Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Are you missing the Frolicks on Facebook?

How much would you "LIKE" a chance to win a discount coupon to the Fashionable Frolick Shop on Etsy?   We want to thank our Facebook subscribers for their support and encouragement by offering them a very special, exclusive opportunity!

To enter for a chance to win 10% off your total purchase in our Shop, simply "LIKE" our Facebook page and then post a comment on the official contest entry post there by answering the question provided.  Sorry, comments here on the blog cannot be accepted for entry purposes.

TWO discount coupons will be awarded, drawn at random from the names listed in the Facebook comment replies.   The drawing will occur on Friday, April 4th at 5pm and the two lucky winners will be posted on our Facebook page then.

SPREAD THE WORD!!!!   Good luck, and thank you again to all of our FF Facebook friends! :-)

Sunday, March 23, 2014

"Millinery Through Time" Conference: Day Two

CW Millinery Through Time conference
Janea opens the conference with a brief history of the
millinery and mantua making trades.

Monday morning convened with Janea Whitacre offering a comprehensive overview of the milliner’s trade and all that it encompassed in the eighteenth century. She explored in fascinating detail the various divisions of the trade (black millinery vs. white millinery, shop milliners vs. private milliners, etc.) and described how the millinery trade was often paired with other similar trades to help maximize the milliner’s offerings, clientele base, and profits. Mantua-making was one of the trades most often practiced alongside millinery, so Janea’s presentation even included demonstrations of the mantua-maker’s art of pleating an early-century mantua and of cutting a later gown bodice directly on her client.

CW Millinery Through Time conference
Explaining the fashion for mantuas, with Angela playing the role of model!

CW Millinery Through Time conference
Demonstrating the pleating of the mantua.

CW Millinery Through Time conference
Apprentice Sarah demonstrating the cutting of a gown bodice on Miss Aislinn.

CW Millinery Through Time conference

The day continued to bring one inspiring talk after another, with papers exploring a plethora of topics including everything from Monsieur Beaulard, “man milliner” to Marie Antoinette, to the milliner’s vulnerability to theft, to an examination of an extant whitework apron, to a tantalizing glimpse at the rather curious eighteenth-century fashion for black velvet masks.   Angela Burnley (of Burnley and Trowbridge) spoke at length about eighteenth-century textiles and their availability, sharing slide after slide of pictures from her extensive research into period sample books and the Foundling Hospital’s tokens archive.  Addressing not only the names and variations of common fabrics, but also their identifying weave structures and most popular colors, Angela offered a glimpse into an enthralling avenue of inquiry that can contribute so much to the work done by material culture historians, textile and costume specialists, and reenactors alike.

One of the highlights of Monday’s talks was apprentice Sarah Woodyard’s “live action” analysis of a 1782 print entitled “A Morning Ramble, or – The Milliner’s Shop.”  Reading the details of the image like a text, she highlighted elements of the eighteenth-century milliner’s identity, work, and cultural stereotypes, exposing period connotations and nuances to words and objects that have largely become lost or obsolete over time.   As she spoke, the print’s image literally took shape on stage in tableau, piece by piece and figure by figure, brought to life through reconstructions of both the physical image and its period meaning.  For more on this particular paper, see Susan's post on her Two Nerdy History Girls blog.  More about the costumes featured in the presentation can be found on the Margaret Hunter Shop's facebook page, where the ladies documented the beginnings of the "Morning Ramble" project.

CW Millinery Through Time conference

CW Millinery Through Time conference
"A Morning Ramble" brought to life before our eyes.

CW Millinery Through Time conference
A brief discussion of the fashions featured in the print.

CW Millinery Through Time conference

We all enjoyed a very special treat Monday evening with a staged performance of a 1780s comic burletta/operetta, appropriately entitled - of course, what else?! - "The Milliners"!  Hilariously acted with true period flair for satire, irony, and downright delightful silliness, the play took aim at both "man-milliners," perceived to be overrunning the traditionally feminine realm of millinery work, and French fashions, increasingly popular in England in the 1780s.  We laughed until our sides hurt, relishing all of the fashion-related humor and the eighteenth century habit for poking fun at everyone and everything.  The cast did a marvelous job and we were so impressed and most thoroughly entertained!

Day Three to come in the following post!  In the meantime, there are additional photos available in our conference Flickr set.

Monday, March 17, 2014

"Millinery Through Time" Conference: Day One

Sunday found us at Colonial Williamsburg for the opening of the "Millinery Through Time" conference celebrating sixty years of the Margaret Hunter Shop.  The evening began with the Mistress of the shop, Janea Whitacre, sharing a "scrap book" history of the restored 18th-century shop building, along with an overview of the evolution of the trades of millinery and mantua-making as they are now practiced at CW.  A presentation of media clippings from film, television, print, and digital sources followed, providing a fun glimpse into not only the impact that the Shop has made within the culture of Colonial Williamsburg, but also the deep impression its staff and the trades they interpret have had on the wider history and education communities.  Next came a very special peek at a digitally recreated MHS as it might have appeared in the 1770s, and a quick summary of some of the antique costumes and textiles acquired by Colonial Williamsburg during the first years immediately following the shop's opening.

Then it was time for the party officially to begin!  Two amazing millinery confections made of elaborately crafted pastel sugars, frosting, and cake were on display.  They both looked good enough not only to eat, but even to wear!  The details on each of them, from feathers to gathered gauze to flowers, were unbelievable in their meticulous attention to every minute little detail.

CW Millinery Through Time conference

CW Millinery Through Time conference

CW Millinery Through Time conference

CW Millinery Through Time conference

We had a marvelous time catching up with old friends and making the acquaintance of new ones.  Many of the participants came in their favorite period or vintage clothing and it was such fun strolling about admiring all of the beautiful finery.  Recognizing fellow bloggers by their costumes became one of the pleasures of the evening, and we had such fun finally being able to put faces to some of the digital names we've grown accustomed to seeing!  :-)

CW Millinery Through Time conference
Emma and Ashley "going green" in silk!

CW Millinery Through Time conference
Leia, Ashley, and Aubry enjoying the evening's festivities.

We were so busy mingling and chatting (and eating cupcakes!) that we didn't even get a chance to take a picture of the two of us together all dressed up!  We went as "silk sack sisters," both in our striped silk sack jackets.  Hopefully some time later this week (praying the weather improves!), we'll try to get some quality pictures of our newest creations to share.  In the meantime, look forward to further conference updates over the next few days!

CW Millinery Through Time conference
One of several creations on display during the evening,
a timeless testament to the incomparable skill and
talent of the ladies that are the MHS.