Ms. Heidi Campbell-Shoaf This is Me

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1. 1. Historical Society of Frederick County : Contact Us

   www.hsfcinfo.org/contact/index - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/4/2008   Last Visited: 2/4/2008

   Heidi Campbell-Shoaf: hshoaf@hsfcinfo.org

2. 2. The Frederick News-Post : Features

   www.fredericknewspost.com/sect - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/24/2006   Last Visited: 12/24/2006

   Heidi Campbell-Shoaf, curator of the Historical Society of Frederick County, talks recently about an 1824 silk wedding dress that was part of the "Down the Bridal Path" exhibit at the society.
   ...
   "Weddings went through an evolution in the last 100 years," said Heidi Campbell-Shoaf, curator of "Down the Bridal Path," a recent exhibit at the Historical Society of Frederick County. "We place a lot more emphasis on them today.
   
   "Most weddings were at home. Church weddings didn't come in until the late 18th and 19th century," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf.
   ...
   "White went in and out of fashion," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf. White was fairly standard in the early 1800s, but then cream or off-white came into vogue. "By the 1850s, it was black," she said.
   ...
   "It's what she chose to wear, not necessarily the color of brides," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf. "The dress is typical of the late 18 teens and early 1820s in that it has applied feathers and leaves on the sleeves and hem. Fabric leaves and feathers were individually made and applied to a dress as 3D decoration."
   
   It was likely an evening wedding in Frederick, Ms. Campbell-Shoaf says, based on the ankle length of the dress and its short sleeves. "Short sleeves would have been for evening and long sleeves were for day," she said.
   
   With the 20th century came the arrival of shops specifically catering to brides. "Before that, dressmakers would make regular clothes as well as wedding attire," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf.
   
   The wedding collection includes a somewhat unusual dress from the 19-teens. "It's a little unusual with its high neck," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf.
   ...
   "It was a candlelight wedding," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf. "What's neat about this dress is the flapper influence -- the beading and rhinestones, which would have been beautiful in candlelight; the waist set lower than is natural; no sleeves and short, just below the knee. It was a very drastic change," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf.
   
   The dress is made of "tissue-thin" silk, which is now very fragile. From the middle of the 19th century and into the 20th century, lightweight fabrics were chemically treated to make them stiffer or add body. Unfortunately, with time, those chemicals aid in the breakdown of the fabric, noted Ms. Campbell-Shoaf.
   ...
   "The silhouette in the 1930s was long, lean and straight," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf. A matching short jacket has scalloped edges. "One reason I think she chose this as a wedding dress is because the wedding announcement in the newspaper said a member of the groom's family had recently died and it was a small and quiet wedding," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf. "Nevertheless, it's fashionable for the time."
   
   The 1940s brought a new era to wedding style with synthetic satin. "Satin can be made from any fiber -- silk, wool or rayon -- which this dress is. The fabric today is polyester satin. Satin's the name of the weave," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf. "This particular fabric was called wedding bridal satin. All the in-fashion people would want to wear it."
   
   The style of this dress is typical of the late 1930s and '40s, with broad shoulders and a crossover bodice. "Once World War II started, you probably wouldn't find many of these," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf.
   
   An unusual item in the Historical Society's collection is a man's wedding suit. Men would wear their suits for years after the wedding day, while dresses would be kept. "Suits were typically black because that's what you were supposed to wear," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf.
   ...
   "Maybe the innocence and youth associated with it," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf.
   ...
   Its very wide shoulders date it to the 1850s," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf. According to fashion plates of the time, the garment's wide pagoda sleeves with a white undersleeve, the round waist and bold colors date it. "By the 1850s we had photos of real people wearing big bold colors, stripes and plaids. We see hoop skirts getting bigger and by 1858 to 1860 it was very big hoop skirts," she said.
   
   The lesson, she said, is that family stories aren't always 100 percent accurate. "It doesn't necessarily reduce the value of an object, you just have to start thinking differently about it," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf.
   
   In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was common for wedding gifts to be displayed before the wedding and after the honeymoon at receptions for family and friends. From about 1880 to 1920, newspaper wedding announcements often listed the weddings gifts along with the name of the gift giver.
   
   "Some etiquette mavens complained (about this practice) because it became a competition to give the finest things. That's how a lot of couples got silver and china and things nobody really needs," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf. "You wanted to give the most you could afford."
   
   Also during this period, it was not uncommon for people to redo old things and pass them. "Today we call it shabby chic," said Ms. Campbell-Shoaf.

3. 3. The Frederick News-Post

   www.fredericknewspost.com/sect - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/20/2006   Last Visited: 6/20/2006

   "I encouraged my council to approve it," said Heidi Campbell-Shoaf, Burkittsville mayor and the curator of the Historical Society of Frederick County.
   
   "It opens up fundraising opportunities," Ms. Campbell-Shoaf said.