Now - 5 November 2008
This exhibit showcases 14 reproduction
inaugural ball gowns of presidential first ladies from Martha Washington
(1789-1797) to Rosalyn Carter (1977-1980). The gowns were commissioned by the
Republican Party in 1971 and were created by a team of designers under the
direction of Don Nagel and David Zeese of Frankenmuth, Michigan. The design team
was sent to Washington, D.C., to view the dresses at the Smithsonian in the Hall
of the First Ladies as they were being restored. The team was allowed to sketch
each gown but not permitted to photograph them.
Each gown took approximately eight months to research and design, as no patterns
existed for any of the ball gowns. Fabrics also had to be matched as closely as
possible, making reproductions on this scale very difficult.
The gowns chosen were selected for two reasons. One, to show the progression of
fashion, and two, to give insight into the various periods.
In addition to Washington and Carter, the following first ladies are featured:
Dolley Madison (1809-1817), Louisa Adams
(1825), Sarah Polk (1845-1849), Abigail
Fillmore (1850-1853), Julia Grant
(1869-1877), Helen Taft (1909-1913), Florence
Harding (1921-1923), Grace Coolidge
(1923-1929), Lou Hoover (1929-1933), Anna
Eleanor Roosevelt (1933-1945), Lady Bird Johnson
(1963-1968), and Patricia Nixon (1969-1974).
The exhibit will also highlight dolls of the first ladies, or women who acted in
the place of first ladies, in inaugural gowns, as well as other representative
objects.
The Plymouth Historical Museum is open Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,
1-4 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children (6-17), and $10 for
families. The Museum is family friendly, with activities to engage visiting
children. |
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Martha Washington
Martha's dress was the designers' concept of what her dress might have looked like, based on descriptions of her dresses and the styles of the times. An original does not exist. The dress is made of pink ribbon-brocade. The mobcap, made of lace, is fancier than any she would have worn. |
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Dolley Madison
Dolley's original gown was made of yellow slipper-satin with more than 1,500 flowers embroidered on 15 yards of material (the 20th-century version is not hand-embroidered). The dress has a matching coat and turban with an almost contemporary look about it. |
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Eleanor Roosevelt
The peach satin gown was worn for Eleanor's husband's third inauguration. The draped train in the back of the dress (attached at the waist and sleeves) allowed the wearer to be comfortable standing, but not quite comfortable when walking. The gown has tulip sleeves with pearl and bead decorations on the sleeve and bodice; the waistlines gathered at the side with a pleat at the point of the princess-cut waist. |
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Lou Hoover
This is a reproduction of a gown worn at a reception the week of the inauguration. This contemporary dress has a very unfitted, dropped waist coming to a point in the front...the waist effected with a rope belt made of matching fabric. There are two handkerchief hems in the skirt--at knee length and floor length--and a Grecian fold neckline. |
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Rosayln Carter
Rosalyn created a stir by purchasing her inaugural gown "off the rack" (this gown has a Dominic Rompollo label). She was consciously trying to demonstrate the budget-minded government she and her husband were heading. It is a black wool coat dress with faceted glass buttons, white silk attached skirt and large pink ribbon at the waist with matching trim at the hem. |
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