Sarah Moore's wool plaid dress, Waterford, ca. 1868
Item 105966 info
Maine Historical Society
This plaid wool two-piece dress with low set shoulders is one of the collection’s few examples of later 1860s styles. A black scalloped trim accentuates the sloped shoulders on the straight sleeve bodice. Waist pleating at the back accommodates a bustle, newly fashionable by 1868.
Prior to the War, most wool was imported, with domestic production limited to small pockets of operation. However, the War effort considerably increased domestic production. In Maine alone, wool production increased by 72%. After the War, interest in wool leveled off due to cotton’s rising dominance.
This dress, which shows signs of updating, is associated with Sarah S. (Moore) Wilson (1842–1926) of Waterford. She married local physician Dr. Charles L. Wilson. Several garments associated with Sarah and her daughter Anne F. Wilson, a well-known author, appear in the collection.
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