Women's Clothing-Black Theme

I moved onto Ladies clothing, keeping in one color, black. I have gone through many black tops or bodices as they were called that would go with long skirts. Many were missing the skirts to them, but there have been some pairs as well. I have found in the black women's clothing that there are many capes. This brings up the question of why have so many people donated capes. The one I could find a donating file for was from a man, probably a husband or son who donated it. This is interesting to me because it was not just women donating capes, but men as well. Its a curious reasoning for why we, Americans, keep certain things to late donate then others. Capes, maybe like top hats, were worn like an everyday jacket we have today. I wonder if they were simply kept because of this everyday use or possibly because they had a special fancy appeal that was worn only for special occasions, this might have compelled people to save them because they were only used for special evenings out.

Most of the capes are in good condition and a lot of them are of velvet fabric some with sleeve holes and others without. The black capes will be an interesting part of the collection to see assessed. I wonder if in our files and research we will find a cape worn by a prominent lady in Lancaster society back in the late 19th century, where most of them are pin pointed to come from. With each part of the collection that I catalog and research there will be interesting questions like these that will help lead me to my own assessment of the collection. The five hundred pieces or so that a yet to come may help answer questions about pieces in the beginning. I am excited to see my knowledge build.