Description
Dress & Drinks: Chicago History Museum with Jessica Pushor
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific
FREE Webinar, Open to All
Dress & Drinks heads to the Windy City this month, exploring the costume and textile holdings of the Chicago History Museum. Joining us is Jessica Pushor, Collection Manager of Costume and Textiles, whose work centers on preserving and expanding access to one of the most extensive fashion collections in the country.
Jessica earned her Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Arizona and her Master of Arts in Fashion and Textiles Studies: History, Theory and Museum Practices from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She’s worked with institutions including the Museum of the City of New York, The Merchant's House Museum, The Tenement Museum, and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, before joining the Chicago History Museum in 2014.
Jessica will guide us through a collection estimated at 50,000 objects, spanning garments worn by prominent figures in American and fashion history alongside the everyday dress of Chicagoans. She'll share highlights from the collection's treasures, garments by the House of Worth, House of Dior, Charles James, hats by Chicago milliner Bes-Ben, alongside Mary Todd Lincoln relics and garment fragments once collected and sold by Elizabeth Keckly, the dressmaker and confidante of First Lady Mary Lincoln. Join us for an exciting evening of conversation and community.
Click here to register
Registration closes 24 hours prior to the event.
If you missed the deadline, email conversationsondress@costumesocietyamerica.com.
Threads of a Nation (Cocktail)
Ingredients (serves 1):
- 2 fluid ounces bourbon
- 0.5 fluid ounces blackberry syrup*
- 0.75 fluid ounces fresh lemon juice
- 0.25 fluid ounces honey syrup (1:1 honey and warm water, cooled)
- 1 egg white (or 0.5 oz aquafaba, optional, for texture)
- 2 dashes orange bitters
- 3 fresh blackberries and a small sprig of rosemary, for garnish
*Blackberry syrup: simmer 1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries in 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar for 8 minutes, mashing lightly; strain and cool.
Instructions:
- Combine bourbon, blackberry syrup, lemon juice, honey syrup, and egg white (if using) in a cocktail shaker without ice. Dry-shake for 15 seconds to build texture.
- Add ice and shake vigorously for another 15 seconds.
- Strain into a chilled coupe, add 2 dashes of orange bitters to the foam, and garnish with fresh blackberries and a rosemary sprig. Serve immediately.
Threads of a Nation (Mocktail)
Ingredients (serves 1):
- 2 fluid ounces black tea, brewed strong and chilled
- 0.5 fluid ounces blackberry syrup*
- 0.75 fluid ounces fresh lemon juice
- 0.25 fluid ounces honey syrup (1:1 honey and warm water, cooled)
- 0.5 fluid ounces aquafaba (chickpea brine), for texture
- 2 dashes non-alcoholic bitters (such as All The Bitter or Fee Brothers)
- 3 fresh blackberries and a small sprig of rosemary, for garnish
*Blackberry syrup: simmer 1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries in 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar for 8 minutes, mashing lightly; strain and cool.
Instructions:
- Combine chilled black tea, blackberry syrup, lemon juice, honey syrup, and aquafaba in a cocktail shaker without ice. Dry-shake for 15 seconds to build texture.
- Add ice and shake vigorously for another 15 seconds.
- Strain into a chilled coupe, add 2 dashes of non-alcoholic bitters to the foam, and garnish with fresh blackberries and a rosemary sprig. Serve immediately.