Monday, December 22, 2008

Native American historic dresses






It took 7 hours to drive from Boston to NYC on Saturday because of the snowfall-we postponed visiting the quilt exhibit in Hartford, CT till later in the trip. We spent yesterday close to "home" with rainy and sleety weather but today, Manhattan beckoned-lower Manhattan to be exact.

In the old Customs House down near Wall Street is a branch of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian-I definitely recommend a visit-not only for the exhibits but for the building itself. This is the chandelier in the cloak room!

The present exhibit was perfect for me: woman's clothing! While I was familiar with the beaded dresses from animal hides (even in old westerns, the costumers got that right) I was struck by these muslin dresses and their painted decoration (both dresses are Sioux from South Dakota circa 1890).

I also liked these woolen dresses-the fabric made in Gloucestershire, England was called "saved-list" which was a corruption of "selvage"-the favorite color was red but blue was also used, often with the white (undyed) selvage left on as a trim...very clever!

After this, we walked over to Ground Zero to pay our respects...so sad.

1 comment:

Neabear said...

Sounds like you are having a wonderful trip and seeing great and fun things. Have a Merry Christmas!