For lovers of vintage fashion, Los Angeles is unlike any other city. Here, costume history is not confined to museum galleries—it lives inside working costume houses, studio archives, research libraries, private collections and design workrooms where garments continue to be studied, restored and returned to the screen.
Hollywood’s costume houses are among the city’s greatest cultural treasures. Their vast wardrobes contain clothing representing nearly every period, profession and social world imaginable. Beyond the racks are fitting photographs, original sketches, fabric swatches, reference books and patterns that document how costume designers transformed actors into unforgettable characters.
Inside Hollywood’s working costume archives, where more than a century of cinematic fashion is preserved.
Among the most iconic is Western Costume Company, founded in 1912 and still serving the film industry. Its celebrated archive includes historic costumes, sketches, fitting photographs and artifacts from landmark productions. Western’s working collection reflects a distinctly Hollywood tradition: garments were designed and made for films, returned after production and preserved for future use.
Deco Haus founder Jill Schliesmann apprenticed and trained at Western Costume, where she learned to handle vintage textiles and study historic garment construction firsthand. That experience shaped her belief that an archival garment should not merely be copied—it should be understood. Its fabric, proportions, handwork and movement all reveal the intelligence of its original maker.
Western Costume Company, the legendary Los Angeles costume house where Deco Haus founder Jill Schliesmann apprenticed and trained in vintage textiles.
Los Angeles is also home to museum collections of remarkable depth. LACMA’s Costume and Textiles collection encompasses thousands of objects spanning centuries and cultures, from historic dress and rare textiles to major examples of twentieth-century fashion. Its exhibitions and scholarly projects offer the public an opportunity to see clothing as both cultural history and fine art.
Highlights from LACMA’s renowned Costume and Textiles collection, where historic dress is preserved as both cultural history and fine art.
The extraordinary ASU FIDM Museum collection is another essential Los Angeles resource. Formerly known simply as the FIDM Museum, it holds more than 15,000 fashion objects representing over 400 years of fashion history, alongside an extensive study collection of photographs, magazines, designer archives, textiles and ephemera. Its holdings include haute couture, ready-to-wear, accessories, jewelry, world dress and important film costumes.
The ASU FIDM Museum collection encompasses more than 400 years of fashion, including couture, film costumes, textiles and rare accessories.
Some of the city’s most fascinating garments, however, remain behind closed doors. Hollywood designers, collectors, archivists and former studio professionals have assembled private collections containing screen-worn costumes, couture, rare beaded gowns and pieces once owned by legendary performers. These treasures are periodically shared through museum exhibitions, loans, retrospectives and special events, allowing the public a brief glimpse into wardrobes that are not ordinarily accessible.
Treasures from private Hollywood collections are periodically brought into public view through museum exhibitions, retrospectives and special loans.
This constant movement between private archive, working costume house and museum makes Los Angeles a true mecca for costume lovers. A gown may emerge from storage for an exhibition; an overlooked sketch may illuminate a famous screen image; a fragile textile may inspire a contemporary designer.
For Deco Haus, this living culture of preservation remains deeply personal. Jill Schliesmann’s training at Western Costume connects each collection to the artisanship of Hollywood’s past—while Los Angeles continues to provide an inexhaustible education in glamour, construction and the enduring power of clothes to tell a story.
