Maine Memory Network

The front and side panels from this 1840s style teal blue figured silk bodice do not survive, exposing an under-lining
once applied for warmth. The wadded lining also created a smooth pigeon-breasted bodice shape, fashionable at the time. The new bodice was likely paired with a matching skirt, which unfortunately did not survive.

The companion 1880s long basque bodice is made from the same teal silk, trimmed with a darker teal fabric. It is assumed this “make-over” utilized the earlier bodice’s missing panels, and possibly fabric from a missing skirt. Judging from the jacket’s style, with its back bustle tabs and fashionable teal
trimming, it was, in all likelihood, paired with a coordinating bustle skirt. It was fashionable to mix patterns and plain fabrics at the time.

A member of the Jewett family wore this silk brocade dress to an 1825 ball in Portland honoring Revolutionary War hero, Marquis de Lafayette. According to "Agreeable Situations" published by the Brick Store Museum (1987), “the ball may have been a reception at Daniel Cobb’s house, or a social call Lafayette made on Portland ladies at the Ebenezer Thatcher residence.”

The dress embodies a wide swath of American history. The fabric dates from 1735 to 1742 during the colonial period. The dress was initially constructed in the 1770s around the time of the American Revolution. By 1825, someone altered and re-constructed the dress, perhaps as a fancy dress costume in homage to the Marquis, or an early example of the Colonial Revival movement.

An open front gown, this was probably once a robe à l ‘anglaise, as evidenced by a close fitting back, and the V-front skirt which exposes an underskirt made of the same fabric. Alterations are found throughout the dress, including a hemmed skirt, perhaps further evidence of fancy dress use.

Likely imported from England, this circa 1770 silk brocade fabric with woven floral posies was expensive, afforded only by women from the wealthiest families. Perhaps packed away toward the end of the 18th century when fashion underwent an extreme change, it was re-discovered in the 1830s. With the silk still in good condition, someone remade the older gown into this fashionable dress, with knife pleated drop shoulders, large puff sleeves and a wide bateau (square) neckline.

In general, the style dates to the late 1830s. However, there are signs of additional updating. The skirt gathers are not 1830s in style, nor is the sash. The waistband includes machine stitching, indicating a more recent adjustment, likely for fancy dress purposes.

The dress is associated with Anne Jameson Anderson (1831-1899) of Windham. Based on her birth date, the dress was likely updated in the 1840s for Anderson when she was the right age or height to wear it.

An 1840s bodice made from figured green and pink iridescent silk—also called shot silk—features long straight sleeves and a ruched pointed waist, classic elements of 1840s fashions. Likely once paired with a full skirt, only the bodice survives.

The identical shot silk fabric, almost certainly taken from the missing skirt, survives instead. Someone reused the fabric, making it into a circa 1918–1922 ankle length dress. While ideally suited for an 1840s dome shaped skirt, the fabric is not appropriate for 1920s styles. Too stiff and crisp, this awkward remake highlights the interrelationship between fabric and fashion.

While pre-dating the “something borrowed…” wedding rhyme, Deborah Thaxter (1752-1832) of Hingham, Massachusetts wore these brocade silk shoes when she married Captain James Todd on September 10, 1772. The Rococo style fabric was from her mother Deborah Lincoln’s wedding dress, when she married David Thaxter on November 29, 1739. Deborah, Sr. died several years before her daughter’s wedding, perhaps inspiring the recycled fabric use.

Deborah Thaxter Todd’s youngest son, James Todd, apprenticed in Boston, then moved to Portland in 1820, where he operated the Portland Looking Glass Manufactory. The shoes found their way to Maine through this relationship.