The Kentucky Derby is Louisville’s version of New York’s Fashion Week, and dressing for Derby Day and the galas leading up to the big day has always been an event unto itself, even in its early years.

Derby Decades, an exhibit that opens at the Kentucky Derby Museum Thursday, April 9, showcases some of the Derby’s most noteworthy styles from the 1870s to today.

“Derby Decades covers 14 decades of Derby fashion,” said Wendy Treinen, the museum’s director of communications. “We have dresses from members of the community, women who host the parties and winning horse owner’s wives.”

Located on the museum’s second level, visitors are greeted at the top of the stairs by a group of dresses from party host Patricia Barnstable Brown and socialite Dottie Cherry.  Brown’s dresses are dripping with Swarovski crystals and Cherry’s are all French couture, including a pink Chanel suit.

ASHLEY MEDLEY | Voice-Tribune Derby Decades displays 14 generations of Derby fashion. The exhibit runs through Dec. 31.

“This is the Derby Museum’s first Derby fashion exhibit,” Treinen said. “The first part of the exhibit will feature Derby gala gowns. Then in August we’ll switch to Derby day outfits.”

The exhibit runs through December.

Fashion consultants Jo Ross and Bob Stuecker designed the exhibit. They obtained historical gowns from the Louisville Science Center, the Elizabeth Sage Historical Costume Collection at Indiana University and the Speed Art Museum. The more contemporary gowns came from the wives of Derby-winning horse owners and area residents such as Mary Stone, Cheri Collis White, Madeline Abramson and Patty Ethington.

The exhibit is not just a fascinating look at fashion from past Derbies, but also past styles and trends. They also give a glimpse into what was going on in the U.S. during the various decades.

For example, a Christian Dior dress from the late 1940s has a full, tiered lace skirt and lace overlay bodice. After the textile rationing during World War II, the dress signaled a return to happier times.

In the 1950s, hemlines started rising, and just-below-the-knee styles gave women an alternative to the sweeping floor-length styles of the past. The ’60s brought in trapeze dresses and even shorter hemlines.

“Women started taking more risks with their look (in the ’60s),”  said collections curator Katherine Veitschegger.

“The ’80s were very out there,” Veitschegger said. “It was very glitzy and flashy.”

The ’90s into the new millennium saw a lot of black gowns with intricate detailing and a return to bright, bold colors. The most interesting gown in this collection belongs to Ethington.

Her slim black dress has a plunging neckline, held in place by three metal bars and studs. The neckline also includes a metal dog collar.

“There are no fixed rules for Derby. Everyone uses it as a time of self-expression,” Veitschegger said.

The exhibit also shows how past trends come back into style.

“You could almost wear the dresses from the ’30s now,” Treinen said. “They have the ruffled sleeves and it was when you started seeing ruffles at the hems.”

Taking care of the dresses is a delicate process. Because some dresses are more than 100 years old, the lighting must be set to museum standards.

“We only touch the dresses with white gloves,” Treinen said.

Putting the early dresses on the mannequins was a challenge, Treinen said.

“The old time dresses have smaller waists,” she said. “On some of them, we can’t show the backs because we couldn’t close them all the way.”

The average waist size for women in 1870 was 23 inches (not including a tightly laced corset). In 2004, it was 27 inches.

The exhibit is set up against the backdrop of rose pink walls with 9-foot roses painted on them. Instead of heads, the mannequins have large rose blooms and their arms are covered in green sleeves.

The blooms and sleeves were made by students at the Youth Performing Arts School.

The room will change dramatically in August, with the roses being replaced by vintage wallpaper with a black and white mural of Churchill Downs’ grandstand.

“The exhibit has been about two years in the making,” Treinen said. “One year was spent collecting the dresses and doing research on fashion history.”

Simply Chic
The museum will hold Simply Chic, a fashion show  featuring a variety of hats and little black dresses to kick off the exhibit on Thursday, April 9, at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $50.

The show will feature dresses from Mall St. Matthews and Oxmoor Center and New York designers Carmen Marc Valvo, Milly, Nanette Lepore and Cynthia Steffe. Gabriel Amar, designer for Frank Olive hats has created one of a kind hats to go with several dresses.

The details
The Kentucky Derby Museum, 704 Central Ave., is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets are $12 for adults, $11 for seniors, $8 for students 13 to 18, $5 for children 5 to 12 and children 5 and under are free.

For more information, call 637-1111 or visit ­derbymuseum.org.