Thrift Style

Thrift Style provides a nostalgic view into American ingenuity, sensibility, and optimism during a particularly challenging time of economic hardship and war—the period of the Great Depression and World War II. The exhibition explores the reuse of feed, flour, and sugar sacks to make clothing and other household objects. This “upcycling” was a cost-saving and resource-saving approach employed by homemakers to meet their families’ needs. With forty-one works from patterns to garments, it serves as an example of past ingenuity that can inform today’s efforts towards sustainability. This exhibition is a program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, and The National Endowment for the Arts.