Presentations Promote Continuing Interest in Period Costumes

Presented by Edwina Sutherland to RTHS members and others at Watson’s Mill on January 28 & February 2, 2009

Presentation report by Lucy Martin

RTHS members joined others interested in period dress at a January 28 lecture and February 7 workshop presented by Edwina Sutherland of Edwina Richards Studios. Both events were offered by Watson’s Mill in support of Manotick’s 150 anniversary year.

Attendees had to brave a typical January snowstorm to arrive at the first evening lecture. They were rewarded by an engaging slide show on fashions of the last half of the 1800’s. The lecture was followed by a demonstration of how one would wear the corset, crinoline hoop frame and wide skirt associated with the period. Sandy Trueman served as a lovely model who managed to make a corset look nearly comfortable.

The Saturday afternoon workshop featured a rack of modern clothes that could be tweaked into an old-fashioned look, with minimum of fuss or expense.

Useful Tips:

* Consider Value Village, thrift stores, garage sales or forgotten items in your own closet for clothes that will work. (Old bridesmaid dresses can live again!)

* Think ‘outside the box’. For skirts or petticoats that require yardage, consider re-purposing duvet covers, sheets or curtains. Adornment and accessories can also come from a wide variety of sources for decorating collars, sleeves, shawls or summer parasols. The odd bit of lace, embroidery, or old linens can add a nice touch. Creativity makes it fun!

* Men get off easy: suspenders on some high-wasted pants, with a cotton long sleeved shirt–perhaps with a vest and a brimmed hat–creates a passable townsman of 1859.

* The library and the Internet contain a wealth of resources on period fashions, as well as modern groups that offer ideas, patterns and other help for period dressing.

Saturday’s workshop then broke up into a hands-on session devoted to the all-important female headgear of the day, bonnets. Respectable bonnets are not readily found today. But modern straw or wide-brimmed hats can be cut to attain a bonnet-brim profile and then re-shaped to look the part. Armed with scissors, a hot iron, ribbons, flowers and feathers, some lovely hats were produced Saturday afternoon in relatively short order.

There is continued interest in making period costumes and putting them to good use. An informal group is developing ways to further that goal for the Manotick 150th (and beyond?). If you would like to get dressed-up, or participate to some degree with ideas or donations, please contact RTHS member Katherine Killins at 692-1462.

Warm thanks to Edwina Sutherland for sharing her expertise and suggestions.