Remade Brocade: From Wedding Dress to Wedding Shoes

Textiles in the 17th and 18th century held their value long after a given style had ceased to be popular. Over and over, we find examples of brocades, damasks, woolens and so on, cut down and made into smaller items: a child's dress made from a mother's gown; a woman's bodice or jumps fashioned from a man's coat or an earlier a dress; a quilted petticoat transformed to bedspread, and textiles to shoes, needle cases and any number of smaller belongings. In this context, the use of a silk brocade from a 1739 wedding dress being refashioned for wedding shoes in 1773 is certainly consistent. Further, weddings are frequently conservative events, naturally imbued with traditions shared across generations.

When the 21 year-old bride, Deborah Thaxter (1752-1832) married Capt. James Todd (1751-1831), on 18 November, 1773, her mother had died few years earlier, in 1769. According to the Maine Historical Society (For more:), the young bride wore these silk brocade shoes, made from the fabric of her mother's wedding dress. (Her mother, Deborah [Lincoln] Thaxter, was married on 29 November 1739.) The family had its roots in the founding of Hingham, Massachusetts.

The survival of these shoes, created using a “repurposed” silk most likely held personal significance and meanings not included in the current family record. While the mother's circa 1730s silk brocade features rosy peach colored floral motif at the toes and bold plant forms associated with Baroque textiles, the form of the shoe is in keeping with the changes found in the later 18^th century: longer shoe with a pointed toe and much smaller and narrower heel. The decision to employ an approximately 40 year-old textile was clearly of the bride's choosing. Memory of her mother was carried literally and figuratively into her new life via her new/old shoes.

The early years of Deborah's married life were punctuated by considerable uncertainty. Her husband, Captain Todd, was captured by the British while en route from Havana to Boston shortly after their marriage. The couple's first child was born 4 May 1774 and their next child, not until 1788. Capt. Todd was held prisoner for nearly nine years. Released in June 1784, he remained a sea captain until 1804.

As noted by the Maine Historical Society, the couple's youngest son, James, apprenticed as a gilder and looking-glass maker in Boston, then moved to Portland in 1820, where he operated the Portland Looking Glass Manufactory, served as president of the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, and was active in politics.

Madeline's (Very) Orange "Flapper" Wedding Dress, 1928

Madeline Sirois Parker

Married in Fort Fairfield, Maine, February 20, 1928

Madeline Sirois Parker loved color. Living in Aroostook County Maine, the sunny days were revered and often called for excursions to pick fruit and enjoy a picnic.   She loved her flower garden and had not only a green thumb but a true sense of color, embodied in her orange “flapper” wedding dress, currently on view at the American Textile History Museum as part of the exhibition Behind the Veil. Madeline’s personality shines through her wedding dress selection. According to her granddaughter, Janith Bergeron, Madeline was always a very “colorful” person. Since Madeline lived in a very rural area of Maine, she purchased the fashionable dress in Canada. Spring was still far off, so she chose to wear a bright and colorful dress, rather than blending into the white on white of  winter. While a foggy wedding day may have concerned some soon-to-wed couples, it caused her groom, Lester Parker to comment that he was glad he could see her through “the weather.” Unfortunately, no wedding photographs were taken so we cannot see how stunning she looked in her shimmering flapper dress – although one can surmise she was beaming!

The dress was (and is) eye-catching. It no doubt had a slight orange glow from the light silk. With its uneven hemline, typical of the period, and its glimmering beads and sequins, outlining the low waist and trimming the sleeveless garment, Madeline would have been stunning on her wedding day. Her matching hat completed the ensemble. One senses she exuded confidence, for not every bride would feel comfortable making such a bold statement.

Janith (a skilled designer and inspired seamstress like her grandmother) recalls:

“sewing was a passion and I remember many days spent in her lovely sewing room which looked out onto the potato fields and the mountains on the other side of the St. John River. Madeline was a wonderful hat maker...she would create lovely ensembles of all kinds and then a hat to go with them.   Ladies did not go without hat and gloves.   Any trip to town was an occasion to dress (and I mean 'to the nines'). Madeline often did sewing for a dress shop in town...Avis's dress shop, Fort Fairfield, Maine.   It was a very popular place with garments often coming from Europe and Canada. And, oh, she was also a great cook and I'm happy to say I still have her cookbook.” 

Correspondence between the author and Janith Bergeron, April, 2013.

Janith Bergeron is proprietress of Designs By Janith and Co-Director of The Sewing Tree, Dover, New Hampshire.

The Sewing Tree

www.thesewingtree.com

Designs by Janith

www.designsbyjanith.com

Photos of Madeline's dress below are courtesy American History Textile Museum; Frank Graham, photographer.

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For more stories about brides and their weddings, visit

Behind the Veil: Brides and their Dresses

American Textile History Museum

www.athm.org/

April 6, 2013 – August 11, 2013

Whether extravagant or frugal, traditional or fashion-forward, the story behind a bride’s dress has much to tell us about her life as well as our common culture. A symbol of love and commitment, the wedding dress personifies girlhood fantasies, a moment of transition, a performance of cultural values. Behind the Veil: Brides and Their Dresses explores how brides over the past 100 years have chosen their wedding dresses, and how their decisions are shaped by fashion, family, and finances. This exhibition highlights not only the dresses worn on the big day, but the stories of the women who wore them – whether a traditional princess-style dress or a funky animal print, whether a simple homemade dress from the early 19th century or a mini worn in 1969. How have women created alternatives to the iconic white dress, or how have they embraced the fairytale wedding? More than an historical survey, this exhibition explores generations of women and the stories of their bridal attire.