The Dress Detective

Caryn Elizabeth Montague Koch-Esterline, M.A. New York University, Visual Culture: Costume Studies

ccnyc@optonline.net
201-755-4493

Ms. Koch-Esterline is an independent scholar, researcher and curator specializing in eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century decorative arts with a focus on American and Western European costume, textiles and jewelry.  With over ten years in the business of fine and decorative arts in New York City, Ms. Koch-Esterline was formally with James II Galleries, and both Sotheby’s and at Christie’s auction houses in their Jewelry and American Decorative Arts Departments.  In 2005, she received her M.A. in Visual Culture: Costume Studies at New York University.  Her museum work includes textile and costume conservation and curating exhibitions at The New York Historical Society, The Museum of the City of New York and Stephens College, Columbia, MO.  She holds a B.A. in Theatre from Stephens College and is a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild, AFTRA, Costume Society of America, the Textile Society of America and the American Society of Jewelry Historians and has been published in scholarly journals and lectured at various academic seminars.  She is also a trained couture milliner and working actress in New York City and is a free-lance fashion and fashion history journalist, writing for her own blog, www.fashionscholar.blogspot.com.

The Dress Detective at dressdetective.com

As a genealogist and preservationist of American history and culture, I realize the importance of identifying 19th and 20th century photographs.  By using costume history expertise to authenticate genealogical data by identifying and dating objects, photos & paintings for both private and public foundations.  With a background in American and Western European art history, I am dedicated to providing a service in helping others to understand and identify their own history through family photographs and objects.  A photograph, sampler and other textiles are primary sources used in genealogy.  In dating these treasured sources correctly, it is possible to identify one’s ancestors and family history.  With my extensive experience and library, I am able to date and identify a client’s photograph, clothing or textiles, helping people to uncover their family’s past.  Please contact me at my email address or phone number above for a consultation and estimate.