Maine Memory Network

Ida Hussey's "handmade" wedding dress, Guilford, ca. 1898

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1898 Location: Guilford Media: silk, cotton, metal

Haskell silk wedding dress, Westbrook, ca. 1912

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1912 Location: Westbrook Media: Silk

Dressing Up, Standing Out, Fitting In

Adorning oneself to look one's "best" has varied over time, gender, economic class, and by event. Adornments suggest one's sense of identity and one's intent to stand out or fit in.

Fashionable Maine: early twentieth century clothing

Maine residents kept pace with the dramatic shift in women’s dress that occurred during the short number of years preceding and immediately following World War I. The long restrictive skirts, stiff collars, body molding corsets and formal behavior of earlier decades quickly faded away and the new straight, dropped waist easy-to-wear clothing gave mobility and freedom of movement in tune with the young independent women of the casual, post-war jazz age generation.

Historic Clothing Collection - Arcy Cary Bradford's gigot sleeve wedding dress, ca. 1829 - Page 1 of 2

"Arcy Cary Bradford's gigot sleeve wedding dress, ca. 1829 Contributed by Maine Historical Society Description Gigot sleeve is the French…"

Historic Clothing Collection - Sally Holmes's evening gown, ca. 1824 - Page 1 of 2

"Sally Holmes's evening gown, ca. 1824 Contributed by Maine Historical Society Description Sally Holmes of Alfred wore this evening gown in…"