Historical clothing walking on the streets of the Colonial Williamsburg historic area beguiled us to take the 75th anniversary tour of the place where they are made…the Costume Design Center
What an amazing opportunity to see how the historical clothing worn by hundreds of interpreters is designed, sewn, fitted, stored, archived, researched, etc, etc, etc.
So mesmerized to be in this huge location of historical sewing, I didn’t get a picture of my favorite moment…a gorgeous ball gown laid on the table, in the process of being sewn.
18th century Maternity Gown
One unique dress caught my eye. After analyzing it, I asked one of the tailors if it was a maternity gown.
I asked if the ladies wore stays while pregnant and she said yes.
Stays for ladies, babies, and pregnant women
I hear stays are quite comfortable and help a lady to keep her posture.
In fact, there are stays for babies!
All the ladies in the historic area wear stays, which provides a completely different shape than our 21st century look.
Also the bodices are pinned into the stays!
How to sew proper attire for my son: the adventure begins
Since my son wants to dress as the son of a gentry plantation owner, I got tips on how to sew historically accurate breeches, coat, vest, shirt and cravat.
Breeches inspiration for my son’s historical wardrobe
One of the tailors I met a few weeks ago sews breeches for the interpreters.
She assured me that I, too, can sew breeches…despite all their unusual parts.
Also it is important to fit them snugly around the knee and lower thigh with more room above.
Additionally the waistcoat’s cut helps a man to have correct posture.
I have found some surprisingly unusual pattern pieces and methods of assembly for the historical costumes I sew for my kids, as compared to present day patterns.
She said that’s due to the differences in fashion and body shape in the past.
She also encouraged me, as has the milliner, and reenactor, and perhaps the tailor, that I start with muslin for the fitting.
Appropriate fabrics confirmed
Then we talked about appropriate fabrics.
My son wants his costume made of silk since he wants to be of the gentry class.
Yes I told him, but mainly to the ball!
For walking around town, possibly getting dirty, cotton and linen are better.
I brought this up to the tailor and she agreed.
Since she said so, my son now agrees to achieving the look with wash and wear. Whew!
Research and Design Room
Our next stop was Research and Design. There were costumes all over this room too!
A computer with the CAD program allows the design of specially fitted patterns when generic patterns don’t fit.
I think this was some of the embroidery work.
This table had hand drawn patterns (a stunning work of art) and notebooks full of information for costume design for the Electronic Field Trips!
Suddenly this became my favorite display.
How fascinating to go through the notebooks, page by page, looking at renderings of historical clothing, fabric samples, color swatches, and memos of casting and costuming.
Accessories Room
Then we went to see Accessories Room.
Oh my, you won’t believe what I found!
On this table are many items I’ve tried to make for my son.
This was now my favorite display! We had so much fun here, oohing and aahing.
We asked what in the world is this (picking up the long, narrow black leather-like object)?
That is a stock which Lafayette wears this around his neck. Really?
My son got excited about the dragoon’s helmet.
It’s the one that looks like a horse tail is coming from the top (that’s to represent the horse that the dragoon’s ride).
Picking it up, I handed it to my son. Wow! It’s heavy! Does anyone get a headache from wearing this?
Then I noticed the Lafayette hat, with the black and white fluff on top representing the French-American alliance.
Now let me tell you about the other side of the table.
I saw the round cream colored hat, walking cane, gloves and pocket watch. “Are those George Washington’s?” I asked. Yes!
My son and I admired how soft the gloves were.
Then I noticed the gold epaulettes with two stars. I said, “Those are a major-generals. Are those Lafayette’s?”
Yes, the tailor told me. W-O-W!
I’ve tried duplicating these, simply by looking at pictures.
Intricately entwined, two dimension doesn’t do the design justice.
Busy workshops on display
Such a busy workshop to display the happy hum of 18th century sewing varieties, we saw one tailor weaving trim for the ball gowns and yet another lady quilling leather leggings for the American Indian costumes.
After stepping away for a bit, I returned to find my son at the table talking to the tailor at the accessory table where the epaulettes were.
White stock inspiration for my son’s historical wardrobe
When I walked up to them, they said I needed to make a white stock for him.
The tailor explained to me the appearance and construction of it.
She said that we could see some if we went back to the Operations room and went upstairs.
After asking how all this works with the shirt, she gave me a booklet the costumed interpreters use to know how to wear all of their articles of clothing! Wow!
For the neckwear, there are so many varieties, black or white, depending on occasion and class level, and they work in different ways with the shirt which may be plan or ruffled, according to class ranking.
Chatting with the Lafayette Actor about historical neckwear
We went back to the Operations room where the actor who portrays Lafayette walked over to my son.
This time, he was not in character, but was himself, which was a rare experience.
My son told him that we had just learned that he should have a white stock to wear and we were on our way upstairs to see one.
After confirming that we would see a lot of them, he gave us a lot of information on neckwear.
The actor said he has a book on 19th century neckwear with a vast array of styles.
While discussing white and the black stocks, I asked whether the black was unique to the French?
No, the British, French, and Americans all wore it, specifically the military.
When I got home that night I found it.
It’s a book I purchased from Mount Vernon on a museum display that they did a few years ago on Lafayette called, A Son and His Adoptive Father: The Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington.
There is a painting of George Washington, which is apparently unique, done by a French painter, where “Washington’s collar is depicted in a French style with a dark cravat.”
Then a lady introduced herself as one of the producers for the EFT and thanked my kids for being the first Skypers!
We had a lot of fun talking about that experience and I thanked her for the wonderful opportunity. My kids are still building memories from that.
Upstairs for the fittings and the stockpiles of all the clothes
Then we went upstairs and saw the “stock,” which were piles of all the costumes.
The entire walls from floor to ceiling had rows and rows of neatly stacked pants and breeches, shirts, etc of every size imaginable.
It is up here that new employees get their historical attire.
If a new item is being made for an employee, the fittings take place up here.
She took us in the other direction and we looked at various stocks and cravats, talked about how to tie them, etc.
The white stock looks like a small cummerbund.
Ruffled Shirt inspiration for my son’s Historical Wardrobe
Then we went to the shirts.
My son is outgrowing his shirt that has helped him to be a musketeer, colonial boy, Oliver Hazard Perry, Lafayette and a union Civil War officer. The ruffle no longer shows.
Now he was talking to her about his need for a new ruffle shirt so that everyone can see the ruffles.
Quickly outgrowing his current shirt, he has a ruffled shirt at the top of my sewing list.
The ruffles would complete the look. The tailor assured me that I could do it.
Since it’s going to take me a while to sew all of this, my son has prioritized his wish list to look historically accurate:
The plan for my son’s historical wardrobe, inspired by Colonial Williamsburg
First, the black stock and cravat to help him look more military.
Second, the ruffled shirt.
Third, a new white stock.
Fourth, breeches.
Fifth, waistcoat.
Sixth, a coat, which he won’t need in the summer but would be good for cold weather, like now.
At least now he can wear the Lafayette costume while I get the new costume assembled.
Historic Area Clothing Analysis
After returning to the historic area and eating lunch, my son bought the ball for the trap game he got for his birthday.
Asking the kids what they’d like to do for the rest of the day, they both wanted to do Revolutionary City.
We see it a lot, but great history, great acting…and we can analyze all the historical clothing walking around!
Silversmith Shop Detour
While waiting for RC, we watched the silversmith create beautiful filigree.
She explained the grids in the floor behind her (and under her) were to catch all the bits of silver she’d file away.
Every few years that is swept into a container to ship to England where factories melt the shavings and purify the metal.
Once weighed, they are given credit in England.
Mercantilism benefited England while keeping their colonies dependent on them.
Mrs. Randolph in autumnal attire
While waiting for the street theater, Mrs. Randolph chatted with my daughter.
She asked my daughter where her brother was. Across the street. (How did she know about him?)
Then she asked if we were in town to enroll him in the College of William and Mary. My daughter said no.
Mrs. Randolph asked how old he was. When we said 14, she said that was a good age to start, but some who are quite bright start as early as 8.
She figured my son could be in that category, as he strikes her as the philosophical type. (This was uncanny. She has him perfectly pegged, but how does she know that? Was she sort of guessing to strike up conversation because we are guests.)
I told her he does keep us on our toes at home, constantly talking to prove a point. He reminds us a bit of Patrick Henry.
Oh, she said once that man starts talking he never stops. (That sounds exactly like my son, although I think the historic area has been spared much of my son’s verbosity. They had better watch out as one never knows when he’ll form an opinion and discourse away!)
I like how her dress matches the autumn colors.
EFT Spotters?
My son told me one of the guests walked up to him and said she saw him on the EFT.
The kids got a lot of attention from the actors.
Before the slave scene, one of the slaves came to us, looking at us seriously.
He asked if we owned slaves. No.
Coming closer to us, he softly asked, “Can I trust you?” Yes.
He whispered that there was a slave meeting behind the Coffee House.
When we went behind the Coffee House there was another slave there who gave her courtesies to the kids and then asked my daughter if she had seen Kate yet.
My daughter stood there and talked to her for a few minutes before the beginning of the scene.
Historical clothing walking in the historic area
Most of that autumnal afternoon we whispered amongst ourselves, pointing out the different styles the townspeople wore, trying to apply everything we had learned that morning.
Mann Page has a fine cravat of a gentry member.
The gentry wore white stocks with a ruffled shirt, like these members of the House of Burgesses.
Lord Dunmore, the royal governor for Virginia, is dressed the fanciest of all.
We’ve noticed that the Randolph family is usually color coordinated.
At the end of the day we watched the cannon firing, which my son is trying to capture in action, showing the fire coming out of the cannon.
While showing me the pictures, Mann Page walked up to say goodbye to him.
