Historic Threads: Three Centuries of Clothing Colonial Williamsburg Online Exhibit

Last January, Colonial Williamsburg launched the beginnings of an online companion to their current exhibit "Fashion Accessories from Head to Toe."  Today, a new and improved and significantly expanded version of that online exhibit has arrived!

The portal page to the new online clothing and accessory exhibit from Colonial Williamsburg.

"Historic Threads: Three Centuries of Clothing" explores in glorious depth and detail the incredible costume collection of Colonial Williamsburg.  Drawing upon both the current accessories exhibit and their 2002 "The Language of Clothing" display (which was heaven, and I'd give almost anything to persuade them to mount it again!), this digital exhibit is organized to educate and dazzle both the newcomer to fashion history and the seasoned enthusiast.  The "Learn" portion explains the important aspects and terms of 18th century dress, from the parts of a formal gown to the pieces of an everyday man's wardrobe to the curiosities that were the fashionable accessory pieces of the day.  From these pages, one can easily link directly into the "Explore" half of the exhibit, which is a treasure-trove of accessories, gowns, jackets, prints, and shoes.  Each item is accompanied by a description and some pretty incredible zoom capabilities that are clear enough even to offer glimpses at the stitches in garment seams.

So stop wasting time reading this post and start exploring!  You can link to the exhibit from the Online Exhibits and Multimedia page of CW's museums website (where you'll also find much more to see!).

The zoom function on the individual items allows incredible close-up views of the items

and their construction techniques.

Threaded Bliss

A 1770s Silk Muff

During the accessories conference at Colonial Williamsburg back in March, I was fortunate enough to be able to take a silk muff workshop led by Janea Whitacre, mistress of the trades of millinery and mantua-making at CW, and her very able and charming young apprentice, Miss Emma.  We had about three and a half hours to talk about the evolution of muff fashion throughout the 18th century, choose our fabric, pattern our muffs, make them, stuff them, and trim them.  Believe it or not, a number of the ladies were able to complete theirs!  I was about 3/4 of the way done by the end of the workshop, and carried my unfinished project home...where it has sat in its same bag in the same spot on the floor since I deposited it there when I got home.  At long last, I've finished it, though - just in time for winter festivities!

The Pattern: After explaining how the shape of muffs changed over the century, Janea gave us the measurements to use to create our desired shapes and sizes.  In the 1770s, muff were slightly more rectangular in shape, while by the 1780s they had become more square-looking.  I opted for a 1770s style, since that's the decade we re-enact the most (and I just personally prefer the way it looks to the later, more boxy style!).

Inspirations: As with hats, there are countless period images of muffs with all sorts of decorative embellishments, from embroidery to ribbon and floral trim to fur to printed portraits.  Like hats, muffs are a place where you can let your creativity run wild - just so long as you don't let it stray outside of period-accurate materials!  Karen's 18th Century Notebook page on muffs includes a very comprehensive listing of images of muffs and links to extant examples.

My own muff is based on one created by the CW milliners.  It was featured, with a matching cloak (so pretty!), in the conference fashion show, and Janea brought it with her as an inspiration to the workshop.  When I decided to change my original floral trim (keep reading for more on that), I went back to the pictures I had taken of Janea's piles and piles of gorgeous examples, and found this and wanted it!  :-)

Construction Details: Janea explained how muffs could be made in two different ways. One is as a single piece, with a silk exterior and silk lining, and the stuffing wedged between the two. The other is to make a separate linen "pillow" tube that, once stuffed, becomes the foundation over which any muff cover can be slipped. I think all but one or two of us in the workshop opted for the second construction method. Who doesn't want an endless number of muff options to switch out with each new outfit? :-)

Stuffing the linen muff "pillow," over which the silk cover is slipped.

The construction was thus very easy and logical: all you do is create a tube of linen which is stuffed with wool and sewn closed.  Then you create the cover by sewing channels at opposite ends of a rectangular (or square, if you prefer) piece of fabric and inserting ribbon into the channels to drawstring up the ends.  Add the trim, sew the rectangle into a tube, slip it over the "pillow," and you're done.

The finished muff tube "pillow" (left) and the trimmed cover (right), which is about

to be sewn into a tube that will be slipped over the stuffed linen pillow.

Originally, at the workshop, I had selected a very pretty floral ribbon trim and sewed it in diagonal lines so that it wound around my muff.  On second thought, when I picked the project up again out of the (dusty) bag, I decided I wanted to save that trim for something else, so I picked it all off and pulled out some ivory silk satin ribbon I had in my stash to box-pleat around the ends of the muff.  It's simple, but I really like the way it turned out.

The most fun part of the workshop was seeing how completely different everyone's muffs ended up being.  Val from Time Traveling in Costume also attended the workshop; be sure to check out her post about her own muff project.  She got a great group shot of us all displaying our muffs at the end of the day.  If anyone else was there and has posted pictures of her finished muff, I'd love to add you to this post!

The Fabric: A green shot ivory silk taffeta, trimmed in cream silk satin ribbon.  The inside pillow is made of a medium-weight linen, stuffed with wool from the sheep at Colonial Williamsburg.  It's quite cozy!

Finishing the Look: I'm in the process of making a new cloak, which will coordinate nicely with this muff.  Stay tuned for more once the weather turns cold enough to frolic in my new accessories!

Current Exhibit: Fashion Accessories from Head to Toe at CW

Although we attended the accessories conference in March (and although I was fortunate enough to take part in a guided tour of the exhibit with Linda Baumgarten during that week), we were kept so busy during the conference that it wasn't until our return visit to Colonial Williamsburg last week that I finally got the opportunity to go through "Fashion Accessories from Head to Toe" in great detail, at my own preferable (and prodigiously slow) museum-going pace.  I know a number of bloggers have posted about their visits to the exhibit, and I realize that there are many, many spectacular photos of a number of the items already online in various locations, so I won't go into much depth here.  Hardly wishing to neglect such an important display of rarely-seen items, however, I thought I'd just offer a few thoughts and photos to supplement what's already out there.

One of the fully accessorized figures in the exhibit,

which helps to contextualize not only the evolution of dress

and its accessories, but also the various functions each served.
See CW's Historic Threads listing for more.

There are three novel features of this exhibit that I really admire and would love to see emulated by future exhibitions on fashion and dress at other museums.  These include an "introductory" display case that juxtaposes 21st-century accessories with their 18th-century counterparts; a stunning "timeline" of fully dressed and accessorized figures demonstrating the evolution of fashion from the last quarter of the 18th century through the first quarter of the 19th, and a short film (much of which can be seen here) that visually enacts the process of dressing and accessorizing in the 18th century by bringing a period fashion print quite literally to life.

The 18th century meets the 21st...

By providing contextualization for the items - many of them genuine curiosities undoubtedly almost unidentifiable to most 21st-century eyes - each of these three features positions the museum visitor sufficiently within the compass of 18th-century dress to imagine and integrate the identity and the function of the antique accessories on view.  One of the problems raised during the conference focused on traditional exhibition techniques, in which museums showcase items of dress as separate entities, each distinct from another; a gown, for instance, all too frequently appears unadorned and standing alone, while an apron lies across the room in one display case, jewelry in another, and hats in another.  This isolationist approach to fashion, the conference speakers collectively argued, provides a highly inaccurate sense of the fashions of the past because the visitor remains incapable of understanding how dress and its various accessories functioned not only independently, but alongside each other.  Baumgarten's curatorial approach to this project is highly successful in bringing to life the most accurate representation of Fashion and fashion; for another superb current example, check out "Napoleon and the Empire of Fashion" (and vote to bring it to NYC!).

A French pocketbook (1800-1830), beautifully embroidered. 

The Valentines inside are original.  Be sure to look at the

CW Historic Threads listing for this item to see some close-ups and for more details.

As I mentioned earlier in one of the conference postings, there will not be an exhibit catalogue, which is most unfortunate because we're in desperate need of more serious scholarship on accessories and the minutiae of fashionable dress, and the amount of work that went into mounting this unique exhibit is obviously extraordinary.  The good thing is, though, that the exhibit is up for almost two years (until 31 December 2012) to provide a maximum opportunity to see it.  If you can manage a trip to CW before it closes, the exhibit is well worth the effort!  Photos can't do many of these intricate and clever little items justice.  If you can't make it to the exhibit, be certain not to miss the "Historic Threads" online exhibit (which features a detailed look at a number of items from the museum display) and CW's vodcast on it (which includes a conversation with Linda Baumgarten, the exhibit's curator).

I adore this little workbag (1760-1780), which features a

drawer that pulls out of the right side and a collection of other

secret and useful little compartments.  For more on this item

(including close-up options), click here to go to CW's Historic Threads listing.

Additional photos of the exhibit can be found on our flickr set (it's a limited selection, since there are countless others already on flickr), along with piccies from our March and June/July visits to CW.  Enjoy!

Colonial Williamsburg & Buttons Workshop

While Rebecca was busy enjoying the symposium of prettiness early this week, I tried to get as much CW fun into my schedule as I could fit!

Saturday was a long drive, but with very little traffic we made good time.  We took the opportunity to sleep in a bit on Sunday and to walk around the historic area.  It was a bit windy, but the weather was absolutely gorgeous compared to the weather we left back in New England.  We stopped by the Margaret Hunter shop where Mr. Hutter was busy shining his buttons and working on a new riding habit for the symposium.  We found some time to chat and look around the shop before heading over to the DeWitt Wallace to pick up our registration packets and to take a walk through the accessories exhibit.  That evening, Rebecca headed to the opening events of the symposium and I found a pleasant bench (running into a friend on the way) to work on some sewing and to enjoy the last of the warm sun.

Strolling with Mr. M.

On Monday, my Mum and I visited some CW buildings to see what might be new around town.  We were rather shocked at the new look of the middle upstairs room of the Governor’s Palace.  For as long as I have been visiting CW, the walls of this room have been covered with a very unique and beautiful leather covering.  It added a certain elegance to the room.  The walls are now plain white, which actually made the room feel smaller and definitely took away any “wow factor” to the room.  One of the interpreters told us that the leather covering was in disrepair and was too difficult to maintain.  Also, while they have recently been making other changes to the Palace to bring the decorations specifically into the time of Lord Dunmore’s residence, they don’t believe that the leather covering would have been there at the time.  I was told by one interpreter that the walls will remain white, while another interpreter said that there were plans to recover the walls in a new paper.  These comments were not from anyone charged with studying or interpreting the building itself, so these descriptions may not be entirely true and there may be other plans for the room.  Sometimes it is sad to see objects or an interpretation change that we have become used to.  But at the same time, it is always exciting to see research and perceptions change in front of our eyes.

Room in the Governor's Palace with leather wall covering.

Summer 2010

The same wall as seen March 2011 with bare walls.

Monday was also the first day of this season’s Revolutionary City events at CW.  We stood with some friends as we watched Lafayette deliver his speech, which was followed by some examples of music and theater.  We then witnessed the scene of Mrs. Washington visiting the Capitol and aiding a Rev War veteran, which was also a repeat from past seasons.  The events ended with a presentation by George Washington in front of Raleigh Tavern.

Ron Carnegie as George Washington

Tuesday morning I braved the chilly, cloudy weather to listen to Mr. Jefferson behind the Governor’s Palace gardens.  As always, it was a pleasure to hear Mr. Jefferson and to witness his interaction with the audience.  After a brief walk through the gardens I met back up with my family and we all went out to lunch with a friend.  It was great to catch up and to share stories.  Afterwards, Rebecca headed back to the symposium and Mum and I hid from the chill by visiting some more CW sites.

Bill Barker as Mr. Jefferson in the Governor's Palace gardens.

Finally, the day of workshops arrived on Wednesday!  CW tailors Mark Hutter and Neal Hurst began by giving us a brief overview of a few of the different types of buttons and how they may have been used in the late 17^th and 18^th centuries.  We dove right into making a thread button using linen thread.  Thread buttons were typical on linen garments (linens usually referring to underclothes).  Because these buttons were pure thread, the garments were easy to launder with the buttons still attached.  I needed to restart this button several times before I had a solid starting point, but my stitches were horrendous after that and I had a very sad looking, unfinished button to show.  But I learned a new technique and hope to try this one again with my handy instructions nearby.  Our instructors were also sure to remind us that button making was not a technique that every tailor would have perfected.  Tailors, as well as most housewives, probably knew how to make simple buttons, but they were actually widely produced and available for sale by the 18^th century.  A set of “coat buttons” or “weskit buttons” could readily be purchased to finish a garment.

After our attempts at this thread button, we were instructed in the making of a button which Mr. Hurst has researched and examined to recover its construction.  These buttons are covered with fabric and then embellished by interweaving threads.  Getting the threads to make the proper design was the most difficult part, and I have to admit that I didn’t quite manage to master one of these by the end of the class either, but thoroughly enjoyed learning this new technique.  I can’t wait to try this one again too!

Examples of the "Neal Thomas Hurst buttons" on a pair of breeches from the Margaret Hunter shop.

One of the final buttons we learned was the death head.  (I wrote about my attempts at this button in an earlier post.)  Mr. Hutter did an excellent job of explaining the construction of these buttons as he offered us a wonderful demonstration.  His method was slightly different than that of Mr. Fuss.  I actually had success with this one, probably because I already had some practice with it.  At the end of the class Mr. Hutter also briefly demonstrated how to make a multi-colored death head, which I am looking forward to trying at some point.  I also watched as he demonstrated construction of a late 17^th century globular button, which made a very neat looking round button.  Thank you to both of our instructors for a fun and very informative class!

Examples of death head buttons on the waistcoat of a new women's riding habit, featured

in Tuesday's fashion show as part of the symposium.

Rebecca and I both spent the second part of the week engaged in the Thursday-Friday conference entitled “A Reconstructed Visitable Past,” which focused on the use of costumes in museums.  It was a very enlightening two days which I am looking forward to sharing with you all shortly – so stay tuned!

"Costume Accessories: Head to Toe" Colonial Williamsburg/CSA Symposium

Day Four

Muffs, mitts, caps, fringe, cloaks, and other pretties made by the CW milliners.

The lectures having ended Tuesday evening, Wednesday was the designated optional programs bridge-day between the Sunday-Tuesday accessories symposium and the Thursday-Friday conference on the use of costumes in the interpretation of historic sites.  There were a number of costume- and textile-related tours to choose from in the morning, while the afternoon sessions were set aside to attend one of four workshops.

My first program was a behind-the-scenes tour of the costume collection and the new Fashion Accessories from Head to Toe exhibition, let by none other than Linda Baumgarten herself.  Talk about star-struck and the opportunity of a lifetime!  :-)  First, she took us into the costume storage facilities, which house closets full (and I mean FULL) of hanging original gowns and petticoats and formal jackets, with drawers of breeches and waistcoats in between.  Linda had pulled an incredible gown out for us to see, along with a frock coat.  After about fifteen minutes of drooling and sighing, we headed upstairs where Linda gave us an overview of the challenges she faced and the pleasant surprises she encountered in mounting the accessories exhibit.  She explained some curator's techniques to displaying antique items without damaging them, and also shared some of the secrets revealed by the items themselves as she studied them closely prior to mounting them.  What a special treat this tour was!

A fabulous 1800ish bonnet made by the CW milliners that was

featured in the fashion show on Tuesday afternoon.

The second tour I chose was of the textiles storage facility.  Kimberly Smith Ivey, associate curator of textiles and historic interiors, led us around the state-of-the-art room filled with rows upon rows of drawers full of gowns, jackets, aprons, breeches, waistcoats, dolls, samplers, sewing implements and accessories, quilts, bed hangings, chair covers, and rolls of fabrics, along with buttons and jewelry.  For an hour, we got to explore this plethora of treasures.  We divided into several smaller groups, each group heading towards the items in which they were most interested, and from our corner with the gowns and jackets, we periodically heard from elsewhere in the room gasps and squeals and sighs (meanwhile often exuding plenty of our own!).  It was probably the happiest roomful of people I've ever been around!

A velvet-trimmed silk satin muff made by the CW milliners.

After lunch, Ashley headed to a button workshop (which I'll leave to her more capable hands to describe!), while I scurried off to one on silk muffs, led by Janea Whitacre.  Scattered across a table was a pile (oh, glorious pile!) overflowing with muffs, mitts, caps, bonnets, cloaks, mantles, and fringe.  After explaining the evolution of the style and shape of the fashionable muff across the century, we selected our fabric and trims and got to work.  Three and a half hours later, we had all finished or mostly-finished them.  Of course, there being a big difference between finished and mostly finished, I will refrain from sharing my mostly-finished muff until it's completely done.  I selected a pretty springy-minty green silk, perfect for those cool yet bright spring days.  As soon as it's done, I promise to share lots of pictures!

The Spruce Sportsman muff, made by the CW milliners and featured

 in Tuesday's fashion show and in the accessories exhibit video

at the DeWitt Wallace.

A precious miniature muff, measuring only about 4.5".

Today began the "Reconstructed Visitable Past" conference, with a 9 to 5 day chock-full of back-to-back talks.  But that will have to wait until tomorrow!  Two posts in one day is more than enough for exhausted me!

"Costume Accessories: Head to Toe" Colonial Williamsburg/CSA Symposium

Day Three

Goodies on display at the Margaret Hunter millinery shop.

My apologies for the absence of new posts Tuesday and Wednesday; Ashley and I ended our Tuesday evening with some English country dancing at Newport House and got back so late that I just dropped into bed exhausted (but happy!).  Yesterday I was in bed by 9:30 after a day of pretties information overload.  As a result, I'll be doing two postings this evening, so be sure to scroll up or down to make sure you don't miss one or the other of them!

Tuesday's lectures opened with a prodigiously enlightening discussion of "traditions and revolutions" in hairstyles and wigs from 1748-1804.  Anne Bissionnette, assistant professor of material culture and curatorship at the University of Alberta, suggested that philosophy and history combined in hair at the middle of the eighteenth century, with styles reflecting the trend for recovered ancient cultures and aesthetics.  In general, then, women's wig styles from 1748-1760 favored tight curls worn close to the head.  By the 1760s, wigs were quite affordable and widely worn by all who could afford one.  Bissionnette theorizes that this prompted a brief return to natural hair by the young gentlemen of the aristocracy in an effort to counter the equality of appearance across all social levels that inexpensive wigs allowed.

After a brief summary of the Macaroni movement of the 1760s and early '70s, the discussion turned again to women's hairstyles, which changed rapidly from egg-shaped to an inverted pyramid (again inspired by ancient examples) to the poof and hedgehog styles that dominated the 1780s.  This turn towards informality and a (cultivated) "natural" appearance continued with slight variations into the turn of the century, corresponding to (or reflecting), Bissionnette argues, an increased emphasis on the individual.  This lecture was so jam-packed with information that it's very difficult to try to summarize my pages and pages of notes into such a small space, so pray forgive me if I've omitted something.  I assure you it was by necessity and not neglect!  If there's anything you're interested in hearing about, just let me know and I can go back to my notes for more.

A CW interpreter on Palace Green.

Robin Kipps, the apothecary supervisor at CW, followed with a fascinating look at what might be called medical prescriptions for clothing in the eighteenth century.  Scattered throughout medical manuals, she observed, are suggestions about quilting medicines into waistcoats or night caps (depending, of course, on the location of the malady), advertisements for specially-purposed health-related garments (cork jacket, anyone?), and even advice for parents on the proper use and function of leading strings (yeah, maybe swinging your toddler by them isn't such a good idea after all...).  Her unique perspective on clothing and accessories suggested a fresh and fascinating new way to look at traditional fashionable items that could be re-purposed to serve highly specific functions.

The Pasteur and Galt Apothecary at Colonial Williamsburg -

an most unexpected place to find advice on accessories

(albeit it medicinal ones!).

After lunch, Susan North returned to the podium to reconvene with a talk about linen, cleanliness, and the fashion, form, and function of the white laundered accessory.  Her lecture drew upon her current research project and offered a series of observations and questions prompted by the materials she has thus far encountered.  The pristine white of kerchiefs, caps, cuffs, and ruffles served as an outward manifestation of cleanliness in underwear, North argued.  Medical literature yields contradictions at every turn regarding the preference for and benefits of linen vs. flannel underwear, and civility literature often suggests that clean linen needed to clean more for fashion's and appearance's sake than for the sake of cleanliness.  I'm always intrigued to hear about peoples' current projects, so I'll be eagerly anticipating further results as this one continues to develop.

A satin-striped silk gauze cap on display in the milliner's shop.

The final lecture, given by Cynthia Cooper (head of research and collections and curator of costume and textiles at the McCord Museum), took a tour through the changes in fashion of three prominent accessories: shawls, sashes, and scarves.  Accompanying the talk (which spanned the early eighteenth century all the way to the end of the nineteenth) was a collection of stunning slides of items held in the McCord Museum and scores of illustrative prints and paintings.  I found her focus on the "otherness" of these items of dress to be particularly illuminating.  Shawls, for instance, arrived in Europe and England from India in the late 1790s.  While images of them display a certain willingness to incorporate such an exotic item into fashionable continental dress, contemporary images simultaneously reveal an ambiguous relationship to it; while the shawl was a masculine article of clothing in India, Europe's aesthetic reaction to it, removed from its original function, re-imagined the shawl into a feminine accessory worn in a completely different way.  There were scores of additional examples, but again, the limits of space prevent me from being able to include everything here!  Again, just let me know if there's anything you were looking to hear about that I've left out and I'll happily post more.  :-)

The formal part of the conference concluded yesterday with a jaw-dropping, show-stopping fashion show featuring the reproduction costumes and accessories of the Colonial Williamsburg milliners and tailors.  Janea Whitacre, mistress of the trades of millinery and mantua-making at CW, narrated the development of the professions from the time of Elizabeth I to the invention of the sewing machine.  As she shared amusing period anecdotes and historical tidbits related to the evolution and eventual divergence of the trades, costumed "characters" walked the stage, sometimes pausing to recite a piece, act a dramatic scene, or even sing a song of fashion for the audience (yes, certain accessories deserve to be immortalized in song, and the calash is definitely one of them!).  The sheer number of gowns, cloaks, hats, mitts, caps, neckerchiefs, and shoes on display was incredible, each one more beautiful than the last.  Oh what a dream job those milliners have here!  If you'd like to see some photos from the fashion show, check out the facebook page of the Margaret Hunter Shop.

Reproduction unfinished child's stays.

PS: Just in case you're wondering where all the pretty pictures are here and on other blogs, photography during the conference is strictly on a private-for-personal-research-use-only policy, so to respect that, all of the photos in our conference posts are drawn from various other sites around Colonial Williamsburg, and not from the symposium itself.

"Costume Accessories: Head to Toe" Colonial Williamsburg/CSA Symposium

Day Two

The miniature milliner's shop on display at the Margaret Hunter shop,

which features more than a dozen pint-sized accessories.

Today was the first of two full days of lectures.  CW's Linda Baumgarten (of Costume Close-Up and What Clothes Reveal fame) opened the morning with an introduction to the accessories held in the collections of Colonial Williamsburg.  Many were examples drawn from the new exhibit, "Fashion Accessories from Head to Toe," and it added an extra special dimension to that experience to hear the exhibition's curator discuss some of the items from her meticulously informed perspective.  Her explanation of her approach to studying and understanding historic accessories was accompanied by a series of superb close-up views of the items, permitting us rare peaks at angles and details impossible to see through the glass of the museum display.  If you're unable to visit the museum in person, many of the items can be seen in the "Historic Threads" online exhibit here.

Accessories espied in use around CW: a bedroom at the Governor's Palace.

Phil Dunning's talk followed with a case study of accessories and textile fragments recovered from a 1690 shipwreck.  His contribution offered a fascinating glimpse at one process of recovery available to historians, curators, and researchers: the use of archaeological objects to enhance our understanding of how, where, and why accessories were used in the past.  He even brought with him all the way from Canada a selection of the recovered late seventeenth-century items, eliciting a series of "ooooos" and "ahhhhhs" from the enthralled audience.

The afternoon continued with a tremendously entertaining contribution from Mark Hutter (CW's journeyman tailor) and Erik Goldstein, curator of mechanical arts and numismatics at CW.  In a friendly bantering exchange, the two gentleman offered an outline of the use and production of men's accessories (or more appropriately "accoutrements" and "toys," which Mark explained were the terms current in the eighteenth century for such fashionable objects).  From sleeve buttons and walking sticks to "hard toys" (small metal items like keys and seals) and the etiquette of hats, the lecture featured a fantastic collection of period prints and paintings that helped to bring the accompanying antique pieces to life.

The green silk waistcoat that forms part of the riding habit we saw

in progress at the milliner's shop yesterday.

D.A Saguto, CW's master boot and shoemaker, closed the day with a timeline overview of the development of footwear from the time of ancient Rome to the early nineteenth century.  With expert detail, he addressed the changes in production techniques and fashionable preferences that contributed to the evolution of one of our favorite accessories.  The lecture closed with a show-and-tell of reproduction shoes made by Al and the staff at CW (and yes, he even brought a red leather pair, *sigh*).

A silk gown displayed at the Governor's Palace.

It's been a busy day, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the chance to meet and mingle with fellow costumers - amateur and professional - museum experts, and enthusiasts drawn for all manner of reasons to an interest in this unique and fascinating topic.  It's been especially fun discovering the faces behind many of the online presences of the historic costuming world.  If only this could last longer than just two short days because there is so much to see, so many people to meet, and way too much to learn in too brief a time!  Check back in tomorrow night for day three!

"Costume Accessories: Head to Toe" Colonial Williamsburg/CSA Symposium

Day One

Rebecca pondering the symposium schedule.

This evening saw the opening of "Costume Accessories: Head to Toe," a two-and-a-half day symposium co-sponsored by Colonial Williamsburg and the Costume Society of America. We arrived in Williamsburg last night and spent today walking the historic area, enjoying the sunshine and the warm weather. After checking-in for the symposium and doing a bit (alright, more than a bit...) of shopping, we dropped in to the milliner's shop to catch a glimpse of the last-minute symposium preparations. We found Mr. Hutter, the tailor, diligently polishing silver buttons and finishing up a stunning 1770s riding habit with green silk facings. Despite his pressing timeline, he generously took the time to chat for a few minutes about the project, and I'm eagerly anticipating a glimpse of the finished habit on Tuesday!

A gorgeous red silk taffeta gown on display in the

Margaret Hunter milliner's shop.

This evening, I attended the opening keynote lecture for the symposium. Susan North, curator of fashion at the V&A and best known (and vastly appreciated) for her Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail, gave a spectacular context-setting introduction to a revisionary methodology for studying and re-presenting accessories and articles of clothing. She called for a re-integration of costume pieces with the bodies they were meant to adorn, stressing the importance of that relationship and of an understanding of the contexts in which such objects were manufactured, used, and exchanged. Over the next two days as we delve into "fashion in detail," her words will continue to echo their relevance. I can't wait to begin the lectures in earnest tomorrow!

Ashley frolicking in a new gown at CW.

Historic Threads: New CW Online Costume Exhibit

This afternoon, Colonial Williamsburg launched a new online costume exhibit, "Historic Threads: Three Centuries of Clothing."  Though only in its earliest of stages, the digital exhibit currently features a number of formal garments and accessories worn by women and men from the 17th through the early 19th centuries.  Additional every-day functional clothing items will be posted to the exhibit soon.  The online exhibit pages are formatted with splendid zooming capabilities to enable some truly stunning close-up views of all of the items featured.  Also included are details on each item and a historical timeline that outlines the development of these fashionable and functional items across time.

"New Threads: Reproduction Clothing" will form the second half of this new online initiative, and will feature reproduction items produced by CW and used within the historic area.  Keep checking back in with the exhibit page to see what promises to be another fantastic addition to period costuming resources!

This new online exhibit is the digital companion to "Fashion Accessories from Head to Toe: 1600 to 1840," the newest exhibit at CW's DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, set to open on 29 January.  It also features some clothing items displayed in the 2002 exhibit "The Language of Clothing."  Enjoy!

"Fashion Accessories from Head to Toe": An Upcoming Exhibit at CW

Colonial Williamsburg published a vodcast today, Fashion Accessories from Head to Toe, featuring Linda Baumgarten, Curator of Textiles and Costume at CW.  In the vodcast, she discusses the upcoming exhibit of the same name at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, which will feature approximately 200 clothing accessories from the late 17th to early 19th centuries, from hats to shoes and everything in between.  She also provides viewers with a peek at some of the pieces that will be displayed.  The vodcast also offers another glimpse of the extraordinary work of the CW milliners and their recreation of "Spruce Sportsman, or Beauty the Best Shot," a 1777 fashion print.  Photos of this project can be seen on the Margaret Hunter Shop's facebook page, and a fun behind-the-scenes look at the shooting of the "Spruce Sportsman" video (which will be featured in the exhibit) can be found on the Two Nerdy History Girls blog.  The exhibit is set to open on January 29, 2011 and will run through December 31, 2012.  With the added excitement of the CW costume accessories symposium in March, we are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to see this new exhibit!