Three Bodices

A few inspiring photos of the first three pieces I've looked at.

Blue, green and white striped wool bodice:

Purple wool bodice with military detail:

Black wool bodice with floral silk chiné plastron front:

Words to come!

14 Sheridan Street, Jamaica Plain. 1898.

My great-great-grandmother Marie Anna Heyl Mock lived with her husband, Jacob Adam, at 14 Sheridan Street in Jamaica Plain (outside Boston), until she died at 31 in 1898.

Perhaps in mourning, or perhaps simply owing to a family predisposed to save, Marie Anna's clothing was packed away in boxes. Nearly transparent tea dresses, fur-lined capes, petticoats, walking suits for all seasons, and hats are but a superficial overview of what she left behind. A few years ago, we unpacked some of the boxes, and realized what a treasure we had found.

As a master's candidate in Visual Culture: Costume Studies at NYU, I'm especially interested in this collection, and tickled to be able to cite its objects as from a "Private Collection". Surrounded by a family that values history and its objects (we are volunteers and employees of museums and historical societies, compilers of genealogy, historic-house caretakers, etc), I have held a few museum internships and volunteer positions, sparking interest and gaining experience in collections work and clothing reproduction.

The artifacts in this collection are in near-perfect condition, and exist as what we can assume at this early point is a relatively exhaustive inventory of Marie Anna's clothing; this is a loaded statement surely to be negated. But the value of this collection is the number of objects attributable to one woman, one "typical" middle class woman living just outside Boston in the 1890s. Of the clothing surveyed so far, none is an outstanding masterpiece. Although the pieces are well-made of beautiful fabric, none is a glamorous evening gown or made from famous designer fabrics. The names taken from the tailors' marks on walking suits are almost impossible to find in records. This collection is wonderfully "average".

This blog will be my constructive outlet for exploring this clothing. I hope it will help me organize my Master's thesis on the subject as well as gain knowledge and understanding through community input--please let me know your thoughts, suggestions, corrections, whatever! There are so many questions: what Jamaica Plain was like 120 years ago, the difference between a gigot and leg-o-mutton sleeve, what it meant to be a German-American in Boston (if anything).... I am most strongly interested in clothing construction, borne so plainly from observation, but intend to answer many other questions and examine other angles; one informs another. I'd like to be Janet Arnold, but I'm probably more of a Linda Baumgarten (I should be so well-compared).

Achtung, fertig, los!

Photo courtesy of Ken Scheyder, genealogist extraordinaire.