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Consulting



Research is my passion



Redding Fashion Alliance





Assisted the Redding Fashion Alliance with their Annual “Iconic Fashion Exhibit”: On view September 8, 2021-January 16, 2022. Partnered with Aleta Carpenter, Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Shasta College Foundation and the Redding Fashion Alliance to research, curate and install the “Iconic Fashion Exhibit” at Turtle Bay Exploration Park & museum, as a part of Redding’s second fashion week. Research and wrote didactic and interpretive text panels about collector Aleta Carpenter’s clothing from the 1980s and 1990s by designers Chanel, Valentino, and Oscar de La Renta.


Assisted the Redding Fashion Alliance with “Iconic Fashion Exhibit” and lecture event on September 21, 2018 as a part of Redding’s first fashion week. Local high end fashion collector Aleta Carpenter’s clothing was on display during a Q&A with Robin Fator. Prep included meetings, research, coordinating, and reviewing material. Assisted with clothing installation as well as managing safe public viewing of individual garments and off-the-cuff discussions of history, techniques, construction, and materials. Included an on-camera interview on the history of fashion and its importance to culture.



Turtle Bay Exploration Park & Museum





Joined staff curatorial team to develop, research, write, edit and install the exhibit "Material Culture: Form, Function, Fashion (and more)" on view at Turtle Bay Exploration Park October 21, 2017-January 7, 2018. Utilized expertise in fashion and textile history community building and networking skills, brainstorming and time management skills.


For “Rooted in this Land: The Story of Growing Food in Shasta County:” Outreach, interviews and relationship building with key contacts (Historical Societies, farming and ranching industry leaders, and industry association groups) followed-up on leads for stories, and historical artifacts, researched digital and in-print resources to provide foundation information used to create label text, over-arching exhibition organization, and call-out elements. Required extremely efficient time management, strong organization skills, creative research strategies, and working collaboratively in a team environment.

Assisted with research, exhibition development, and editing exhibition text for "Native Baskets from Northern California" (Feb 26, 2014 - April 20, 2014). Co-wrote catalog text for Native Baskets from Northern California with curator Julia Cronin. Additional curatorial and exhibition tech work as assigned.



Photo Assist for the United States Postal Service





Consulted on the accuracy of the fashion depicted on a United States Postal Service stamp featuring American author Henry James (1843–1916). Executed detailed research and recommendations on the artistic illustration. Involved researching canoeing fashions from 1903, as well as Literary history relating to James' 1903 novel, The Ambassador. Details here.



Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising





In 2014, assisted FIDM Museum staff with publisher and grant research, communication, and development of the exhibition catalog for Outdoor Girls: Sporting Fashion, 1800 to 1960 (2020).


"Outdoor Girls: Sporting Fashion, 1800 to 1960 will be the first exhibition to explore the evolution of women’s sporting attire in Western fashion over this 160-year period. Beginning with the turn of the nineteenth century, when women ventured outside the domestic sphere to partake in outdoor activities, and concluding with the mid-twentieth century, when the basic forms of women’s sportswear we know today were codified, this exhibition will trace the accessories and garments that defined women’s participation in the sporting world as athletes and spectators. Examining the competing priorities of fashion, function, and propriety, Outdoor Girls will feature approximately 65 fully accessorized ensembles and a selection of sport-related accessories and ephemera, all drawn from the exceptional collections of the FIDM Museum. This exhibition represents an unprecedented opportunity for a significant portion of the FIDM Museum’s extensive holdings, which are marked by their outstanding design merit, to be seen outside of Los Angeles."





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Heather Vaughan Lee