Monday, April 12, 2010

Victorian Bridal wear

Chemung County Historical Society featured a display on victorian clothing recently which ended on March 31. Though the display is now closed, I am pleased to share a few pictures of the bridal clothing here in my virtual gallery for you to enjoy.

This trio of wedding couture shows a gentleman's tuxedo and tails, bowler hat, a lovely wedding gown in a color other that white. White was not made vogue for brides until after Queen Victoria wore hers in the 1840's. Also pictured is a bodice of another wedding ensemble. The bodice is seen in greater detail here.



Below we see pictured: Marriage certificates, 1864 and 1884
Wedding album 1901
Wedding invitations 1872 and 1893




On October 6, 1880, Susy Clark married Elmer Dean at Elmira’s Grace Episcopal Church
Satin wedding gown, 1880
Wedding handkerchief 1880
Photograph 1880
Wreath and slippers 1880

White satin wedding gown in two views, 1880.

This exhibit of original Victorian clothing was an absolute delight to see in person, and I hope to capture the romance and fine taste of the period in my photos. With much thanks to those at the historical society for their hard work and research, I am pleased to post these. For more information about the Chemung County Historical Society, go to their website at:
http://www.chemungvalleymuseum.org/

10 comments:

  1. Oooo, I love these pictures, Kathy! In my current "incarnation," I think I would hate wearing those outfits, but I still think they were beautiful and grand!

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  2. Thanks, Scotti. And Winter, they are gorgeous, aren't they? I wish I was the right size to fit into these frocks. In person, they look like preteen clothes. People must have been smaller then.
    It's pro'lly just me, though. :{

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  3. Oh my goodness, Kathleen, it's hard to believe real people wore those clothes. It's amazing to think that these weddings outfits would probably not come close to fitting the average man and woman today. The waist in that dreass must be 25 or 27 inches. Wow!

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  4. Oh Kathy, they are gorgeous! I love them. I may have to use one of them in my wip. It sure would help with the description. Make sure you put this on the things for us to do this summer! Joe and John can go fishing. ;-)

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  5. Debbie Lynne, I wish we could, but this display is all done as of March 31. :(
    They do have a wonderful exhibit on Mark Twain now. He married an Elmira gal, Olivia Langdon, and so we claim him, like about ten other cities on the U.S. But he wrote a portion of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in a little gazebo on his in-law's farm. There's writing in the water here, they say. I better go drink some. heehee

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