Historic Clothing Presentations
Some of my wife's extensive restoration
work on an 1890s jet-beaded cape
work on an 1890s jet-beaded cape
My wife and I collect and restore antique clothing. This has been an exercise in studying the cultural context and materials of these artifacts, as well as preservation and physical handling methods. We are most interested in 19th century clothing from the late Victorian period, and I decided to design educational outreach programs based on our collection. These presentations are more of a lecture than a 'living history' event, since neither of us are actors, and we are not trying to portray any specific historical figures. We also believe that these 'living history' events can actually serve to reinforce the stereotypes held by modern audiences, since the clothing is perceived as a costume worn by an actor, and not as regular clothes that were really worn by regular people. Our emphasis is on the authenticity and everyday nature of the garments, and we focus on their details and the historical and cultural information conveyed by them. The result is much more of a substantive educational lecture than entertainment, and has been well received by all audiences to which we have had the pleasure of presenting it.
We have tailored our presentations to fit the circumstances of the venue and the audience, but the general content is usually essentially the same: we want to describe the ways that our understanding of cultural history can be enhanced by studying clothing, and dispel many of the misconceptions that surround the clothing of the Victorian period. I have written a pamphlet that we sometimes sell at events that describes outfits in our collection, and gives specific details, historical background, and cultural insights. Much of the same information is also included in our presentations.
More information is available at the site we maintain for our presentations: This Victorian Life
The photos below are from a volunteer event we staged for the Capital Museum in Olympia, WA on April 17th, 2010. The title of this event was 'The Victorian Dressing Sequence', and it highlighted the many layers of clothing that went into a woman's winter outfit from 1895. I was assisted in the presentation by my wife, who both acted as model and added her own comments and interpretation. We discussed the materials of the garments, the fastenings, their individual history, and most importantly the purpose, cultural meanings and social context of every element. We have repeated this presentation as part of the Port Townsend Victorian Heritage Days in March of 2011, and many times since. Photos courtesy of Nobuko Wako and Sue Lean.
Following this successful event, the director of the museum sent us this thank you note:
Hi Sarah and Gabriel,
Many thanks for the terrific Victorian Dressing Sequence (a good title) performance... It was wonderful and everyone seemed enchanted by your presentation. I hope to attend the fashion show at the Unitarian Church next month. What is the date? ... Thank you again for the wonderful performance on Saturday. We may contact you again for upcoming events and programs. All the best.
My wife and I made another presentation on May 8th, 2010 at the Unitarian Church in Olympia, WA as part of a Mother's Day fundraiser organized by members of the Women's History Consortium of the Washington State Historical Society. For this presentation, my wife and I each modeled three authentic outfits, which covered the period between the 1860s and the 1920s. We gave an in-depth talk on each outfit explaining its materials, construction, purpose, and historical and social context.
The event was longer than the previous one, and we were able to include much more information - but I also learned that we have so many subjects that we want to talk about that, next time, we will have to choose a particular focus or theme and stick to that in order to streamline our presentation of the history and make it more accessible. The presentation was well received, and we were able to answer many audience questions which will help us to decide what aspects, themes and information are most appealing to our audiences. Photos courtesy of Evelyn Greenberg.
The event was longer than the previous one, and we were able to include much more information - but I also learned that we have so many subjects that we want to talk about that, next time, we will have to choose a particular focus or theme and stick to that in order to streamline our presentation of the history and make it more accessible. The presentation was well received, and we were able to answer many audience questions which will help us to decide what aspects, themes and information are most appealing to our audiences. Photos courtesy of Evelyn Greenberg.
All uncredited photos on this site were taken by Gabriel Chrisman
All material copyright Gabriel Chrisman, 2010
No reproduction allowed without permission