Tiger Lily's Threads

For this section, I decided to focus my attention on the wardrobe. What would have Ona Judge worn in 1796?  Now, here's the thing that left me a bit perplexed. According to the runaway ad, it described Ona had taken several nice dresses with her, but were too many for the Washingtons to recollect. Since Ona Judge was Martha Washington's personal lady's maid, this meant that she would have worn the nicest clothing compared to what a domestic maid or a field hand would have worn. So...this lead me to the age old question...what should I wear? Which style dress would best interpret Ona's occupation?  Looking up examples of 1790's fashion plates online and in my Kyoto Fashions book, this simple and yet elegant gown grabbed my attention and made me feel like this would be a good fit. The only thing I am not 100% sure of is whether Ona would have owned any taffeta gowns; If anything cotton or linen fabrics would have been selected for her in either a plain or ch...

This past weekend was the 9th annual Colonial Market Fair at the Benjamin Banneker Museum in Ellicott City, MD. It's a small but increasing local event that seems to annually bring in a lot of spectators from all over the Howard/Baltimore/Arundel County areas. Of the four years that I have participated (2014-2018), I have watched the CMF grow in size. From performances, to vendors, to demonstrations, and sutlers. Saturday Each year that I participate I always set up my display of 18th century women's fashion; I show everything from fancy ball gowns, jackets, hats, etc. to simple clothing like work jackets cotton petticoats and even underpinnings. This year due to the crappy weather that threatened us again this weekend, I decided to forego the fancy gowns and display rural 18th century women's clothing of the area. Basically your basic jacket and petticoat, underpinnings, and accessories.  The only new things I added to the table were a couple of booklet...

This past Saturday, I attended a little get-together with a few friends in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and had an indoor picnic. Originally it was going to be outdoors at the Montpelier Mansion in Laurel, but due to the pretty nasty thunderstorm that threatened the weekend, last minute changes were made-which worked out pretty well. Anyway, we all had a great time! Everyone wore wonderful outfits that dated from 1740 to 1800, there were lots of delicious finger foods (though the chocolate chip cookies that I brought with me sadly did not make it out of the package unscathed; next event I'll get a fruit platter). The best part of the picnic though, was the opportunity to meet some new faces and just let our hair down and have fun!    The quartet of Dunmore shoes and buckles from American Duchess These beautiful ladies in their Chemise la Reines. Fun fact: The Chemise la Reine (The Queen's Chemise) became a very popular garment worn in 1780's  France due to ...