Sounds like a masquerade all to me. I just went to a costume ball wedding and the bride wore 17th century costume, with powdered hair.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Agnes Gawne Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 11:04 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [h-cost] 1867 Washington DC Fashion question My brother sent me a question about fashion in 1867 - specifically regarding a ball in Washington DC. Do any of you have any idea why an 1867 woman would powder her hair or wear a blue ribbon around her neck? Here is the original quote. It's taken from the letters of John Hay. He was Abraham Lincoln's private secretary all during the Lincoln administration and then got sent to France as a diplomatic attache during the Johnson administration. He wrote about the ball in DC in February 1867 when he'd just returned from Paris. begin quote: "February 11. Mrs. Sprague gave a beautiful ball. The ladies who danced the Cotillon, and many who did not, had their hair powdered a la marquise. I have never seen so beautiful and picturesque a roomful. Some of the most striking were the Hostess herself (with whom I danced), the Hoyts, Miss Romain Goddard, Miss Haggerty, and Mrs. Banks, who was very correctly dressed, even to the extend of the blue ribbon around the neck, a little refinement in which she was alone -- Miss Kinzie, a fresh Western beauty and a superb danseuse. Mrs. Sumner and Miss Hooper, though not powdered, were beautifully dressed." :end quote I have my theories but I don't want to influence any of your answers as they are just theories. Thanks, Agnes _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
