Fashion Archives and Museum of Shippensburg University

Another 1850 Bodice Project Update We have had two work detail dates since our last update, only the first of the two did not yield visually significant changes as far as photos are concerned. Director KJB made some final fitting alterations and piped her armscyes. But this past week, she started on the sleeves: flatlining, hand sewing with a back stitch, overcasting, and turning up a 3/8" hem. She is also confronting one of the most enjoyable parts of reproducing period clot...hing: deciding on her trimmings. The original dress on which this pattern was based is white with white lace and silk netting for ornamentation. Director Karin's fabric is shot silk of pink and blue that together create a shifting lavender color; the white netting does not look good against the color. So, she is studying period fashion plates and her collection of original daguerreotypes and ambrotypes to select a suitable trim, probably self-fabric. See more

Progress on the ca. 1850 Bodice Project We had another work detail on the pattern testing of the ca. 1850 bodice that you have been following. Director Karin has piped her back neckline with piping cut on the straight grain--not the bias--as was done on the original. She sewed her side seams and slide the bones into their casings. Only her "stash" was missing 2 bones of the size she needed, so that necessitated a trip to Needle & Thread. Then, just get going on some of the finishing, she sewed the bias piping for the armscyes and is almost done sewing the bias piping for the waistband. Since the original is entirely hand sewn, Director Karin is hand sewing hers. Next up: she is going to start the sleeves and undersleeves.

Looking for something to read this year? How about a short history of women's daily lives in the 1910s. Garments of a Woman's Day takes you through the daily life of the average woman who worked in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory by looking at their lives through their clothing. You can find more info on our website- ... https://fashionarchives.org/e/the-garments-of-a-womans-day/ See more

Working on the 1850 Bodice Front The pattern we are a testing is one of those wonderful open bodices so popular in the 1840s and 1850s. Here you can see the completed front pieces with the eyes for lacing the bodice, a temporary cord for stability during the next fitting, and the single dart in each side front. The darts in the original are cut open, overcast, and a twill tape sewn on for a boning casing. Here's a detail that you are going to enjoy in the next set of photos: the back neckline is piped in the usual mid-nineteenth-century manner. But here's the intriguing aspect: the piping was cut on the straight grain, NOT the bias.

Bodice Back Now Completed! Yesterday, Director Karin finished the last top-stitching by hand on her left bodice back. Tomorrow, she will correct the pattern pieces for the fronts and get started on them. She'd like to think that they are less involved than the back, but once she gets down to it, she'll find out whether or not that is truly the case. Here are right and wrong side views of the finished bodice back. There is a bone casing on the eye side, but she'll insert that later before she starts the piping.

Happy Kwanzaa everyone!!! We all hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday and is staying safe!!! Here are two wonderful pieces from our collection to help you all celebrate. On the left we have a women's tie-dyed top from the 1970s and a dress from the 1980s.

It's almost that spooky day of the year! Do you have your spooky costume ready? We sure do! Cinderella and the dancing skeleton from 1965 are ready for Halloween 2020. #halloween #halloween2020 #halloweencostumes #halloweencostumehistory #costumehistory

We understand that we have fans who cannot travel to the museum to visit our current display. Well, fear not! We have made the exhibit catalog available free of charge on our website. https://fashionarchives.org/fam_exhibitions/740/ We do hope that those who can visit will do so. We would love to see all of your smiling masked faces before the exhibit closes. The last day the exhibit is open to the public is November 12, 2020.

Happy Fall everyone!!! We know that it has technically been fall for a while, but it is finally starting to look like it. Since we can't see the fall foliage inside the museum, the next best thing is to look at these beautiful Chanel women's coats (the orange and yellow plaid) and suit (burgundy) from our Chanel Collection. The burgundy suit is from the Fall/Winter 1972 collection, the orange and yellow plaid coats are from the Fall/Winter 1973 collection.

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day!!! In honor of this day we would like to share with you all this wonderful Apache dress.

Last Wednesday we traveled back to Brandywine River Museum to bring our Suffragettes home. Here you can see Director Bohleke and two of her graduate students taking care of the packing of the ladies.

In honor of Italian-American Heritage Month we would love to share with you all these two new acquisitions. These are leather Ferragamo women's shoes from the late 1980s (the red ones) and early 1990s (the cream ones).

We are very happy to have volunteers back in our workroom helping us out with small projects. Don't worry, they are masked and social distancing.

We are happy to announce that we are finally able to reopen to the public and see all of your wonderful masked faces !!! We are running our normal hours as before, Monday - Thursday 12pm to 4pm. Very small groups are more than welcome to come on by, but groups of 7 - 8 or more need to make an appointment. Currently we are only allowing 8 people in the gallery to view the exhibit. The last day of the exhibit is November 12, 2020. ... Lastly, we ask that if you visit us you must wear a mask in the building at all times. We thank you for your patience during these times.

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Happy Thursday everyone!!! Just one more day until the weekend. We wanted to share this week a new item to our collection. Here we have an Afghan women's attire complete with a pair of shoes, purse, head scarves and a burka.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15th - Oct. 15th) we would love to share from our collection these two wonderful, and colorful, pieces. The women's piece is Mexican Indian from 1995. And the other piece is a men's suit from Central America, 1923.

Happy Labor Day everyone!!! Remember don't wear white after today

Yesterday was Malaysian Independence Day, so, Happy Malaysian Independence Day!!! Here we have two wonderful pieces from our collection. The first one is a gold and blue woman's Baju kurung and a teal headscarf known as a Tudung. The second one is burgundy and gold thread Baju kurung.

Since we are still not allowed to open to the public, we wanted to show you all a really awesome piece that we received back in March before the time of Covid. This beautiful, yet very delicate, bonnet worn by the acting First Lady of the United States, Harriet Rebecca Lane Johnston. Harriet was the niece of our 15th President, James Buchanan. @ Fashion Archives and Museum of Shippensburg University