Please enjoy these fabulous images of original dresses from the private collection of Ainsley Brook Wonderling. Many of them show us things that have been considered "nevers", including cut and functioning button holes, "good" cotton trimmed day dresses, and the use of color. These original garments come from all over the country, from east to west and north to south. Some special notes on several of the dresses:

1) The "purple" trained dress is actually a maternity dress. Inside the front panel closure was an extra panel of material that could be brought out and folded into pleats to expand the waist line. The up close picture of the trim shows the true color of this dress as a deep vibrant purple.

2)The "green small plaid" dress that is on a black colored dress form is actually sitting on a child's dress form. The owner stated that from the dart lines and the way the bodice hangs it is obvious that this woman was "busty" but that she was still incredibly small, for the bodice will not close over the form. You'll also notice a close up of the back side and back center pieces being attached by top stitching. This was done as extra reinforcement on that seam.

3)The red plaid with black velvet trim and velvet jockey sleeve sports not only working and functioning buttons and button holes, but also had hooks and eyes inside for extra closure. The skirt closed in the front and actually had a snap in place to attach the skirt and bodice together. The snap looks to be original and is not a "modern" snap.

4) The brown shaded dress, with the white apron, has actual "machine" sewn button holes. There was a special machine during that time that was a first of it's kind, specializing in making button holes. You can see the detail in the close up of the stitches.

There are so many other things to point out, but the one thing that needs to be shown off is that there are three dresses in this collection that were 100% cotton! The red plaid with loads of ruffles on the skirt, the red plaid with the black velvet trim, and the soft cream colored dress with the blue banded trim accenting the "sack" styled bodice and the skirt. Many were silk, some were wool and others were combinations. We observed child'sds skirt that was a polished linen; a quiltepetticoatat that had shoulder straps; a child's mourning dress in a sheer material; a dress that had been started for a small child, but never finished due to the death of that little one. So much was shown to us and so little room to show all of it here.

We want to thank Ainsley and the Lake Villa Historicalal Society for allowing us to see, touch, photograph, and mostly share all of this information with all of our fellow re-enactors and history buffs as large.

The Historical Timekeepers

*all photographs are property of Jenna Theissen.