She took one look at those high-necked, long-sleeved "Mother Hubbard" dresses - the only style available for purchase in the 1900s - and decided to turn the world of women's fashion upside-down.
Nell Don - whose full name was Ellen Quinlan Donnelly Reed - was the first person to design dresses "that worked for women" at affordable prices and in fashionable styles, and by 1930, she was the largest dress manufacturer in the United States.
K-State now exhibits its new collection of Don dresses at Justin Hall and intends to eventually become the central location for Don's work.
Marla Day, senior curator for K-State's Historic Costume and Textiles Museum, said she organized the exhibit as a "halfway point" forgathering more of Don's dresses.
"Whenever someone wants to find information on her designs, they'll come to K-State," said Day, instructor in the Department of Apparel, Textiles and Interior Design.
She said the exhibit pieces came from the Kansas City Union Station, the University of Missouri, the Jackson County Historic Museum, the Kansas City Irish Festival, and from private collectors.
"We did some digging," Day said.
Among about 30 of Nell Don's original dresses, the photograph displays tell Don's life story. She grew up in Parsons, Kan., the 12th of 13 children, which she used to her advantage by mending hand-me-downs and teaching herself how to sew.
Don married young, resisted a workers' union, had an affair, got a divorce, endured a kidnapping and ultimately ran the largest U.S. dress manufacturing company for more than 50 years. As one of the displays puts it, "She put a million wives into pretty clothes."
Whitney Vaughn, exhibit volunteer, said she thought Don's life story was special, and the collection especially is interesting because Don was from Kansas.
"That she could run a business and be a woman in a world run by men is pretty amazing," said Vaughn, freshman in apparel marketing.
Taylor Stands, exhibit volunteer, said about 60 people including students and people from out of town have visited the display.
"There are so many people throughout the years who have collected her dresses," said Stands, freshman in apparel design. "They're so old and very beautiful."
Day said the department's main purpose in creating such a collection at K-State is to show students how Don faithfully ran her company with her employees in mind.
"The way that she built her business, the way she cared for her employees - she handled that so well," Day said. "We feel she's a very strong role model for the students in our department at K-State."
