Wardrobe tag
- The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, at 6067 Wilshire Boulevard, is open six days a week from 10am to 6pm and closed Tuesdays.
- The ASU FIDM Museum, at 919 South Grand Avenue, is open only when an exhibition is on view; admission is free.
- LACMA’s Costume and Textiles department holds more than 35,000 objects from over 100 cultures.
Los Angeles made most of the costumes in film history, but seeing them is not as simple as walking into a permanent hall of famous dresses. Costumes are fragile, so museums rotate them, and the places that collect them each work differently. Here are the three institutions to know, what they hold and what to check before you go.
At a glance
| Museum | Address | Opening pattern | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Museum of Motion Pictures | 6067 Wilshire Blvd | Six days a week, 10am to 6pm; closed Tuesdays | Tickets and members’ free admission via the museum |
| LACMA | 5905 Wilshire Blvd | Closed Wednesdays; open other days, with later hours on weekends | Costume and Textiles department with over 35,000 objects |
| ASU FIDM Museum | 919 S Grand Ave | Only during exhibitions: Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm | Free; no tickets or reservations needed |
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
The museum of the organization behind the Oscars is the obvious first stop for screen costume. It is at 6067 Wilshire Boulevard and, according to its website, is open six days a week from 10am to 6pm, closed Tuesdays. The museum publishes collection highlights and visit details online, and it occasionally closes for special events, so check the calendar for your date. Members get free general admission and expedited check-in.
If your interest is the awards themselves, read The Academy Award for Costume Design: When It Began, Why There Were Two, and Milestones Since first; it gives the context for the costumes you will see.
LACMA’s Costume and Textiles department
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, has a department that LACMA describes as internationally recognized as one of the premier collections of costume and textiles in the world. It is the only curatorial area at LACMA with an encyclopedic collection: more than 35,000 objects representing over 100 cultures and more than 2,000 years of dress. The department shares its scholarship through the Doris Stein Research Center as well as through exhibitions and publications.
LACMA’s published hours show it closed on Wednesdays, open 11am to 6pm on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, until 8pm on Friday, and 10am to 7pm on weekends. Check the exhibition listings for what is on view.
Tip: For deeper involvement, LACMA’s Costume Council is a support group with lectures, exhibition previews and private tours of studios, boutiques and galleries. It is led by the department’s senior curator.
The ASU FIDM Museum downtown
The museum began as part of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, founded in downtown Los Angeles in 1969. The FIDM Museum and Library was established in 1978 as a hands-on student collection, and a curatorial department followed in 1997. In 2023 Arizona State University announced that FIDM would become part of its Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, and the museum is now the ASU FIDM Museum.
Its collection holds over 15,000 fashion objects dating back 400 years, plus 200,000 special collections artifacts, and film costumes are among the objects it collects. The museum is at the ASU California Center Grand, 919 South Grand Avenue. The key detail for visitors: it is open only when an exhibition is on view and closed at all other times. During exhibitions it opens Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm, and admission is free with no tickets or reservations required.
Hour-long tours of exhibitions, and of museum storage behind the scenes, can be booked Monday to Saturday by appointment with at least two weeks’ notice.
If you own a costume
Museums also take donations. The ASU FIDM Museum says its objects of interest include clothing and accessories, textiles, jewelry, film costumes, fashion magazines, photographs and design archives, and that acquisitions should have outstanding design merit, be an excellent example of an era, culture or designer’s work, and hold meaningful artistic and social significance. The Academy Museum publishes its own collection donation guidelines. Before offering anything, store it as described in Caring for Costumes and Vintage Garments: Storage, Light, Pests and Handling.
Why costume displays change
Light is one reason costume cannot simply stay on permanent display. The National Park Service’s textile guidance recommends a maximum of 50 lux for textiles, notes that light damage is cumulative and irreversible, and advises limiting total light exposure. More on those rules is in Caring for Costumes and Vintage Garments: Storage, Light, Pests and Handling.
Planning a costume day
- Check each museum’s current exhibitions the week you go; costume shows open and close through the year.
- Pair the Academy Museum and LACMA, both on Wilshire Boulevard, and avoid Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when one of them is closed.
- Visit the ASU FIDM Museum only during an exhibition, from Wednesday to Saturday.
- Read A Short History of Hollywood Costume Design, Decade by Decade beforehand to place what you see in context.