Bonnie Cashin Collection

The Bonnie Cashin Collection of Fashion, Theater, and Film Costume Design is an extensive archive of the renowned designer’s work, personal papers, illustrations and more.  This archive, personally collected by Bonnie Cashin herself, documents her long and influential design career.  The photographs, letters, designs and other materials are enough to fill 318 boxes and 4 garment racks.  However, as detailed and inclusive as this Cashin collection truly is, there exists a limit the kinds of stories that it can tell.  As comprehensive as any historical catalog can be, there are always the stories told and those lost in the past.  In “The Narrativization of Real Events”, Hayden White discusses the process of turning real events into remembered narratives, and states that “every narrative, however seemingly “full,” is constructed on the basis of a set of events which might have been included but were left out” (White 14).  This concept can be seen in any collection, but I will be looking at it specifically with the Bonnie Cashin Collection.

Since Bonnie Cashin’s archive includes both a large number and large variety of records, it has the potential to tell many stories.  If based solely on the files in this collection, the historical narratives that could be told would center on Cashin’s design work.  We could see the progression of Cashin’s fashion style changed from when she began designing, around the 1920s, to the later part of her career, around the 1960s.  We could also study the similarities and differences between Cashin’s designs for different purposes.  She produced pieces for chorus girls costumes, film, ready-to-wear, WWII women’s civilian defense uniforms, rainwear, and more.  Each of these designs had to take into account different needs for functionality and glamour-appeal.  Scholars could research her designs for different brands, and consider how they appealed to different consumer audiences.  The archives also provide a glimpse into Cashin’s personal life, since it includes vacation photos, travel journals, personal letters and more.  Although none of these narratives could be a holistic depiction of Cashin’s extensive work and life, they could serve as representations and examples of the whole. 

In contrast, narratives that could not be told singularly through this collection include anything related to the fashion industry overall. Cashin’s personal archive could not tell her lasting influence on the industry, or specifically, how her original design for the Coach handbag may have influenced its later and current designs.  This could be remedied if designs from contemporary society were compared, and analyzed to find similarities.  Also, it may not be able to accurately depict the popular fashion style during her time.  Although it likely could give a general idea, we would not be able to conclude that Cashin’s designs reflected all of the time’s trends.  This could be changed if other high-end design archives from the mid 1900s were used to recognize the most popular styles.  It is true, historical documents- no matter how “full”- are crucial to remembering the past, but we must understand that they can not and do not represent all stories.