Summer 2014 Period Clothing Exhibit/The Oldest House, Laceyville

Well, here it is, finally. The Period Clothing Exhibit from this Summer, 2014, including the Bridal Dress Exhibit.
I will tell you that I was unable to do a narrative, really, on the video: just an intro, and then a quick view of the clothing. This is because the way I upload the vid to the blog is to email it to myself, download it to my laptop, then upload it to the blog.
I'm sure there is an easier way, but that's how I do it, and I can't do everything expertly, though I do try.
At any rate, the limitations on the size of the file I can email determine the length, and with me nattering on about the clothes, well, it was just TOO LONG! So I shut up (a rare occurrence) and just did the video part.
The Bridal Dress Exhibit is coming down at the end of June. Then, addition summer clothing will go up in place of the bridal dresses. So hurry in to The Oldest House in Laceyville to catch the Bridal Dress Exhibit, and then be sure to come back some time this summer to see the rest of the clothing exhibit.
The vid starts with the high Victorian era at the top of the stairs, and the business man's outfit. There are also showcased here two examples of 'Lingerie Dresses' which were of light cotton or lawn, and embellished with lace, and worn in the summer to keep the ladies cool. These were not wedding dresses, but were worn as such in the 1970's and later, when girls discovered them in their grandmothers' attics!
Next, the Edwardian Room, with a blue linen dress from 1912 with peplum and much lace and bone buttons and a coordinating hat; a two piece black and white striped silk organza w peplum and green satin sash from 1911; and a late Edwardian wedding dress with gloves and hose, from 1916. This last one is almost a 'flapper' style, but not quite.
Next, the room I call 'Izzy's Room,' from A RIVER IN TIME. We have the blue and white 1781 reproduction dress as before, and the man's work outfit from the late 18th century-early 19th century. The gem in this room is a Regency style dress (think Jane Austen, 1790-ish to about 1835) which is authentic, although some repairs have been done to collar and cuffs later in the century, on a sewing machine. This isn't necessarily a wedding dress, but I've displayed it as such, and put the veil over the bonnet over the cap, which is the way veils were worn until about the middle of the 19th century, when they began to be purpose-made as wedding head gear. Up until then, it was just a piece of lace, fastened on a bonnet and the bonnet would have been spruced up with fabric and ribbon as well.
Following this, we come to the major Bridal Dress area. First up is the jewel of the Oldest House period clothing collection, the 1851 silk plaid wedding dress. So this dress would be about 20 years after the Regency dress in Izzy's Room. Next we have, 20 years onward from the mid 1870's, another wedding gown, with veil and little cap: stunning embroidery here: the skirt is more narrow than the hooped Civil War gown (1851) and there would have been a bustle at the back.
Following this is a bridal gown from 1889, in a sumptuous chocolate brown silk, finished with embroidery work. This has been loaned to us by Gail James; it was her great grandmother's dress and Gail was kind enough to include copies of photos of the lady and her husband, as well as the original wedding notice from the newspaper.
Finally in this room we have an Edwardian Era wedding dress from about 1911. It's from the Dymond family and I was lucky enough to find it at auction! More beautiful embroidery all hand done by the bride's mother. I've paired it with an amazing hat from that period, complete with appliqué  work and long trailing veil. Another Edwardian two piece wedding ensemble hangs on the wall next to this dress: I ran out of mannequins! (And out of room. This is the largest space upstairs, and it's still small).
Funny story about the Bridal Dresses. I was in the UK in May, and finished up with a couple of days in London. I stay across the street from the V&A so I always check to see what's on there and lo and behold, what did they have on offer? An exhibit on 'Wedding Dresses 1750-2014.' Well, my, my, great minds, LOL.
So of course I went! They had THREE gowns from 1780 and before. I cried, nearly, because wouldn't I just love to have ONE??? Well, anyway, it was a very good exhibit, with the bulk of it late Victorian and early 20th century, some gorgeous stuff. I bought the book, and it's up in the main Bridal Dress room at the Oldest House, open to a page that shows a 1755 dress.

So do try and come for a visit to see the Bridal Dresses, and then to see the rest of the Summer Period Clothing Exhibit, much of which will be new!
The Oldest House is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, 1-4, and if we are holding a special event, additional hours as well. Tours include the PCE. There is no cost to tour the House, but donations are gratefully accepted. And needed!
Thanks!

Are You Going to Write a Sequel?

Winter's over and The Oldest House is once again open for the summer season! I missed the first weekend, as I was away in the UK for a writers' conference and also a bit of a holiday. However, we are now open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 1-4 each week for tours, and each month we have special events scheduled. Be sure to check out The Rocket Courier for ads about upcoming events, and 'friend' The Oldest House group on Facebook to keep up with the latest.
Winter and early spring this year found me collecting MORE period clothing pieces for our ongoing exhibit at the House, and also getting the bright idea of showcasing our jewel, the 1853 Swackhammer wedding dress, by mounting a display of bridal gowns from 1853 through 1914, which is the year our PCE ends. I was quite lucky at the auctions, and snagged some beautiful dresses and gowns and a couple of stunning veils.
Did you know that wedding veils didn't really get fashionable until about 1835? Up until then, women wore bonnets with their wedding gowns, albeit elaborate ones, and had veils attached front and back to the bonnets' brims.
The special Bridal Exhibit, titled, 'I do! I do!' also features a couple of gowns from area residents' treasure chests, so do try and come and see it. I DO I DO will only be open for this month, June; in July, the wedding gowns come down (with the exception of the 1853 Swackhammer dress, which is a permanent part of the PCE) and authentic pieces of light, summery clothing from 1835-1914 will be on display, along with a couple of 1781 era replicas.
It is extremely difficult to locate clothing from before 1800, particularly clothing that is in any kind of decent condition, and if you are lucky enough to find an authentic example, it is generally extremely expensive. We are fortunate to have one dress dated to 1835-6 which is authentic, but the 1781 dress and the 1775-85 man's trousers are faithful reproductions.
On that note, I might tell you that while I was finishing my holiday in the UK with a couple of days in London, I checked to see what was on offer at the Victoria and Albert Museum. To my delight (and some humor, I will admit) I read that they had a display of Wedding Dresses! Theirs, of course, went from 1775-2014, and occupied an entire wing. However, given the space we have and the budget we have, I do think The Oldest House's display stands up creditably.
However, I nearly cried when I saw that the V&A had not one, not two, but THREE wedding dresses from 1775, 1778 and 1780, all in really good condition. Ah well. I've had the book on the V&A exhibit shipped, and I hope it will be here in time for me to have it on display upstairs at the House, along with the rest of our Bridal Exhibit.

Now, to get to the title of this blog entry...since I wrote A RIVER IN TIME two years ago, people who've read it have asked me if I were going to write a sequel. For a long time, my answer was, 'no,' adding that RIVER should stand alone, I thought.
Then my friend Nancy Sharp, herself an artist and one who always sees outside the lines of convention, for which I treasure her, said casually, 'well you could always do a murder mystery and set it back in 1781, couldn't you?'
Ah...yeah. I didn't immediately jump at the idea but in April, just before I left for the UK, I did, indeed, begin a new book. It is a sequel to RIVER, and features the historical inhabitants of The Oldest House, the Sturdevant family, just like RIVER does. It also features my female protagonist, Izzy Richard and I guess I've now given the answer to the 'will she or won't she' question in RIVER. Izzy decides to stay in 1795, the year she time travelled to in RIVER from her own modern day life. In the new book, tentatively called TREACHERY IN TIME (but I think that may change) she is at The Oldest House once again, along with Elizabeth and Samuel, Jr., and Joshua, when a neighbor girl is found, hung in the family's barn. People assume it is a tragic suicide, but Izzy, who still sees the world through her 21st century eyes, is certain it's a murder.
Not only does she have the challenge of proving her theory to local authorities and residents, she must negotiate the tricky position of being a woman in the late 18th century, with virtually no voice in matters like criminal investigation. The fact that there is no such thing as forensics back then is another hurdle, and then, of course, Izzy has to figure out who murdered the girl, and why.
Like my modern day 'Reporting is Murder!'© series, there are several potential killers, long buried secrets, and a host of vibrant personalities that I hope will make the new sequel as popular (or more so) as RIVER was. Not only will it appeal to local residents who know and love The Oldest House, it should intrigue lovers of historical fiction, and it should attract murder mystery readers as well.
With luck and discipline, it will be ready for this autumn's Fancy Fair...usually in October...more on that to come.
Thanks for reading, and if you can, do visit The Oldest House this season. I'd be so very pleased to see you!