Fashion After the American Revolution

It’s been 235 years since the official end of the American Revolution.  How did becoming an independent nation influence fashion?! Join the Norwalk Historical Society and the Norwalk -Village Green Chapter of the DAR on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 2:00pm at Mill Hill Historic Park for “Fashion After the Revolution” presented by curator of the DAR Museum, Alden O’Brien.  The Revolution is over but in wartime we vowed to give up foreign imports. Now it’s peacetime, and our fervor has fizzled. Let’s get some more of those imported goods we used to enjoy- like pretty fabrics!  

Fashion was at the center of the debates surrounding what it meant to be American in the decades after the Revolution. How did citizens of the new nation navigate this political minefield when every choice was filled with symbolic import? Who aspired to fashion as set in Europe, who achieved it, who adapted it, who eschewed it? How did Americans build credibility on the world stage—maintaining their principles without looking like country bumpkins?  Tickets are $4.00 for current DAR members (must show DAR ID when checking in at event) and $8.00 for the general public and can be purchased at www.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org. Mill Hill Historic Park is located at 2 East Wall Street, Norwalk, CT 06851. Handicapped and Limited Mobility parking on site. General parking follow signs to overflow parking across the street.

About Alden O’Brien
Alden O’Brien received her BA in Art History from Barnard College and her MA in Museum Studies in Costume & Textiles from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. She has been at the DAR Museum since 1990, first as curator of costume and later taking charge of quilts and most recently, samplers and needlework. She has curated numerous exhibits on costume, toys, and quilts, most recently “‘An Agreeable Tyrant’: Fashion After the Revolution,” with its accompanying catalog.

For more information: visit www.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org, e-mail info@norwalkhistoricalsociety.org , or call 203-846-0525. The Norwalk Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Photo Credit: NSDAR