SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Sacramento City College Department Chair of Applied Apparel Studies Lynne Giovannetti has an ace up her proverbial leg-of-mutton sleeve. 

And that ace up her sleeve? Giovannetti is excited to dust off the cobwebs and acid-free tissue to showcase Sac City College’s collection of amazing garments in a retrospective that spans 200 years of fashion. The exhibit opens March 3 in the Joan Didion Learning Resource Center on the Sac City campus. 

Giovannetti’s team of instructors teaches hands-on skills that can take a student to the fashion world or costume world. With a multitude of positions in these arenas, including cutters, drapers and tailors, students go from beginning sewing to pattern making, garment construction, illustration, what textiles work best for various patterns, and assessing historical background of various fashion periods.  

Students see firsthand where the seams run and how the sleeves fit into the outfit, and this toolbox of knowledge helps the student designer create a finished product evolving from the bolt of fabric through each tedious step to the end result: the artful, wearable garment. 

Applied Apparel Studies isn’t in the Technology & Innovation division for nothing; these classrooms have state-of-the-art stations that include computer-driven sewing machines that thread the machines automatically; sewing tables on hydraulic lifts enabling various heights for cutting fabric, making patterns, and sewing; and software that designs two- and three-dimensional patterns, although students also learn the craft by hand first. This is a far cry from your great-grandmother’s treadle sewing machine.

Giovannetti says, “The curriculum was drafted to match two worlds, fashion and costume, and the goal is for our students to get a job in their chosen field after they leave us.”

The exhibit will feature men’s, women’s and children’s garments from between 1770 and 1970. From the earliest, a child’s doublet, to swimsuits from a California manufacturer, including a men’s wool onesie from the early twentieth century; to a velvet opera coat, late 1880’s wedding gown, the finery of beaded capelets and dresses, corsets, crinolines, dusters and much more.  Research has been conducted on all the garments being shown for accuracy in dating.

Technological innovations advanced the progression of fashion over the last 200 years from the needle for hand sewing to the spinning wheel and sewing machine. Fashion eras can be seen throughout the displays from floor-length hoop skirts and bustles to slimmer silhouettes and ultimately rising hemlines. 

Hustle your bustle to the Sac City Joan Didion Learning Resource Center for a fun and eye-catching 200 years of fashion exhibit where I am sure a leg-of-mutton sleeve will be making an appearance.

The exhibit, located on the third floor of the Joan Didion Learning Resource Center, is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Sunday and Holidays. On Campus parking is $2 daily.