This dress is an 1870 Mennonite wedding dress worn by Fannie Frey when she married Henry B. Aierstock. This piece of clothing represents a lot of Mennonite wedding dresses because many conservative Mennonite women during this time were not all wearing the Victorian style of clothing with a large bustle and perhaps large train in a wedding. In many pictures I have looked at women of this time were beginning to move towards a much more conservative form of dress because the Mennonite revivals of a more strict movement were approaching towards the end of the 19th century and I believe that this form of dress was part of it. Other Mennonite women I looked at in pictures did follow some of the fashion trends of the time including frivolous lace or sleeves, as conservative Mennonites would have called it. More traditional Christian followers did not believe in wearing any form of jewelery or frivolous attachment on their person. Even having your photograph taken on your wedding day or other special occasions was thought to be frivolous by many Mennonites. A woman of this time would have hopes and dreams of receiving a perfect dowry to begin her life as a good wife, mother, cleaner, and cook. Fashion was based upon frivolous needs that didn't need to be fully met in the Mennonite culture. The fact that this dress is of a possible silk satin material with a little laces is the addition that would have been perfect for any conservative Mennonite woman on her wedding day.
No comments:
Post a Comment