The Museo del Costume in Palazzo Pitti features rotating exhibitions of clothing from the 18th to mid-20th centuries. It is located in Palazzina della Meridiana in the south wing of the Palazzo. The Costume Gallery is one of the newer collections to Palazzo Pitti, founded in 1983 by Kristen Aschengreen Piacenti. The Gallery spreads over the 14 rooms of the Meridiana apartments, which were completed in 1858. These rooms have a wonderful view of the Boboli Gardens in the rear of Palazzo Pitti. In addition to theatrical costumes, the gallery displays garments worn between the 18th century and the mid-19th century. Some of the exhibits are unique to Palazzo Pitti; these include the 16th-century funeral clothes of Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, and Eleonora of Toledo and her son Garzia, both of whom died of malaria. The gallery also exhibits a collection of mid-20th century costume jewelry. There are about 6000 costumes and accessories on exhibit, displayed on mannequins that are designed to show characters, styles and sizes of various ages. The collection also shows the ability of master tailors to satisfy the needs of different moments and events in history: from the rich and worldly dress that enlivened that 18th century to the sober affairs of the 1900's during the Wars. The collections of the Costume Gallery also include a group of about ninety theatre costumes belonging to the Sartoria Tirelli, which were given to the museum together with a large number of historical clothes by Umberto Tirelli.
The Museo del Costume is the only museum of the history of fashion in Italy and one of the most important in the world. A selection is exhibited in rotation every two years. The decision to change the displayed clothes every two years was initiated from the need of guaranteeing their preservation, but also offers the opportunity of displaying the garments preserved in the depository, mostly from private donors. The Meridiana building, close to the gallery, is also the location of a fabric restoration laboratory. There are frequent special exhibitions devoted to particular aspects of the collection. A full price ticket for the Costume Gallery, the Boboli Gardens, the Silver Museum, the Porcelain Museum, and the Bardini Gardens costs €7.
