Monday, February 8, 2010

My Monday Blues

My Monday Blues for this week is one of my most prized possessions.  My great grandmother's wedding dress was blue!  Being married in the late 1800's didn't always mean a white dress.  She must have liked the color blue because this isn't the only thing I have of hers that was blue.  I'm not going to tell you what one of them is, I'll save that to share another Blue Monday. 

The dress fits our DD almost perfectly.  She's a size 0/1 so that tells you how small my Great Grandmother was when she married.  DD would only model if I promised not to show her face!  "I don't have on any makeup and my hair's in a pony tail". 

Close up of the bodice,  the inserts are mesh with embroidery on them. 

Close up of the neck insert...
and the insert above the waist line.  The waist is pleated horizontally.   

The sleeves are also edged in the embroidered mesh and accented with hanging beadsThe beads are also an accent on the sides of the bodice, they are stitched on in graduated lengths

Side view of bodice
The bottom front of the dress has two rows of buttons, in between each row is a pleat.  A very subtle added interest. 

One of the most special things about our DD posing in this dress is the fact that she is named for this maternal ancestor.  Carrie was married in this dress on January 23, 1884.  Our DD is named Carrie in honor of her Great-Great Grandmother Carrie. 

Growing up I used to go into my Mother's closet and admire this dress.  I always dreamed of being married in it as well.  That didn't happen, a more modern  white dress was chosen, as you saw a few posts back. 
Poor DD Carrie was complaining about not being able to breath in this dress, I told her to look on the bright side, I didn't lace her into a corset before I "made" her put on the dress! 

Have a great week.  ~Ann

16 comments:

  1. Just beautiful.........the dress and your daughter in it.

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  2. How fortunate you are to have this dress!
    It is beautiful! Maybe your daughter will
    wear it when she gets married, since it
    fits her so well...You could have a
    Victorian wedding! That would be awesome!
    Thanks for sharing...

    Bear Hugs~Karen

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  3. What a beautiful dress and wonderful treasure to have, from your Great grandmother.

    Debbie

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  4. Just beautiful...neat how she was named after the owner of the dress:)

    Rondell♥

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  5. Ann ~ Isn't it interesting to see the styles from times past? I love the dress. I remember the days when I could have fit into it...sigh...not so much now. :0) Thanks for sharing this wonderful keepsake!

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  6. Wow! That is such a neat family heirloom!
    The dress looks like it was quite expensive for the time...very lovely!

    Backwoodsprim

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  7. I never knew you had that!!! It is beautiful. Carrie is such a good sport!!
    ~Melissa~

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  8. WOOOWWWW , It is beautiful and your daughter even more, for a moment I was thinking that she was a doll, until a I read your post.

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  9. Oh My! What a tresure you have! I would love to have some of my great grandmother's clothing!! It is wonderful conition! and your daughter looks great in it!

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  10. Morning Ann...I think you know already how fortunate you are to have these wonderful memories/treasures of family past! Oh to have a piece of something like that!

    Your daughter models it well - she's perfect if she didn't have on makeup...GG probably didn't have much IF ANY on back then.

    Thanks for this wonderful trip back in time.

    Karen

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  11. P.S.
    ME AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING MY 'POPULAR SELLING BLOGS' BLOG....
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    Karen

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  12. What a gorgeous dress and family treasure. I thought your daughter was a mannequin at first, it fits her so perfectly.

    ~Katherine

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  13. What a wonderful family treasure! And how interesting and beautiful!
    My Mom was married in the 50s and her dress was teal! She was traditional about a lot of things, but loved fashion, etc.
    Have a great week!

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  14. That is really great that it fits your daughhter. Love all the details in the dress. Absolutely beautiful!

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Thank you for visiting my blog. I'm so happy to "meet" you through blog land. ~Ann