The Fabric of America

Since White Castle System of Eating was incorporated in 1921, their uniformed staff have been a signature of the dining experience. The company enforced strict multi-step guidelines for presentable dress in an effort to alleviate customers' fears about hygiene. The practice has continued throughout White Castle's history; the company adopted this style of hat for staff in the mid-20th century.  

As a postmodernist, architect and designer Michael Graves (1934-2015) rejected minimalist designs and favored colorful, mixed geometric patterns in his work. In the late 1980s, Graves began a long-lasting working relationship with the Walt Disney Company. During that time, he prototyped a series of baseball caps for the company that featured the character Mickey Mouse in a variety of color ways. 

Susanna Allan Hunter (1912-2005), an Alabama-based quilter and sharecropper, owned this hat, which was a gift from her daughter. Hunter had an affinity for stylish clothing and wore her hats to church. For Black American women who attended religious services, a hat—also called a "crown"—was a way to display their personal taste. Working-class Black women gravitated towards these hats as a part of their "Sunday Best" especially to contrast with their daily workwear. 

Emerson Hough wrote in 1918 that "the chief figure of the American West" was a woman wearing a sunbonnet. Sunbonnets provided protection from sun, high winds, dust, or rain due to the deep brim and chin curtain. Some women also wore them to maintain their fair complexion, which was a beauty ideal from the colonial period until the early 1900s. In the 20th and 21st centuries, sunbonnets remained emblematic of women during American westward expansion thanks to mass media depicting the period.

The tricorne hat was a popular style for men in the British Colonies during 18th century, and members of the Continental Army and allied militia groups wore them during the American Revolutionary War. After the United States won independence, three-cornered hats—often adorned with buttons, feathers, or cockades of ribbon—were a standard part of an infantryman's regalia until the turn of 19th century. This tricorne from the mid-1800s was probably used for military ceremony purposes. 

In 2017, Nike became the first major American company to sell a sports hijab, which was designed for athletes who wear the traditional Islamic head covering. Prior to this, smaller, Muslim-owned companies sold athletic hijabs; the Nike Pro brought the product into larger athleticwear markets. Nike's designers worked with hijabi athletes, such as Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad, to create head coverings that reflect their needs as professionals. 

After American Revolutionary War, there was a large demand for patriotic printed handkerchiefs from American and British manufacturers. Brothers Richard (b. 1772) and Collin Gillespie (b. 1774)—from Glasglow, Scotland—made this handkerchief for the American market during the 1820s. The print features the Declaration of Independence and depicts the first three presidents, the Boston Tea Party, and General Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga in 1777 among other motifs.

Marguerita Mergentime (1894-1941) created table linens that she hoped would provoke conservations; her "Food for Thought" tablecloth, sold at Lord & Taylor department store, featured common phrases and political slogans. Mergentime, who was self-taught, designed bold and colorful Modernist textiles that were inspired by American culture and iconography. During her brief career, she became tastemaker and iconoclast who shaped home décor for years to come.

Emeline Morrow Miner (1914-1997), a self-taught artist from Iowa, made this hooked rug in honor of the United States Bicentennial in 1976. Originally a way for poor women to create home décor, rug hooking was a fashionable craft for middle- and upper-class women in the late-19^th century. After the practice fell out of favor, there was a mid-20th century revival led by craftswomen and teachers like Pearl McGown (1891-1983).

Emeline Morrow Miner (1914-1997), a self-taught artist from Iowa, made this hooked rug in honor of the United States Bicentennial in 1976. Originally a way for poor women to create home décor, rug hooking was a fashionable craft for middle- and upper-class women in the late-19^th century. After the practice fell out of favor, there was a mid-20th century revival led by craftswomen and teachers like Pearl McGown (1891-1983).

Quilts made from fabric fragments can offer a glimpse into the lives of those who made them. An unknown member of the Greusel family of Detroit, Michigan made this quilt in the 1890s. The twenty quilt blocks include fabric and ribbons that commemorated news stories—Joseph Greusel was a reporter and editor for the Detroit Free Press newspaper—, family history, and political and fraternal groups. 

During the First and Second World Wars, some women created quilts to support the Red Cross and other relief organizations. Quilts were sent to soldiers or civilians in war zones or were sold at auction on the homefront to collect money for charity. Especially during World War II, quilters added patriotic symbols, such as the letter "V" for victory, and red-white-and-blue motifs to show support for the war effort.