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A teacher of mine in college heard about my skills with needle and thread and my historical interests and thought her daughter might like a dress that resembled the ones in her history texts. After a planning session, Mattie had a complete ensemble, including bloomers and parasol, done up. Made of 8 yards of teal blue cotton, the 50’s style tea dress has three tiers of ruffles around the skirt leaving the front open to be garnished with garlands of red roses and greenery. The bodice has wide, ruffled, pagoda sleeves which are worn with undersleeves and hand-crocheted mitts. The low neckline is ornamented with a wide ruffle, fine lace, and red binding. There is also a red rose at the front. The waist is accented with a red velvet ribbon belt with yet another rose in the front. Under her dress, Mattie wears a shortened 90” hoop and bloomers complete with red ribbon and lace edging, while she carries a matching parasol ornamented with roses and ruches of fabric. She wears a matching hair ornament as well. It should be noted that girls of her age wore their skirts quite high off the ground, but this is Mattie’s fantasy dress and she wanted it to be more “adult”.
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