Black and Gold Obsession

I've kind of become obsessed with this certain dress.  I also have an event coming up on June 1st that I'll need something Art Deco to wear.  Perfect!

Evening Dress c.1924, Callot Soeurs more info can be found here

same dress, from here

Isn't this a Mennonite colony?

I haven't had one of these rants in a while, but I figured it was finally worth it to speak out again.  I'm not sure if it's just an honest mistake or sheer ignorance, but it's disturbing either way.

I work in Columbia State Historic Park in California.  Generally I wear a collarless button-up shirt, skirt, and about two or three petticoats when I go to work (I'm not claiming by any stretch of the imagination that I have been dressing historically accurate).  I keep my hair pulled back so it's out of the way.  On any given day I deal with at least a handful of really off the wall history questions.

Yesterday, a woman came into the store I work in with a couple of school age children that had probably been on the "Gold Rush field trip" either last year or were going to be this year.  She asked me what it's like being a Mennonite.  I stood there in complete shock holding a coffee cup in my hand.  I told her I was not a Mennonite by any stretch of the imagination.  She the proceeded to say as she walked out the door with her family "oh I thought this town was a Mennonite colony."

WTF??? LOL

I can see where she might have come up with this conclusion, but it's still rather shocking.  I've maintained for a long time now that the CA park system have created a fantasy world rooted pretty heavily in the TV series Little House on the Prairie; they have cleaned up history to make it politically correct and wholesome for the family.  They have censored the truth about the kinds of people and shops that existed.  However, one of the worst injustices that's been committed is against the clothing.  Below, I have posted several different slants on what the women who work in CSHP are forced to wear each day.  I do not see how the following images accurately portray what Columbia, CA looked like between 1850-1870.

Mennonite girls.  Photo from this site

Little House on the Prairie cast photo, from here

Prairie dresses from commercial pattern, found here

Funny thing is, even if you do a simple google image search or wikipedia search for 1850s women's fashions, the results are staggering and completely different from the above images.  For example:

image from here

image source

image source

All very different styles; all very different from the first set of images; all randomly selected; and ALL representing different social classes of women.

So the long and short of it is this:

Dear California State Park System, 

You fail epically at your mission statement of recreating a "Gold Rush era" town c.1850-1870.  When people that come to visit start asking employees of the stores if they are Mennonites or Amish or Quakers when they are supposed to be representing a time frame of around 1850, there is something severely wrong.  Perhaps it would be advisable to consult someone with a history degree and an interest in clothing to correct some of these problems.

Sincerely,
Someone who believes we can do much better

Oh and all this also means that as soon as I get my house back in order from the new flooring, there will be a new, corrected outfit made.

Edit: 6/1/2013
Until I find motivation to sew a new work outfit, allow me to share my mockery with you all on here:

Oh so attractive...I'm standing over the heater vent to make the mumu poof out

2012: That's a wrap folks...

It's that time of year, the time when I admit that I did not finish my goals.  It's okay though since there were several other non-sewing victories.

1950s crinoline to go with the pink dresses

"walk away" dress in pink taffeta with black polka dot organza overlay

pink silk dress

reproduction of Princess Margaret's 1960 wedding dress

1850s homespun work dress

swiss waist

black cocktail dress

union suit for Charlie

2013 goals:
obtain a more correct silhouette for work that is functional and doesn't knock things off the shelves.
- short hoopskirt "mini crini"
- 1860s brown dress after Mrs. Lewis William Tappar's dress

Charlie Christmas prep

We call this Hobo kitty.  Catcher is not amused by the rain and flooding lately.

 

I helped wrap that bag behind me.

Charlie is being so patient waiting for his own presents this year.

"Mom, is it Christmas yet?"

Cavaliers and unions suits

I'll have to try again tomorrow to get some better pictures of the union suit I made Charlie today.  I still need one more button and the ones to go on his butt.  He really is a lot more thrilled with it than the pictures let on.  He's having a lazy day and just wants to stand still and star at me.

Little Black dress, contd.

Some of you might remember my last post about a certain little black dress from before my honeymoon a few weeks ago.  I did in fact finish it in time and got some slightly blurry photos while on vacation.

That little black dress

As soon as I saw it, I knew it had to be mine.  I need a fancier dress for a variety of reasons, most notably the honeymoon I'm leaving for this week.  Huge thanks to The Fashionable Past for pinning this dress on pinterest.

1950s black chiffon party dress

More photos can be found here at Hemlock Vintage Clothing and I'll have photos of my dress up soon.  So far I've got the skirt pieces cut out and pinned on the dressform.