Tuesday, March 18, 2014

A Fashionable Birthday Party in Colonial Williamsburg

Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Isabella reporting,

This week I'm attending the Millinery Through Time conference at Colonial Williamsburg. It's been a wonderful gathering - an entire auditorium filled with true-hearted Nerdy History Folk, and I wish all the rest of you could be here with us, too.  It's also turned into a kind of impromptu Fashion Week, Colonial Williamsburg-style.
The conference is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop. While the shop is housed in one of the original buildings, dating to the 18th c., it was used for many different purposes over the centuries. Before it was restored to a colonial-style shop in the 1930s, the building had most recently been used as a garage. Sixty years ago, the shop was returned to its original purpose as a millinery shop, and opened to the public as part of Colonial Williamsburg.

While the talks, papers, and workshops presented at the conference have shown how the millinery trade has evolved over time, the first night's reception was mainly a celebration in honor of the shop and its people.

And, like all good birthday parties, attendees were dressed to the proverbial nines. Many of them are re-enactors, historic costumers, and interpreters at historic sites and museums, so the clothes were quite splendid, as you can see here. The best part is that everyone shown here MADE their own costumes - no rentals here! Please click on the photos to enlarge them; I've made them small here to be able to include more.

Most importantly, happy birthday to the Margaret Hunter Shop!


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The clothes are gorgeous. I once made a child size set of clohes for George and Martha Washington which I have kept for several decades. I think that in some ways the Georgian costumes were easier to make than the Regency gowns I have attempted. More ribbons and lace allows more hiding of errors, While the Georgian dresses take more material , they seem to have fewer pieces than a Regency dress.
I love looking at the Georgia dresses but am glad I don't have to wear them.
I would love to be able to take a workshop on how to make Regency clothes.

Unknown said...

Better watch out for the guy with the feather in his cap!

Isobel Carr said...

I *so* wish I could have made attending work out. I swear I know half those people from Costume College (which you should TOTALLY come to!!!).

 
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