Miscellany

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First of all, hello to all of my new watchers!  Sorry for the lack of updates.  At least I've made more recent posts here than on my Tumblr? D:

I haven't done any sewing lately, apart from finishing the front eyelets (ooooooooh).  I think I'm kind of scared that I'm going to do something incredibly stupid to my 1790s stays, but I need to just get over that and put in some more channels.  Yesterday my mother underwent surgery on her foot, and now she's of course laid up - I'm working at the Dance Museum today, but tomorrow I think I'll take my computer and sewing over to her house and watch something period while I backstitch.

I'm still having a hard time finding costume collections with garments relative to my thesis at a reasonable distance from here.  The Cornell collection has something from the 1780s and a few Regency dresses; I'm going to contact Sturbridge Village (or explore their site more thoroughly) to find out what they have.  What I need is one or two late 18th century dresses, 1795-1805 dresses, and 1810-1820 dresses that I can examine for construction techniques and sketch/take patterns from.  I might have to go to Boston, but I'd like to find one somewhere closer.  Any ideas?  I live near Albany.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 28, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    I feel most welcome, thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. lahbluebonnetJuly 28, 2011 at 7:20 PM

    You might be surprised at what local museums might have. How about the Met in NYC? Check around the Albany area and ask around. My MIL is living in Saratoga now and I've run around that area a bit. There is so much history there and museums, there are bound to be gowns available. Ask around at the museums in your area to see if they can direct you.
    Laurie

    ReplyDelete
  3. CassidyJuly 28, 2011 at 9:42 PM

    Sadly, right now (or at least this was the situations a couple of months ago) the Met is undergoing renovations and nobody can have any research appointments. But I did just remember that I wanted to write to the Albany Institute to see if they had anything! (No online collection database.) For some reason, your typing "Albany" reminded me when mine didn't.

    I guess I'll just type up a standard sort of form letter asking if house museums like Schuyler House have any sort of collection. What troubles me, though, is that back in the 1970s the Colonial Williamsburg people came up here and bought a lot of stuff. :( But it's worth a shot!

    ReplyDelete
  4. lahbluebonnetJuly 29, 2011 at 8:39 PM

    I've been to the Schyler house (last Sept) and I didn't see any on display. Perhaps in storage. Colonial Williamsburg is a days drive. They have lots of things in drawers at the museum that you can take a tour and see things. I don't know how much research your're allowed. Don't know if you have time for a mini-research-vacation.
    Or if you contact Linda Baumgartner at CW and ask her about places in the Albany area.
    Laurie

    ReplyDelete
  5. lahbluebonnetJuly 29, 2011 at 8:40 PM

    Oh, I've been to Fort Ticonderoga, also last Sept, and that place is great! it wasn't a reenactment weekend but it was fun to see a completely different place!
    Laurie

    ReplyDelete
  6. CassidyJuly 30, 2011 at 10:05 AM

    I haven't been to Schuyler House in a distressingly long time, given that I live 10-15 minutes away, but yeah. I wouldn't think that any of those small house museums had anything, because they don't seem to ever display clothing, but when I interned at one in Brooklyn I realized that they might have stuff in boxes that they don't have the space/ability/funding to display.

    I don't think I have time to really go anywhere I can't do there-and-back in a day, but I will definitely email Linda Baumgartner if the Albany Institute and NYS Museum don't have anything. Thanks for the suggestion!

    ReplyDelete

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