Tuesday the kids and I went to Colonial Williamsburg to visit the Costume Design Center's (CDC) 75th anniversary open house.

     First stop was to meet the producer we worked with last week to Skype for the EFT.  The kids and I had a great time meeting with her and thanked her again for that opportunity!

     Then we went to the CDC.  Wow! Can you imagine me in there?  What an opportunity!  After all the historical unit celebration costumes I've sewn for the kids, the struggles I've had to make them as accurate as possible with limited time and budget, I now had an opportunity to see how CW costumes are designed, sewn, fitted, stored, archived, researched, etc, etc, etc.

     My goal had been to take the historical patterns I had purchased at the CW milliner shop a few months ago, cut them out, lay them out and analyze them for questions. My son wants a new costume since he outgrew his old one and the Lafayette costume isn't right. Also, the stars on the epaulettes are already falling apart.  I knew that would happen. With the costume hanging in the closet, unworn for the past year, now was the opportunity for my son to get some wear out of it and stay warm in this colder weather until I sew a new costume for him. My son is determined that I make his next costume as historically accurate as possible.  

      Instead of researching historical costumes, all weekend, I sewed colonial capes for the kids to wear when they go to to CW in the cold.  We had had 45 degree weather for five days straight with rain. We were cold! If this is autumn, what is winter going to be like?  Obviously we still have warm Texas blood rushing through our veins!  When we left for CW, it was 33 degrees.  brrr  

  Actually, when we arrived at the CDC, I was overwhelmed. There was so much to see.  On top of that, my blood sugar dropped too low. I was able to take care of it medically, but my body was out of sync the rest of the day and it was difficult for me to process too many details.  That made me sad because it meant I couldn't take as much advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity. Nevertheless, I was determined to learn all I could!

     We started in Operations.  Look at all those costumes!

On the other side of the room were all of these!

I didn't get a picture of it but my favorite was a gorgeous ball gown that was laid out, in the process of being sewn. This dress caught my eye.  I stood there looking at it, then looked at one of the costumers and asked if it was a maternity dress.  Yes!  I've never seen anyone wearing one of these in the historic area! 

     I asked if the ladies wore stays while pregnant and she said yes. I can't imagine.  I hear stays are quite comfortable and help a lady to keep her posture. In fact, there are stays for babies!  All of the ladies in the historic area wear stays.  It provides a completely different shape than our 21st century look. I didn't get any pictures, but stays can be quite decorative.  Being in the historic area so much, and analyzing the costumes as I always do, I've recently realized how common it is to see parts of the shifts, petticoats and stays.  Also the bodices are pinned into the stays!  Recently I was shocked while talking to a reenactor during Prelude to Victory when she unpinned her bodice to show and explain elements of her stays.  She assured me it was okay.  Well, if she says so. We talked a bit about modesty, since these bodices are a bit revealing. She said the main modesty issue back then were the elbows and knees. One of the coachmen has been after me for showing my elbows (gasp) and has asked why I don't wear my proper dress.    My son has agreed with him, since he's been after me to wear a costume like he and his sister. Can you believe I haven't worn one yet? My dress, which I made for our Y2U4 Celebration is not completely accurate, nor am I an employee, so I don't feel right wearing it. However my son has been trying to talk me into it, so I almost did for him. But I haven't had time to make a colonial cape for myself for these chilly days. 

    I got tips on sewing a new costume for my son, who wants historically accurate breeches, coat, vest, shirt and cravat.  Specifically he wants to be the son of a gentry plantation owner. I got to talk to several costumers, including one I met a few weeks ago. She assured me that I can sew breeches. Hmmmm, I'm not so sure. Look at these! They have flaps and buttonholes and lacing everywhere! Also it is important to make them fitting to the body around the knee and thigh (lower thigh) with more room above.  

  She has sewn lots of the men's costumes so I'm thinking that's easy for her to say! =)  Additionally the waistcoat (vest) is cut in such a way to cause a man to have correct posture. I mentioned to her that with all the costumes I made for my kids' history presentations, I have had some surprisingly unusual pattern pieces and methods of assembly, as compared to 21st century patterns.  She said that's precisely 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 and use that as a fitting. When the milliner tried to explain this to me last July, I was overwhelmingly confused.  I suppose with time to think about it and time to skim through a CW costume book helped me to understand when a reenactor who has sewn 18th century clothes explained the process to me. Sooooooo m-a-y-b-e I can do this.  

     Specifically we talked about appropriate fabrics. My son and husband (who also wants a costume, one like Alexander Purdie's) wants their costume made of silk.  They insist that gentry wore silk. Yes I told them, but mainly to the ball! My husband and son won't be dancing much. Instead they'll be walking about town.  We need wash and wear so I brought this up to the costumer and she agreed. She does Civil War reenactments so she completely understood. Since she said so, my son now agrees to achieving the look with wash and wear. Whew!

     Our next stop was Research and Design.  There were costumes all over this room too!

In the corner was the computer with the CAD program, where they design specially fitted patterns for those employees who have such a shape that a generic pattern doesn't work for them.

     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.  I used to sew and coordinate costumes for children's choir and I appreciated this level of organization and peek behind the scenes. Honestly what I deeply desired was to pull up a chair and go through each notebook, page by page, looking at renderings of historical clothing, fabric samples, color swatches and memos of casting and costuming. I could probably spend the entire day doing this and be utterly content.  However my children would want to move on after a period of time. It was fascinating to go through the binders of information, especially for those EFTs we've experienced, like "Will of the People".   

        Then we went to see Accessories.  Speaking of "Will of the People," here are some of the costume accessories from that EFT.

Here's some from theater. Check out the boat on top of the wig!

Oh my, you won't believe what I found!  Some of the very accessories I desperately tried (and failed) to recreate for my son's Lafayette costume were on the table.  This was now my favorite display!  We had so much fun here, oohing and aahing. We were allowed to touch the accessories. This was incredible.  Here's the picture and let me go one by one describing our favorites.

 First I picked up the epaulettes. I went nuts trying to figure out my son's epaulettes.  These are for General Cornwallis. I seem to recall that the fringe was sewn from the top, whereas I sewed my son's from underneath.  I asked about how they were made. Actually many items on this table came from Europe. Oh! Now I don't feel so bad.  And here I thought I'd get some tips on making these accessories.  Then I picked up the silver epaulettes.  Hmmm, I couldn't imagine who wore those.  The colonels? The seem too small. I was told the governor's footmen wear them. I forgot to look while we were at Revolutionary City, but I looked in some pictures and couldn't find them.   

     We asked what in the world is this (picking up the long, narrow black leather-like object)? That is a stock. Lafayette wears this around his neck.  Really? When I sewed the Lafayette costume, I didn't know which paintings of the real Lafayette were historically accurate and which used artistic license (yes, even in the 18th century). However I knew CW's quest for authenticity so I used our vacation photos of the CW Lafayette, as well as pictures of him on the website, as models for my son's costume.  I hadn't realized before, but after analyzing the photos, I realized he did wear what appeared to be a black turtleneck. Since I was pressed for time to make my son's Lafayette costume, and on a budget, I wasn't about to buy a black turtleneck, which I'd probably have to special order from Lands End like I did for choir costumes in the past.  I think I did consider making a black strip for a mock turtleneck, but being pressed for time and not wanting to run out to the fabric store for a bit of black fabric for the stock and cravat Lafayette wears, I talked my son into wearing his white cravat like he had done a couple of weeks before for his Oliver Hazard Perry costume.  Now I wish I had done the black strip and cravat. That would have been hilarious to have my son wear it and discover it really was a strip instead of a turtleneck.  Since it is going to take me awhile to get a full costume together for my son, he wants me to make the black stock and cravat for him, to at least complete his military outfit now.   

     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).  I picked it up to hand over to my son and I was surprised at how heavy it was.  Does anyone get a headache from wearing this?

     Then I noticed the Lafayette hat, with the black and white furry thing on top. My son asked him once what that was called and what it represented. I'm trying to remember.  Was that a plume?  One color represents France and another represents America.  I forget which color represents which country. Also the order of the color, one on top of the other, signifies whether the officer was from the American army or the French.  I hesitated and asked if it was okay to pick this up. I guess I felt that this was extra special and might have special rules. The costumer assured me I could hold it to look at closely. I've been extremely intrigued on how to put the feathers together. I never could have reproduced this. The feathers were like many feather dusters stacked one on top of the other and inverted.  We took a carefully look to figure out how it was adhered to the hat. 

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!  I've read about the leather gloves before. My son and I admired how soft they were.   

     Then I noticed the gold epaulettes.  I looked at those and saw two stars.  I said, "Those are a major generals.  Are those Lafayette's?" Yes, the costumer told me. W-O-W!  I told her how I agonized over recreating these.  I picked them up and exclaimed that the stars were gold.  When I looked at the CW photos of Lafayette, he had silver stars, so that's what I put on my son's epaulettes.  She said Lafayette wears silver ones too. I carefully turned it over and analyzed each side.  It was great to see them and handle them in person. There is no way I could have duplicated these accurately.  There is an elaborate flat golden trim that runs the length of the epaulette and then forms a figure eight. When I looked in the fabric stores there were no trims and no embroidered stars that matched these epaulettes. My son, at the time I made his, told me to make them as easily as I could.  

     Then we got a peek around the corner to see a costumer who I think was weaving trim for the ball gowns. I wasn't able to get a good look due to all the people crowded around her.  There was another lady doing quill work on leather leggings for the American Indian costumes.  

     I stepped out of the room for a few moments and when I returned, I found my son at the table talking to the costumer at the accessory table where the epaulettes were.  I went to them and they said I needed to make a white stock for him. A what? Um, is that like the black stock, that narrow strip of black that I had thought was Lafayette's turtleneck? 

    No. The costumer proceeded to explain to me the appearance and construction of it.  Hmmm, this is difficult for me to conceptualize something I've never seen, but I told her it sounded like a mini cumberbund for the neck. She thought that was a pretty good description.  Did she have one of those to show me?  She said that we could see some if we went back to the Operations room and went upstairs. I also asked how all of 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! There are lots of descriptions for each item worn. For the neckware, it describes cravats tied ascot style (Hmmm, what is that? I've heard of the term but I don't know how to tie that.), neckerchiefs and stocks. 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. It was overwhelming.      

   We went back to the Operations room and who came over to talk to my son, but his favorite actor, who portrays Lafayette. He has been so kind to acknowledge my son on every visit we've made recently. 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. He confirmed that we would see a lot of them. The actor gave us a lot of information on neckware.  He is a real machine gun of information, which is one of the reasons why we admire his work. The information was coming so quickly, and this topic is so broad, and like I had previously mentioned, my blood sugar was off so I wasn't completely mentally quick, which is a real shame.  He had some wonderful information. Fortunately, my son remembered a lot of the details.   

       I told the actor that I make costumes for my kids for history in school. When I tried to research cravats, I had difficulty narrowing down information.  I had analyzed the CW pictures of the four Founding Fathers, all of whom wear different neckware.  In short, I was confused and not sure what to put together for my son.  The actor said he has a book on 19th century neckware and there is a vast array of styles. My son tells me that he specifically said 40 different ways.   We talked about the white and the black. I asked whether the black was unique to the French? No, the British, French and Americans all wore it, specifically the military. I had said something about reading that it was specifically French and he told me to stay away from Wickipedia. We assured him we have nothing to do with that. In fact, I've been working on a blog article on that very topic. I told him I do try to find reputable sources, but it is difficult to get this sort of detail from home.  That's why I like to go to CW, because everyone there looks for historical accuracy, especially this actor. I knew I read about this black style being French from a book that should be considered accurate. 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." I had read this a year ago when we were living in Texas. In CW pictures I could only find Lafayette wearing a black cravat. I wrongly surmised that only the French wore the dark cravat. Since we've come to Virginia to live and visiting Colonial Williamsburg more, I've noticed British and Americans wearing it too,exactly like the actor was explaining. Obviously I made a mistake and used faulty logic! I guess what I should have concluded was that the style was French, but others wore it. The actor talked about the black and white cravat and said the white my son was wearing as an officer would be acceptable. My son told me later he said it was acceptable for special occasions. 

     We were interrupted by some guests who had seen him in a previous scene. As he talked with them, we were listening and learning about a scene I guess we've never seen before.  Then a lady walked by and stopped and 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.

   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 costumes. If a new costume had been made for an employee, the fittings take place up here. After she described all of that, I told her we needed to see a different kind of stock, a white stock and why. 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 exactly like a small cumberbund. I was still overwhelmed with the variety of options and which my son would actually want to wear. 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. I stood there and smiled. When I first purchased that shirt for his musketeer costume, he fussed about the ruffles.  "Men do not wear ruffles, Mom," he complained. I told him it was the style hundreds of years ago. It wasn't until he met Lafayette and had his picture taken shaking his hand, that we noticed they had matching ruffles at the wrists. When my son discovered that, he became comfortable with wearing the shirt. Now he wants MORE ruffles.  Since he doesn't have ruffles in front, and the shirt is getting small, he has a ruffled shirt at the top of my sewing list.  The ruffles would complete the look.  The costumer assured me that I could do it.  Hmmm, well I can try.  I took a picture so that I could remember exactly where all the ruffles go.

Here are the sleeve ruffles. Actually the shirt and neckware seem easy enough, if I can just remember the right combination. It's the breeches, waistcoat (vest) and coat that worry me.  Well, one thing at a time.

      Since it's going to take me a while to sew all of this (I still have window treatments and early 20th century costumes to sew for our upcoming Y4U1 Celebration), my son would like the black stock and cravat to help him look more military. Then I think he wants the ruffled shirt. Then a new white stock. I'm not sure if he wants the breeches or waistcoat (vest) next. Finally he'd like the 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. I hope the CW Lafayette doesn't mind.    

     Well, it was a terrific morning.  I hadn't been feeling well due to my blood sugar dropping, so I'm sad I didn't get as much out of it as I would have liked.  This was a one time experience to celebrate the 75th aniversary of when costumes were first worn at CW. There is  web page which shows the development of their style of wearing costumes. It wasn't until more recently that the costumes became more historically authentic. I appreciate all the dedication, research and craftsmanship they put into the costumes. There is a time line of pictures that becomes a slide show. Enjoy!

     We walked to the historic area and ate lunch, got the ball for my son's trap game he got for his birthday, then I asked the kids what they'd like to do for the rest of the day. My daughter wanted to do Revolutionary City. Really? My son even liked that idea. I couldn't believe this! Sometimes I'll suggest going to see a specific scene to help them remember a specific point about our country's history and they'll say, "But Mom, we've already seen that scene." Now they were looking forward to RC of their own free will! 

    While waiting for RC, we stepped into the silversmith shop where they were making 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 up, shipped to England where they have factories to melt down the shavings and purify the metal. Instead of shipping the metal back, they are given credit in England. It is interesting how England kept their colonies dependent on them.

    While waiting for RC, this lady came over specifically to talk to my daughter. She is Mrs. Randolph, wife to Peyton Randolph. 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.  The CDC does such a nice job coordinating colors.      

     We were surprised by some new things we saw in RC.  My son told me one of the guests walked up to him and said she saw him on the EFT. That surprised me, because he wore a different costume than usual, mixing up a few elements and he took his glasses off for the show.  The kids got a lot of attention from the actors.  It was funny when we walked by Alexander Purdie, the printer of the Virginia Gazette.  He gave my son the same look a certain British officer held for ransom in the Mary Stith house gave him. Before the slave scene, one of the slaves came to us and looked at us really seriously.  He asked if we owned slaves.  We said no. He came closer to us and spoke softly and asked, "Can I trust you?" We said yes. He softly said that there was a slave meeting behind the Coffee House. I cannot do justice to how he engaged us, but it was fun. 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. 

      Meanwhile, much of my focus during RC was on neckware!  I couldn't get it out of my mind. In fact most of the day we were whispering amongst ourselves and pointing out the different styles the men were wearing and trying to apply all the things we had learned that morning. Apparently, from what we are trying to remember, the gentry wore white stocks with a ruffled shirt, like these members of the House of Burgesses. Hmmm, the member on the left has a bit more plain style I think. I think John Randolph is on the left and I know that is George Washington on the right. Did you know he was a member of the House of Burgesses before the war? (A lot of these actors change parts all the time. They can be in the same scene, yet play different parts. Keeping track of characters, since we go often, is almost as confusing as neckware!) 

There were a lot of people there so it was difficult to get close ups.  I think he is Speaker of the House, Peyton Randolph.  He has the gentry neckware and elegant clothing.  I like looking at all the different color combinations of the different costumes.

Here are some more burgesses. That is Patrick Henry on the left. I think Richard Henry Lee is in the center.  And I think Robert Carter Nicholas is on the right. However, the gentleman on the right is wearing a black cravat! I know you can't see it in the picture, but I saw it. Why is he wearing a black cravat? What did the actor tell us at the CDC?  Only military wore black cravats or mainly military wore black cravats?  Does this gentleman perhaps lead a militia?  Hmmmm, the plot thickens...

 Here is Lord Dunmore and I think his aide. Being the British govenor for Virginia, he is dressed the fanciest of all.

Here is a close up of John Randolph and his wife.  We've noticed that the Randolph family is usually color coordinated.

's

  We noticed Mann Page had a new costume, at least to us. The first thing the kids said when they saw him was, "He's wearing blue today!" We liked how the CDC designed his costume, with the blue coat and a green waistcoat (vest). I couldn't get a shot of his neckware. We thought it was only a white cravat but we weren't certain. Can you tell we were costume fixated that day! 

      In the final scene, cannon shots are fired.  My son always hangs out with the cannons and I hang out near the actors. I figure you've seen one cannon fire, you've seen them all fire.  LOL  Actors are different. You never know what they will do. Actually my son has been on a quest to get the perfect picture of the cannon firing.  Specifically he wants to show the fire coming out of the cannon. Well it's not the best coloring and clarity, but for the first time ever, he got the fire!

How in the world did he get that shot?  After the scene we were walking down the Duke of Gloucester Street, heading for home and a return to the 21st century. While walking down the street, my son excitedly showed me all his pictures of the cannon firing.

     While showing me the pictures, Mann Page walked up to say goodbye to him. Mann Page made an infamous 100 mile (I think) horseback ride during the revolution, relaying important news from Fredericksburg to Williamsburg, and then back again.   I was thinking of our drive home by van, not by horse. (Well I think I do have 6 horsepower in the van!) I asked the kids, "If it takes us 2.5 hours to drive home, which is a little over 140 miles, how long did it take Mann Page to ride a horse 100 miles to Fredericksburg?"  I didn't really expect a mathematical answer since none of us like math. But my son worked out all the math in his head. You have to estimate the speed of the horse, and we have been told in times past how fast they go on certain occasions. My son thinks it took Mann Page about 7 hours to ride to Fredericksburg.  I am glad it won't take us that long to get home.      

     People always ask us why we keep going back to CW. Well there is always something new to do. Always a fresh experience. The people are nice. My kids get a lot of attention, which they enjoy.  Also they learn a bit of history. In fact, I am simply amazed how quite recently, my son is enthusiastically digging into his books a little more. The attention he has gotten from his favorite actor I know has played a big part in this. The actor is more than an actor, he is a historian who enjoyed history books while growing up and it is positively influencing my son. I think the experience of being part of the EFT has factored into this as well.   

     How does all of this affect my daughter?  She is quiet. Remember she is the one who asked to see RC. Interestingly on the way home, she was reading her literature lesson in preparation for Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, a Russian play written at the turn of the 20th century. She said, "Mom, this fits in perfectly with Revolutionary City. However RC is not a stage play. It is street theater."  She went on discoursing on the similarities and differences. You'd have thought she had read the RC pages on the CW website but she did not. She was making her own connections from her literature lesson on plays. 

      What a fun way to learn school and bring history and other lessons to life! How wonderful that we got behind the scenes tours. Thanks to all who made the day special!