'Dressed in White': Nancy Hills's Remarkable Finale Celebrating Fashion History

Nancy Hills, an award-winning designer and costume design professor at USU’s Theatre Arts department, is celebrating the culmination of her journey at Utah State University with her “Dressed in White” exhibition.

The showcase brings history to life with meticulously crafted gowns spanning from the 1700s to 1954. The exhibition will be on display March 18–March 27 in the Tippets & Eccles Galleries.

This showcase has history that goes beyond the dresses on display — it has been a decade in the making.

The project came about during Nancy’s study abroad in England. There, she collaborated with Darrin Brooks, an Interior Design professor at USU on a project called Big Hair, Big Chair. For the project they were working on, they wanted to get their hands on some real garments. In this attempt, Nancy reached out to several museums and ended up getting a response from Althea Mackenzie, who was the curator of the Snowshill Manor Collection.

“Darrin and I took the train out to Herefordshire, and when we got off the train, Althea Mackenzie came and picked us up and took us to Barrington Hall, where the lovely Snowshill Manor Collection is,” Hills said.

It was there Nancy saw many of Janet Arnold’s dresses for the first time. For those who know, Janet Arnold was a clothing historian who wrote many historic clothing books, including a series of books called “Patterns of Fashion.” This series is one of the most used when it comes to recreating historical clothing.

Every year after that, Nancy visited Althea to see more. After a few years, she also started bringing students with her, and Althea recommended Nancy apply for the Janet Arnold Award. This fashion award not only honors Janet Arnold but continues to recognize those dedicated to historical fashion around the world.

“I won it that year from the Society of Antiquaries in London,” Hills said. “They got ahold of me and said, ‘What would you like to do?’”

Nancy decided to get some of Darrin Brooks’ interior design students who were also studying abroad at the time to model her first 11 dress recreations for a faculty forum.

“Now I think I have about 50 dresses total. I’ve been collecting patterns and doing more dresses,” Hills said. “I’ve had collections at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and at the Tippetts in 2018.”

At Nancy’s request to do one more white show before she retires, the Dean made arrangements for “Dressed in White.”

All the dresses crafted for this show are made with white fabric to showcase each dress's style lines to easily display the evolutionary changes in fabric patterns.

“With the busyness of fabric, you couldn’t always see the style lines. But, when it’s in all white you can,” Hills said. “You can see the evolutionary changes in the fabric.”

In addition to the exhibition, Nancy is publishing a book showcasing the first 25 dresses from this project. The cover features Mary Bufton’s Wedding Gown, which is Nancy’s favorite dress in the “Dressed in White” exhibition.

“Mary was a smock-maker and the workmanship on this particular dress was exquisite,” Hills said. “You just know that she loved it.”

While her journey at Utah State University is ending, she hopes to continue sharing her love for historic fashion.

“I want to do everything I can do to get other places to show this collection,” Hills said. “I think it’s really beautiful.”

Interim Department Head of Theatre Arts Richie Call feels especially honored — his grandfather hired Nancy, and Richie has been able to see much of her work through the years and now is privileged to be where he is now to see the culmination of her work as she retires from USU.

“I’m so happy that we get to celebrate Nancy’s retirement with a show that features her research and the work of so many of her students,” he said. “It’s the perfect way to celebrate all that she has done here and all that she has meant to so many people at USU. On a personal note, it’s on honor to me that my grandfather hired Nancy, and I get to be here as she retires.”

Witness Nancy Hills’s talent and love for historic fashion at her grand finale exhibition in the Tippets & Eccles Galleries. The showcase is free and open to all.