Three New England Brides: Self-Fashioning in the Georgian Era

Dr. Kimberly Alexander

University of New Hampshire

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​Weddings are powerful events infused with joy, ritual, and tradition. In the eighteenth-century, as now, weddings were an occasion to look one's best, which in the British colonies often included purchasing the latest fashions from London. If budgets did not allow for the extravagance of clothing worn only once, the couple wore their finest suit of clothes, or repaired or refurbished what they had--perhaps a gown handed down or a pair of shoe buckles from a favorite aunt. Regardless of their current station, a betrothed couple frequently dressed in clothing of a higher social status, expressing their hopes for the future.  Join us, as historian and author Dr. Kimberly Alexander explores this phenomenon-- called “self-fashioning” – through an examination of the wedding shoes, dresses and finery of three New England brides.

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Pictured on left: Detail, Elizabeth Bull [Price] wedding petticoat, collection of The Bostonian Society; Hannah Edwards embroidered wedding shoe, collection of the Connecticut Historical Society; Detail, Rebecca Tailer [Byles] Spitalfields silk damask wedding dress, collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society.