The DuPage County Historical Museum is currently hosting an exhibit of 17th/early 18th century French clothing until September 9th. All items are from the private collection of Donna Finnegan and her Antiques business. It is … amazing. Awe inspiring. There are two sets of stays. There are dresses. There are complete men’s suits. There are the most fantastic embroidered stomachers right there, under glass, which is good if you drool like i do. I have studied this stuff for over a decade, and I have never just been in a room full of it. (The perils of living in midwestern suburbia, I suppose….) I found out after the fact that I was not to take pictures, ahem, so I cannot post them here. Suffice it to say, what’s on her website does not at all do this exhibit justice. Her private collection was like being inside a few pages of Fashion. I have never before in my life gone into a free exhibit and emptied the contents of my wallet into the donation bowl on the way out. That’s right, people – it’s a free exhibit. If you love costume history, and you are within driving distance of Wheaton, IL, you should come see this.