Phyllis Wilson, blog manager in her colonial dress.
Child's version of the dress that Phyllis ordered from Kelly's website mentioned below.
This is my 5th year as manager for the Lord
Craven Colonial Dames blog. I enjoy
blogging and hope to interest others in becoming involved with possibly
starting their own blog or assisting with the maintenance of our Colonial Dames
blog. If you are a committee chairman and would like to submit an article to
me and if you don’t have photographs, I might have one that would work
or we could get one from a free graphics site on line. Our blog now has “TABS
for Easy Reference” in the upper right hand corner of the first page of the
blog there is a Home Tab, Program and Events
Tab and a Tab for New Officers Sworn in for Lord Craven Chapter. I know
many of you belong to several organizations and they all have officers and
different dates for meetings. It get rather confusing, so that is why I put the
TABS on the blog. Each of the organizations that I belong to and maintain a
blog all have TABS. So be sure and visit them.
I just recently had a colonial dress made with a moppet hat
and matching purse. I saw the child's version of the dress on line so I ordered my dress from Kelly's Costumers. Direct Link is: https://www.etsy.com/listing/45591339/wehavecostumes-handmade-historical-civil?ref=related-4. I needed to have chest and waist measurements then, I needed to have someone measure
the length from my shoulder to the floor. You might want to ask a friend to measure this for you. I can provide you with additional
information about my experience with Kelly the owner who lives in Arkansas and mother of 9 children. Kelly and I communicated directly through the website and texting. She made some changes in the dress for me. She lowered the neckline and added two pockets for me. One is a Velcro pocket on the inside of the dress and the other one is a hidden pocket accessible from the side of the dress. If you have a colonial dress send me a photo of you in it and supply information about where you purchased it from or what pattern did you use. I think this will be a fun addition to our blog.
Ruth-Anne Bolz sent me this photo of ladies in their colonial attire.
L to R: Carol Jutte, Martha Koletar and Kathy Miller
Carol Jutte is wearing a Revolutionary dress that she made herself from a pattern. Butterick Pattern #3071, Simplicity #3723 and McCall's #9423. (Just as a side note the patterns if purchasing are $16.95 each so ladies may want to barrow mine) They are expensive.
Martha Koletar purchased her Betsy Ross with flag from website; Amazon. It came in only one size, but she noticed that there is one for sale at www.costumecraze.com that comes in different sizes. It is Item #TRAD746. As for the dress that Martha is wearing in the photo, it had no bust seams and lacked about 4 inches meeting in the back. It also was too long so she had it hemmed. Martha would advise anyone to get the largest size because these costumes tend to run small.
Kathy Miller made part of her outfit and purchased other items from website: http://jas-townsend.com/womens-clothing-c-72_2.html They do have a reenactment catalog and are located in Indiana.
Kathy Miller also made her jacket and apron. Kathy's costume consisted of a chemise, pockets, drawstring skirt, a fitted bodice or short gown, and a straw hat. Dressed in that order all items are historically correct for colonial America and Revolutionary War era. All are 100% cotton, as the only material they had at the time were cotton, wool and silk. No blended fabrics. Also, for that period there were no buttons, or zippersl They used brass pins, hook and eye fasteners, or laces to hold the garments together on women's clothing or as in the skirt twill tape was used. The apron Kathy made had no pattern, but an apron should cover most all of the skirt. All items are handmade in Indiana using authentic fabrics selected from Mr. Townsend himself. Kathy's outfit represents the "common woman". An outfit worn everyday by most women in Colonial times. Missing items from Kathy's outfit would be the stays and authentic stockings and shoes.
Pat Tucker, prospective member in her ball gown
Pat Tucker purchased her exquisite ball gown from a website:
She also purchased many other items to make this outfit
a real eye catcher. This is a ball gown depicting the style that was prevalent in the colonial period. You will see similar design features in dresses from these times with the contrasting fabric inset in the front and a variation of the bodice facings. The bodice of the dresses were designed to be tight fitting with the skirts attached at the waistline. The fabrics and the more intricate deigns designated where the clothing was to be worn. This dress is a combination of taffeta and velveteen fabric with the gold tulle accents. Hoops were sewn into the petticoats and corsets and pantaloons of some type were worn underneath. The hair was styled high on top of the head, bushed upward off the forehead and some types of curls dangling along the neckline. The hair was adorned with dressings of ribbon, jewels, pearls, feathers and tulle fabrics. Wigs for women were also popular.
Be sure and send me photographs of you in your colonial attire and tell me where you purchased your dress or if you made it please let us know which pattern you used. I also look forward to receiving articles from committee chairs.
You can e-mail me at par4wilson@gmail.com.
