Hi,

Out here in NE Colorado I have a wide variety of colors for wedding dresses
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries- it was a question of
practicality- we are an ag community with dust blowing everywhere so white
was not a good color choice, especially since these dresses were often worn
for Sundays and other special events for the next few years-  most of the
colors I have are variations of brown and beige, but I also have a few
pink - according to the write ups of weddings in the local papers a rainbow
of colors were acceptable

Nikkie


Nikkie Cooper, Curator
Fort Morgan Museum

P.O. Box 184
Fort Morgan, CO 80701
970-867-6331
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Candace Perry" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 10:20 AM
Subject: brown wedding gowns


> I am curator of a small history museum that interprets the heritage of a
> small PA German Protestant group, and I have noticed an interesting (at
> least to me!) phenomenon regarding the wedding gowns of the group members
in
> the late 19th century.  We have at least 4 rather similar BROWN dresses
from
> the 1880s-90s.  They are typical in style for that time period, they are
> silk with various trims.  I am aware that the white wedding is a 20th
> century thing, more or less, but I've never run into so many similar
dresses
> from different brides from this time period. Makes for a pretty dull
wedding
> exhibit!!!
> I am trying to determine if this was another peculiarity of this group, or
> actually might have been fashionable for brides to wear brown in that time
> period.  Can't say I've run into it in other collections.  A bit of
> background -- the group (the Schwenkfelders) were conservative and modest
> but not "plain"  and they were members of rural communities, for the most
> part.
> Looking forward to any input,
> Candace Perry
> Schwenfelder Library & Heritage Center
>
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