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Blanche Payne Regional Costume Photograph and Drawing Collection, 1930-1963

Overview of the Collection

Photographer and collector
Payne, Blanche, 1897-1972
Title
Blanche Payne Regional Costume Photograph and Drawing Collection
Dates
1930-1963 (inclusive)
1930-1937 (bulk)
Quantity
25 watercolor paintings (1 box) ; various sizes
1,654 prints (5 boxes) ; various sizes
1,233 negatives (4 boxes) ; 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches each
839 postcards (3 boxes) ; various sizes
140 pattern drawings on 66 sheets (1 box) ; various sizes
Collection Number
PH0380
Summary
Prints, postcards, pattern drawings, and watercolor paintings collected and created by a University of Washington faculty member during her travels in the 1930s
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Request at UW

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Blanche Payne was born in 1897 in Thayer, Kansas. She earned a bachelor's degree in home economics from Kansas State Teacher's College in 1916 and a master of arts degree in clothing from Columbia University in 1924. Payne taught high school English and home economics classes in Kiowa, Kansas, and Lewiston, Idaho, before servng as a student nurse at Camp Lewis, Washington in 1918. In 1919 she joined the faculty at Arizona State Teachers College, where she taught classes in textiles and clothing. From 1924 to 1926 Payne taught clothing classes at high schools in New York City, studied draping with French designer Madame Geo, and started her own design business.

Payne joined the University of Washington faculty in 1927, where she taught costume and apparel design in the School of Home Economics. In 1929 she took a leave of absence to study flat pattern at the Mitchell School of Design in New York City, then extended her leave until 1930 to travel through Central Europe and the Balkans surveying folk costume in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Albania, and Yugoslavia. Payne resumed her duties at the University of Washington in 1931 but returned to Yugoslavia in 1936 to 1937 for additional study. Her research focused on the regions of South Serbia (Macedonia), Croatia, Bosnia, North Serbia, and Dalmatia. In addition to exploring museum collections, Payne visited remote villages, markets, and festivals throughout the country to study and photograph peasant costumes. She also augmented her studies by drafting patterns from the clothing she encountered.

Payne's Yugoslav research failed to result in a full-length publication due to the prohibitive costs of publishing and the destruction of some of her color plates during World War II. However, in 1965 Payne published a textbook entitled History of Costume, which described the evolution of fashion from 3000 B.C. to 1900. The book contained detailed descriptions of historical and cultural fashions together with renditions of small-scale garment patterns that she meticulously drafted from various museum collections. In researching her book, Payne spent two years avidly collecting illustrations. Considered a foremost resource in the study of costume history, the text reflected her teaching philosophy that the study of original artifacts is of essential importance in understanding good design.

In addition to her intensive research on clothing and historic costume, Payne supervised work on the Textile and Costume Study Collection housed in the University of Washington School of Home Economics. As part of her studies of non-Western folk dress and embroidery technique, she collected original ethnic costumes along with textile and embroidery examples. She used her Balkan research as a valuable source for studying ethnic dress in its original context and to provide her students with primary source material for the study of modern costume construction and fine craftsmanship.

During the 1960s Payne consulted for the Brooklyn Museum, work that included a research trip to Europe to find costumes from the House of Worth for an exhibition. Payne retired from the University of Washington in 1966 and died in 1972.

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Historical Background

Historical Background of Yugoslavia

Until WWI (1914-1918), Austria-Hungary ruled the territories of today’s Slovenia, Croatia, Vojvodina, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the Ottoman Empire controlled Serbia and Montenegro until 1878, and Macedonia until 1912. People identified mostly with their historic regions or lands until the nineteenth century, when the development of capitalism and integration processes caused the birth of modern national identities—so that Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, Bosnian Muslims (present-day Bosniaks), Macedonians, and Montenegrins each started to identify themselves as ethnic nations. Also at this time, there was a resurgence of interest in regional dress, which coincided with a romanticized and idealized idea of the peasant past, which culminated in the idea of “our dress,” emblematic of national identity.

In 1918, Serbia and Montenegro united with the South Slavic territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, which resulted in the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. In 1929, this entity became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, ruled by King Aleksandar Karadjordević. In 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was occupied by Axis forces and became the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, and in 1945, the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia. This entity was renamed the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963. In 1991, it disintegrated into five independent states: the Republic of Slovenia, the Republic of Croatia, the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (including Serbia and Montenegro), and the Republic of Macedonia. Currently, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia are all independent states. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, with oversight given to the United Nations.

Yugoslav Regional Costume

The people of the former Yugoslavia were very diverse: they spoke different languages such as Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, and Macedonian; they had different alphabets, Roman and Cyrillic; and different religions, Roman Catholicism, Serbian or Macedonian Orthodoxy, and Islam. In addition, there were non-Slavic populations that made their homes there, including Albanians, Hungarians, Romanians, and Turkish peoples. Although these different populations were unified under one governing body during the time Blanche Payne was completing her research, they kept their cultural traditions alive through a revived interest in dance and costume. While the specific materials and motifs of costume varied from place to place, regional costume from the former Yugoslavia also shared common features.

Traditionally, women hand-made clothing for their families, which was altered and worn throughout one’s lifetime. Various factors influenced regional costume design, including social station, marriage status, age, and season. Costume was generally made of linen or wool, originally homespun, that was later replaced by store-bought cloth. Costume ranged in color from monochromatic to very colorful, and embellishment from very plain to featuring decorations such as leather and cloth appliqué, metallic thread stitching, and heavy embroidery. Interaction with other countries and the impact of new technologies resulting from Industrialization affected costume production, materials and motifs. New materials and dyes became available over time. Traditional crafts such as costuming and tailoring declined, therefore types of embroidery (such as the gold thread embroidery of Bosnia and Hercegovina) became less common. As embroidery became more commercial rather than something that was done in the home, new fashionable motifs were introduced to please urban buyers. By the time of World War II, regional costume was mostly worn for festivals and traditional dance.

Generally, the basis of a woman's costume was an ankle long shirt, or long skirt and shirt combination, depending on the geographical region. In some regions, women wore long baggy trousers and voluminous blouses. Over the undergarments women would wear one or two aprons. Over these would be worn an overcoat, varying in style from short to long, sleeveless to long sleeved. Generally there would be a belt or sash of some kind, leggings or stockings, and soft leather shoes. Headdresses could also range from small caps and folded kerchiefs, to long turbans and ribbons. Hairstyles varied according to class and maturity, and women would often weave flowers or coins into their hair. Many times women carried embroidered bags and wore necklaces made of coins or clothing decorated with coins. Clothing like this was often a young girl’s dowry. Women’s costume generally varied in color, with girls and young women wearing lighter or brighter colors such as red, light blue, or white, and married or older women wearing black or dark violet.

A man's costume generally consisted of cotton or woolen trousers, which could be fitted or loose; belts or sashes; and leggings and stockings worn with soft leather shoes, work shoes, or boots for special occasions. Various types of head coverings were worn, including caps and fezzes. Over the clothing, men would wear various layers of waistcoats, long coats, and hooded or sheepskin coats, which would often be heavily embroidered or adorned with metal thread. For special occasions, many men would wear belts with pouches to hold smoking implements and weapons.

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Content Description

Images of costumes and textiles, the majority of which are of Yugoslavian regional dress, collected by Professor Blanche Payne while performing research for several unpublished manuscripts. Also includes twenty-five watercolor paintings, mostly created by Olga Benson, depicting traditional folk costumes of Southern Europe, and sixty-six sheets of pattern drawings by Blanche Payne of Yugoslavian costume.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions might exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact the repository for details.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into five series:

  • Series 1, Yugoslav Costume - Photographs and Postcards
  • Series 2, Yugoslav Costume - Pattern Drawings
  • Series 3, Yugoslav Costume - Watercolors by Olga Benson
  • Series 4, Other Regional Costume - Photographs and Postcards
  • Series 5, Travel and Textile Production - Photographs

Within the series, the Yugoslav costume photographs and postcards are arranged by country, then town or region, and within those subseries, by type of costume. The photographs and postcards from other countries are arranged by country and then type of costume. Images of towns and villages within the different regions and countries are also integrated with the costume photographs and postcards to provide further context. The watercolor plates and pattern drawings are arranged in the order that Blanche Payne indicated in her manuscript.

Because Blanche Payne collected photographs of costume pieces from museum collections, these photographs do not have negatives. Only the photographs Payne personally took have negatives, therefore there are gaps in the numbering of negatives in the collection.

The majority of the materials in this collection were acquired or created by Blanche Payne in 1930 and 1936-1937, a time when the (now independent) countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia (South Serbia), Montenegro, Serbia, Serbia (Kosovo), and Slovenia were part of Yugoslavia. This collection reflects the fact that, at the time, Yugoslavia was the correct term used to identify this grouping of countries. Since the 1930s, the former Yugoslavia has undergone many different political and geographical shifts, and the arrangement of the finding aid and collection tries to reflect the localities as Blanche Payne identified them at the time.

When held at the Henry Art Gallery, these prints, postcards, and negatives were given a numbering system by volunteers. For example, 6700.6 for Payne photographs, and P6700.6 for postcards and photographs Payne collected, but didn't create. Some did not have old numbers indicated, due to the fact that they were never numbered as part of the work done on the collection by the volunteers. The numbering system was changed to reflect the arrangement and archival standards used by the University of Washington Libraries, however the old numbers are included in the case file for reference.

Custodial History

After Blanche Payne’s death, other than the textile collection of the School of Home Economics at the University of Washington, the bulk of her collections went to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) and to John Sweet, the executor of her estate.

Acquisition Information

Donor: John Sweet for Blanche Payne Estate, 1991; Museum of History and Industry, via the Henry Art Gallery, 1991 (three enlarged photographs and one watercolor)

Processing Note

Processed by Erin Whitney in 2009-2012.

Three photographs and twenty-five watercolors (which were originally transferred from the Henry Art Gallery) were relocated from the Blanche Payne Papers, Accession No. 1918-012, in the repository in 2005. The pattern drawings were relocated from the Blanche Payne Papers, Accession No. 1918-012 in 2009.

Separated Materials

Material Described Separately:

Blanche Payne papers

Blanche Payne "History of Costume" illustration collection

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Clothing and dress--History--Sources
  • Costume--Drawings
  • Costume--History--Sources
  • Costume--Photographs
  • Ethnic costume--Yugoslavia--History--Sources
  • Home economics teachers--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives
  • Needlework--Drawings
  • Slavs, Southern--Clothing--History--Sources
  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)
  • Women college teachers--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives
  • Women historians--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives

Personal Names

  • Payne, Blanche, 1897-1972--Archives

Corporate Names

  • University of Washington--Faculty--Archives


2005 (Last modified: 2/28/2025)

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