Head to Toe: Fashion Accessories at Colonial Williamsburg 1600-1840

Monday 14 March, 2011 
Linda Beaumgarten


Throughout history function stays the same but looks change. One good example is the pocket almanac and the smart phone.  It is important when you study a garment that you look at status and gentility, fashion, connoisseurship, messages and symbolism associated with it.

Linda Beaumgarten went on to speak about the items in the Fashion Accessories exhibition at the Dewitt Museum of Decorative Arts in Colonial Williamsburg.

Some interesting points that I recorded:

• fichu is a 19th century word. During the 18th century it is referred to as a kerchief.
• no evidence that aprons had drawstrings