesson on the second floor, with dates ranging from ancient times to the 1920s.
The worldwide aspect offers a separate dimension to the exhibit from African tribal war uniforms to Native American clothing’s effect on European fashion. There is a wealth of knowledge in the upstairs exhibit that cannot be learned from run-of-the-mill history books.
This exhibit will satiate the inner fashion nerd or history buff in anyone. “Centuries of Style” will be on display from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays until Oct. 19. It is free and open to the public.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Lauren Duhon

Photos from the 1950s are on display Wednesday, October 2, 2013, at Hill Memorial Library. The exhibit is paying tribute to the work of Jane McCowan, an LSU alumna who graduated in 1934.