Fun With First Ladies: DC Exhibit!
Good Day everyone! I am back in the North, and still trying to recover from vacation, but I do have a treat for you. While I put together my post (possibly posts) on Eleanor Roosevelt, which may take a few days, please enjoy these pictures I took at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in DC.
I'm saving the pictures of First Ladies we haven't covered yet for their upcoming posts, but please enjoy this retrospective. There will be a couple of these; I took a lot of pictures.
To begin with, here is some info from the helpful signs at the exhibit.
So, in no particular order:
Julia Grant
Evening Gown from the 1870s, Gift of the Grant Family. White silk damask, which, according to the Grant family, was a gift from the emperor of China. The underskirt is a reproduction.
Lou Hoover
Evening gown, 1920s-1930s, gift of Lou herself. Silk crepe with metallic thread brocade. The pink floral one behind it is also Lou's, and it's a silk day dress.
Lou Hoover & Frances Cleveland
Here's another shot of Lou's day dress, as well as Frances Cleveland's skirt and bodices (they were apparently intended for mix-n-match). Frances' clothes were gifts of Richard and Jessie Cleveland, Frances' son and daughter-in-law.
The original floral chine skirt and peach velvet bodice were probably made around 1895 by the House of Doucet of Paris. The floral bodice was created later from fabric taken out of the skirt. Baltimore dressmaker Lottie M. Barton made the green velvet bodice.
Lucy Hayes
Gold damask and cream satin gown reception gown, worn in 1880 to the White House New Year’s reception and later to the February reception for diplomats and members of Congress. It was made by Mrs. M. A. Connelly, a New York dressmaker, and was a gift of Col. Webb C. Hayes, Lucy's son.
The sign for this dress said that Lucy had a "restrained wardrobe", which prompted Andrew to scoff because this dress has just about every decoration imaginable on it. But what they meant was restrained in the modest sense, as it covered her neck, arms, etc.
Edith Wilson:
Black charmeuse satin evening dress, trimmed with beads, black velvet, and white net, from the House of Worth in Paris. Gift of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Edith wore this dress in 1915 for a private dinner party at the White House. This is one of my favorites. You can see Julia's behind it, and a bit of Lucy's train at the bottom left.
Grace Coolidge:
The dress on the left is brown chiffon and lace, trimmed with metallic thread and a brown velvet bow. The one on the right is blue satin trimmed with dark-blue sequins and gold glass beads. Both are from the 1920s. Grace gave both of these dresses to her White House maid, Maggie Rogers, and they were likely shortened to be worn by Maggie’s daughter, Lillian. Lillian is the one who donated them to the museum.
Different angle on the brown dress.
Front shot of the blue dress. (In case you're wondering, that pinkish one on the right is Mamie Eisenhower's, and we'll get to it later).
Caroline Harrison
This one is my favorite. Burgundy velvet and gray satin evening gown, embroidered in a floral design with gray pearls and steel beads. The dress was later altered by a family member. It says this was a gift of "Mrs. William Henry Harrison Sr." which as far as I can tell would have been Anna, but that seems weird to me. Anna died in 1864, and Ben didn't become president until 1889. Maybe someone just donated it in her name?
More detailed pictures of each dress, which I did not take, can be found here.
I'm saving the pictures of First Ladies we haven't covered yet for their upcoming posts, but please enjoy this retrospective. There will be a couple of these; I took a lot of pictures.
To begin with, here is some info from the helpful signs at the exhibit.
- The collection comprises gowns from women who acted as the official White House hostesses during presidential administrations, not just wives. This means they do have items from Harriet Lane, Emily Donelson, etc.
- The Smithsonian asks each First Lady to donate something to represent her in the collection, but it is not required.
- Each presidential administration is represented by an article of clothing that belonged to the First Lady or Hostess, but not all are inaugural ball gowns.
- All of the gowns in the collection aren't on exhibit because light, climate, and gravity are all harmful to fabric, and over time they have damaged the gowns. There are some that can no longer be exhibited because they were too badly damaged by their years on display, and others are rotated on and off display in order to keep them in good condition.
- The Smithsonian sometimes reproduces portions of a gown to complete it for exhibition, but does not exhibit gowns that are entire reproductions. This means that what we're looking at is entirely or mostly fabric that actually touched these women.
- The oldest gown in the collection belonged to Martha Washington. The oldest inaugural gown in the collection is the one Emily Donelson wore to Andrew's Jackson's 1829 inaugural ball.
So, in no particular order:
Julia Grant
Evening Gown from the 1870s, Gift of the Grant Family. White silk damask, which, according to the Grant family, was a gift from the emperor of China. The underskirt is a reproduction.
Lou Hoover
Evening gown, 1920s-1930s, gift of Lou herself. Silk crepe with metallic thread brocade. The pink floral one behind it is also Lou's, and it's a silk day dress.
Lou Hoover & Frances Cleveland
Here's another shot of Lou's day dress, as well as Frances Cleveland's skirt and bodices (they were apparently intended for mix-n-match). Frances' clothes were gifts of Richard and Jessie Cleveland, Frances' son and daughter-in-law.
The original floral chine skirt and peach velvet bodice were probably made around 1895 by the House of Doucet of Paris. The floral bodice was created later from fabric taken out of the skirt. Baltimore dressmaker Lottie M. Barton made the green velvet bodice.
Lucy Hayes
Gold damask and cream satin gown reception gown, worn in 1880 to the White House New Year’s reception and later to the February reception for diplomats and members of Congress. It was made by Mrs. M. A. Connelly, a New York dressmaker, and was a gift of Col. Webb C. Hayes, Lucy's son.
The sign for this dress said that Lucy had a "restrained wardrobe", which prompted Andrew to scoff because this dress has just about every decoration imaginable on it. But what they meant was restrained in the modest sense, as it covered her neck, arms, etc.
Edith Wilson:
Black charmeuse satin evening dress, trimmed with beads, black velvet, and white net, from the House of Worth in Paris. Gift of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Edith wore this dress in 1915 for a private dinner party at the White House. This is one of my favorites. You can see Julia's behind it, and a bit of Lucy's train at the bottom left.
Grace Coolidge:
The dress on the left is brown chiffon and lace, trimmed with metallic thread and a brown velvet bow. The one on the right is blue satin trimmed with dark-blue sequins and gold glass beads. Both are from the 1920s. Grace gave both of these dresses to her White House maid, Maggie Rogers, and they were likely shortened to be worn by Maggie’s daughter, Lillian. Lillian is the one who donated them to the museum.
Different angle on the brown dress.
Front shot of the blue dress. (In case you're wondering, that pinkish one on the right is Mamie Eisenhower's, and we'll get to it later).
Caroline Harrison
This one is my favorite. Burgundy velvet and gray satin evening gown, embroidered in a floral design with gray pearls and steel beads. The dress was later altered by a family member. It says this was a gift of "Mrs. William Henry Harrison Sr." which as far as I can tell would have been Anna, but that seems weird to me. Anna died in 1864, and Ben didn't become president until 1889. Maybe someone just donated it in her name?
More detailed pictures of each dress, which I did not take, can be found here.