Olivia Emeline Lane Dresses, c.1827-1835: Hand Sewn in Stratham, NH

 Olivia Emeline Lane Dresses, c.1827-1835, Stratham, NH 

I recently spent time trying to untangle some of the storyline and chronology for a box of Lane family textiles housed at the Stratham Historical Society, Stratham, NH.[i] The memories and names mentioned in aging handwritten labels seemed in need of clarification. After pondering the various and somewhat cryptic notes and using a variety of online and published sources, I am fairly comfortable with the identity of the wearer of these two charming child’s dresses and their maker: the dresses were worn by Olivia Emeline Lane (14 November 1825- 4 September 1905) and made by her mother, Hannah French Lane (1802-1841).

The two dresses exhibit design details found in dresses c.1825-1830s throughout New England and would be perfect for a child of three to seven or eight years of age, depending on size. Both dresses are entirely hand sewn, with high waists and bodice and sleeve flourishes. Simple drawstrings and buttons serve as back closures. 

One features diminutive Van Dyck trim and a very skillful mending on the sleeve. 

According to the family notes that accompany the garments, the textiles for the dresses were spun and woven by Olivia’s mother, Hannah. Close inspection of the fabric reveals slight imperfections and slubs indicative of home weaving. The likelihood that the material was homespun is furthered by the fact that Hannah was married to Charles Lane (1796-1884). Charles was a son of Jabez Lane and the couple likely lived in his father’s house. Jabez’s father was none other than the renowned New Hampshire shoemaker, Deacon Samuel Lane. Thanks to the work of scholar Jerald Brown and the efforts of the Lane family to preserve their family papers (housed at the New Hampshire Historical Society), we know that female members of Samuel Lane’s household produced flax and wove high quality linen.[ii] Their work was in demand at various market days. It is not unlikely that later generations retained the tradition, and perhaps the workspace.

After Hannah's death in 1841, Charles remarried. His second wife was Elizabeth Berry Lane, and it appears that her descendants preserved these very special items, as well as a ‘best bonnet’.  

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[i] The Lane dresses are housed at the Stratham Historical Society, in Stratham, NH. For information, see Stratham Historical Society at http://www.strathamnh.gov/historical-society

The author thanks Andra Copeland, Skip Stearns, Bruce Kerr and Teddie Smith of the Stratham Historical Society for their assistance throughout the summer of 2022.

[ii] For a guide to the Lane Family Papers at the New Hampshire Historical Society, see: https://www.nhhistory.org/object/272904/lane-family-papers-1727-1924.

For a comprehensive account of Samuel Lane, see Brown, J. E., & Garvin, D.-B.. The Years of the Life of Samuel Lane, 1718-1806: A New Hampshire Man and His World. (Univ. Press of New England, 2000).  For an account of Lane and additional 18^th century New England shoemakers and their business, see Alexander, K., Treasures Afoot: Shoe Stories from the Georgian Era (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018)

A 1925 Flapper-Style Wedding Dress; Worn in New Hampshire

Clare Hamel’s 1925 flapper-style wedding ensemble, included dress, hat, shoes and underslip, all of which have survived and are in the collection of the Newmarket Historical Society. The photograph shows the wedding party on Nichols Street, Newmarket, NH, with the smiling bride in her ensemble, holding an elaborate bouquet.

The tawny bronze silk dress is ornamented with gold-tone trims. The contrasting yellow cotton slip was worn beneath and must have created quite an effect, though hard to visualize today. The bride-to-be clearly selected the items for her ensemble with care and of the latest fashion.

Clare married Pierre Hamel at St. Mary Church, in Newmarket, New Hampshire on February 16^th, 1925.

For more information on the collection, contact the www.newmarketnhhistoricalsociety.org. 

Embellishments in Victorian Fashion: Exhibition, Saco Museum

On view at the Saco Museum, Saco, Maine 

May 13 - August 27, 2017

Sumptuous fabrics, vibrant colors and textures, masses of elaborate trims - all are defining elements of fashionable Victorian women's clothing. Nineteenth-century designers had very definite ideas of what constituted beauty, and these concepts had a widespread impact on art and design. Embellishments in Victorian Fashion focuses on how nineteenth-century aesthetics influenced women's clothing design and construction.  A variety of Victorian design concepts are examined in detail, including self-trim, color and texture contrasts, ruching, pleating, ribbon work, and asymmetry.

Curator Astrida Schaeffer notes: “This is a greatly expanded exhibition from the original Embellishments show, exploring the nine design building blocks with garments from five institutions. For most of the clothes, this is a rare opportunity to be seen by the public, and having them together in this way not only showcases their beauty, but gives the elements of their design a context. In a way, the exhibition is a giant scavenger hunt — is that piping there? Look at that texture contrast! The wonderful techniques and the textures, fabrics, and colors offer an inspiration for anyone interested in fashion and design.”

The exhibition features fifty garments from five institutions in Maine and New Hampshire: the Saco Museum, the Irma Bowen Textile Collection of the University of New Hampshire, the Portsmouth Historical Society, Strawbery Banke Museum, and the Woodman Institute of Dover, New Hampshire. 

 Astrida Schaeffer has been making reproduction historical clothing since 1986 and museum mannequins since 1998. Her recent book, Embellishments: Constructing Victorian Detail, focused on the UNH Irma Bowen collection and has received high praise. Astrida holds a Master of Arts in History from the University of New Hampshire with a focus on material culture and museum studies, and was assistant director at the UNH Museum of Art for ten years, where she was responsible for collections care, exhibition installation, and object preparation. She trained in mannequin production at the Textile Conservation Center in Lowell, MA and with the Northern States Conservation Center.

Lecture:

How Victorians Got So Fancy
Friday, August 18, 6:00 p.m. 

How Victorians Got So Fancy will be the final program in our Embellishments in Victorian Fashion summer exhibit. In this program, guest curator Astrida Schaeffer will focus on the silvery grey 1870s day dress made and owned by Celestia Freeman of Somersworth, New Hampshire. Freeman was the wife of a mill overseer who likely saw this dress as a way of marking her status in the new community she moved to with her husband. Schaeffer will use Freeman's well preserved dress to explore the development of the sewing machine, the importance of pre-made patterns, and the effects of the fashion magazine industry. 

For more about Astrida Schaeffer and Schaeffer Arts, see: http://www.schaefferarts.com/exhibition-embellishments-constructing-victorian-detail/

For details about the exhibition and the Saco Museum, see: http://www.sacomuseum.org/mus_current_exhibits_temp.shtml?id=EuApFyAluyCerpUNRW