This morning I spent several hours on an interesting project at a place founded as a women's social society by a Maine author in the late 19th century. They have a vintage and antique clothing collection and I was asked to come out to tell them about what they owned and provide some advice on care and storage.

For many years (since their founding?) they have put on a play that involves the wearing of the clothing by the performers. Many of the clothes had alterations, as many antique clothes do anyway, that sometimes obscured their original appearances in strange and fascinating (but, okay, really sad) ways. There was one very oversized cotton print dress that had Bishop sleeves (large full long sleeves gathered at the cap and the cuff) and a cartridge pleated skirt, but one sleeve showed unusual signs of piecing that might have implied the original seamstress trying to create a dress out of too little fabric, or perhaps an alteration--I took it for the first. I placed it at about 1855-60 but the bodice was strangely short for the time--and shapeless.  Had it begun life in the 1830s and been partially modified?

While my person favorite clothes date to prior to say, 1840, none of their collection went back that far, except, perhaps, a nice white cotton petticoat that had handsewn prairie point deccoration in band after band down a front insert. As most sewers know, this was an arduous tour-de-force of sewing. Wow. Was it intended for the open front style dress of the Revolutionary War era that showed off the decorative petticoat? Maybe.

But what is worth mentioning more was that prior to my visit we had talked about how the clothes were being stored: In speically built drawers between sheets of acid free tissue. Unfortunately, what the volunteer for the society found while I was there was many items that were growing mold, and several that were infested with moths. Yikes! We talked about dehumidifiers and insect control issues. There are a number of pretty good internet sites that deal with these things.

I also suggested to her my personal favorite informational resource for 19th century clothing: Dressed for the Photographer by Joan Severa. Check it out--it's marvelous!