Costumes with a Story to Tell

Chanté Hamann is obsessed with costumes. A School of Drama (SoD) graduate student in costume design, Hamann is particularly intrigued by vintage costumes that reference the past. So when four large boxes of costumes donated in the 1960s were discovered in SoD storage, she was eager to learn what was inside.

Chanté​​ Hamann has been studying costumes that graced the stage more than a century ago. 
Media credit: Corinne Thrash

What she found was the best present she could imagine.

The boxes held a trove of costumes worn by famed actor Sarah Bernhardt and others more than a century ago, including hats, handmade silk shoes, beaded and sequined sashes, undergarments...