At the historical fashion forum in Historic Deerfield today and tomorrow! Not doing the full liveblogging thing, but I will be popping in to share stuff from time to time.
Fall Forum - Fashioning the Body: Dress in New England 1600–1900 - Historic Deerfield
Fashion has garnered great interest in recent decades and research into the history of clothing has yielded new insights into culturally embedded ideas around self-styling and the body. Yet, few studies have explored New England’s relationship with styling the body and fashionable dress. This forum will convene a group of experts in the field to explore the rich history of dressing the body and self-presentation in this region.
First up: Embodying the Domestic: Embroidered Gowns and Sartorial Culture in Colonial Massachusetts and Connecticut by Livy Scott, PhD candidate at MIT.
In 1976, a scholar declared that it must be English because of the fineness of the embroidery, but the Wadsworth gown is said to be made by its original wearer and there is considerable evidence that it is homemade work.
The Robbins Family of East Lexington: Fashioning Themselves and the New Nation, by Jennifer Swope, curator of textiles at the MFA Boston (
@mfaboston.bsky.social)
Extant clothing worn by Abigail Winship Robbins! 🗃️🪡
Cassidy Percoco
