On Monday, Chickadee, Moose and I visited the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum for the first time. The reason for our visit was the new special exhibition, “Stitching History from the Holocaust,” which was created by the Jewish Museum Milwaukee and is now traveling around the country. This was an excellent addition to our fashion-themed summer school, and really encouraged us to look at fashion in a very different way.

This exhibit tells the story of Hedwig “Hedy” Strnad, a Jewish dress designer from Prague whose plans to flee Czechoslovakia with her husband and come to America were never realized. She was killed in the Holocaust, but some of her dress designs were found in an envelope by extended family members decades later, and they have been brought to life in this exhibit. She was a very talented woman, and seeing her work displayed made me think of all of the other people’s potential that was lost forever due to the horrible acts of the Holocaust.

Hedy was a very talented designer…eight of her sketches are styled for the exhibit, and this blue coat and dress combo was my favorite. The details, from the fur trim on the cuffs to the row of double buttons down the bodice of the dress are exquisite, and the rest of the styling, including vibrant blue shoes and a fun hat is outstanding. I enjoyed seeing a picture of the original sketch next to the mannequin to compare the two:

This floor-length gown looks like it was meant for happy times at balls or other formal events:

This lovely purple ensemble also caught my eye…the diamond-shaped detailing on the bodice is especially interesting:

I liked the bright color and belt detail on this teal dress:

This is another example of excellent styling, from the gloves and handbag down to the shoes:

I adore a jaunty hat and a well-appointed skirt suit!

The pattern on this dress is bright and fun, and the tiny hat is darling!

And the t-strap shoes and hat accessorize this floral dress perfectly:

Each of the designs was giving a couture tag in the style of the time, featuring Hedy’s name taken from her own signature, a detail that I especially loved:

And there was also a look toward the future, where you can write a postcard to yourself that will be mailed to you in the new year, so you can encourage yourself to pursue your own dreams.

This was our first visit to the museum, but I’m already planning to go back during the upcoming school year when Chickadee is learning about WWII…it is a great place to learn about a serious and important subject.