About the San Francisco wedding dress:
There is an article in "Dress,The Annual Journal of the Costume Society of
America" 1980, Volume 5. The article written by Shane Alder is entitled "A
Diary and a Dress".
The dress was made by (for?) Mehitable Berry Felton to wear at her wedding
to James L. Sperry in San Francisco September 17, 1864. It was never
worn. Miss Felton wore her travel dress for her wedding. She traveled
from South Danvers, Massachusetts. A month's travel.
As there is a diary with the dress, there is quite a bit of documentation
with it. The article in "Dress" offers a grid pattern for the "scarf",
which appears as a bolero from the front and a fichu from the back. It's
an interesting shape and wraps around the neck over the bustline, following
under the arm and tied at the back waist. The upper back of the scarf is
triangular with the point of the triangle almost touching the tie at the
back waist.
It's one of my favourite examples of a Victorian era wedding gown, too!
Dawn
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