Our sale will feature property from the Historical Costume Museum, Inc. of Miami, Florida. The HCM at one time comprised a large part of Fashion Group International's South Florida branch. Fashion Group was founded in 1928 by 17 notable women including Edna Chase, (editor of Vogue), Eleanor Roosevelt, Claire McCardell, Lilly Dache, and other important figures in the fashion industry. The HCM collection features Pucci garments, Chanel, Dior, Fath, Zandra Rhodes, Valentino, Courreges, Jean Desses, Lanvin, Norell, Beene, Gernreich, Hermes, Balenciaga, Galanos, Cardin, Trigere, Samuel Winston, Givenchy, Adrian, Balmain, Liberty, Worth, Pingat, Fortuny and others. The HCM collection also contains many dead stock garments donated directly from designers collections including Pauline Trigere, Oleg Cassini and Arnold Scassi. Accessories including several Bess-Ben hats, pair early 18th century women’s shoes, costume jewelry, photo albums, and military will also be included. Most lots carry not only the provenance of the HCM, but also the original donor names, some of which are significant American families. A collection of fine estate linen from two prominent Philadelphia families will be offered. The sale also includes property from several other museums as well. One of these, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, will be de-accessioning a large collection of swatch cards from their Design Laboratory. The FIT collection, over 200,000 pieces, will probably be sold over several sales, the first of which will be on April 9th. The FIT swatch cards include florals, abstracts, conversationals, ethnic designs, laces, paisleys etc. with samples dating from the 19th thru the 20th century. For the most part these will be offered in large lots with the design trade in mind. Over 40,000 cards will be offered on April 9th. Uncataloged/discovery sale at the conclusion of the catalog sale on each day.