For a while now, I have begun realizing that some of the ways in which my Mother interacted with the world when I was growing up (and still interacts with the world today) have 'rubbed off' on me. I don't think it's genetic, I think that it is a learned behavior which, over time, I have incorporated and made my own.
The trait that has to do with Period Clothing and Fashion History is the fact that my mother has always, always been interested, even passionate, about clothes. In her case, it was a dedication to being au courant: when she was younger, she would sew or alter items of clothing to make them more like the couture pieces she would see on television and in print media. The results, I have to say, were pretty spiffy.
My taste in clothing has always been diametrically opposed to my mother's: no ruffles, muted colors, and classics that I can swap and dress up or down, and which stay in my closet for years--sometimes decades. But her love of fashion nonetheless imprinted itself on me, became incorporated with my own personality, and emerged as a real fascination with the history of clothing.
Hence the Period Clothing Exhibit at The Oldest House.
Seeing a need at the House which could be filled, I have, over the past three years, developed the Exhibit, starting with the half dozen authentic items we owned at the House. But it's more than that: I am not content just to collect the clothing and hang it all up. I have--and this is the part where I put my own geeky stamp on things--researched how people actually dressed in the centuries when and since the House was built (1781). There is a LOT of misinformation out there and I have had to unlearn several things in my search for an honest representation of how clothing worked in centuries past.
I've read, of course--more about that in a moment. I've gone to other museums and historic homes to see how they display any period clothing they might have. I've watched films and programs set in any and all time periods covered by the Exhibit at the House and paid attention to the clothing and costume; some, I am happy to say, are quite authentic. Others, not so much! But it gives me a real sense of having learned something when I can look at an ensemble an actor is wearing on screen and know that a particular type of trim, or collar, or hat, was actually not used in the year being reenacted, but came into fashion a couple years later.
As a result of all this research, I have observed several patterns, a couple of which really intrigued me. In true geek fashion, I thought (hoped?) others might be intrigued, too, so I wrote up little essays on each: 'Bustling Through Time' is one, and the other is 'The Rise of the Reticule.' Both of these are available at the House.
Taking my cue from other museums and historic homes, I've written commentary for each period represented in the Exhibit, and given provenance and ownership details of the clothing and accessories on display. This information is printed, framed and mounted in the appropriate sections. Because only a fraction of those touring the Exhibit really want to read everything in the commentary, each item in the Exhibit is also labelled with a short description such as, 'Civil War Ladies' Ensemble, 1859-1863,' which gives the date range for all the items in a particular outfit on display. This way, visitors can glean as much or as little information from the Exhibit as they choose.
At home, I have now got a new bookshelf with more than a dozen books on clothing, costume and fashion from the mid 1700's through to WW I (I told you I read!) I even have a couple on clothing in the 16th and 17th centuries so I can study the fashions that came before the ones I chiefly concentrate on, and understand their development. And, of course, I've spent hours reading, annotating, and compiling information.
The thing is, the more I learn, the more there is to learn! From a scholarly perspective, though, I am not yet expert in fashion history. There is a level of knowledge and information that I have only begun to explore: for example, I understand what a triangular gusset is, and I know its purpose, and I can even spot one in a garment. But real fashion historians have taken their scholarship down to the way the gusset is stitched during various periods of time, and have noted other subtleties of clothing and costume (how cravats became stocks, and why a jabot isn't the same as a cravat, for example) which I have not yet learned.
Part of my rationale for eschewing minutiae in large part is that the majority of people touring the Exhibit will not care about gussets and stitching and cravats: they want to see the whole picture, they want to be delighted with well thought out, attractive displays and items they might remember their grandmothers using, and they want to be educated, just a little bit. My main purpose with the Exhibit is to achieve this: the lovely panoply of clothing and style relevant to the centuries The Oldest House has been standing.
However, learning (or at least reading about) those tiny details like stitching, and when and how gussets, for example, were used, has also allowed me to verify the authenticity of items I collect for the Exhibit. I wrote last year in this Blog about the way in which some 'authentic' historical items are listed for auctions, and I have learned that one cannot rely on the seller or auctioneer to always know what they have. Caveat emptor is especially important when collecting period clothing, and I am extremely glad to say that in an Exhibit that spans nearly two and a half centuries (1775-1915) and has more than 100 pieces on display at the House, only fourteen (14) are reproductions, and these are concentrated in the earliest years of the Exhibit.
That is a real achievement for any collection, especially one in a small, rurally located historic home/museum without access to endowments, and without a big name to attract donations (The Oldest House is not Winterthur, or the Sonnenberg Mansion.)
So, thank you, Mother, for being so fascinated by fashion, and by passing that fascination on to me.
The Period Clothing Exhibit, Spring 2015, will open on May 15 at 10 a.m. at The Oldest House in Laceyville, PA. If you're interested in coming, please see the contact information below, and let me know if you have any questions.
Bear in mind that THIS YEAR, parts of the Exhibit, chiefly the Edwardian Room, will change for the Summer, and then the entire Exhibit again for Winter/Holiday.
