Mary Lincoln Extra Credit Questions

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(10-19-2015 08:45 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  I wonder why Mary would have carried a fan in April??? Even in our well-heated theaters and times, in mid-April I would rather wear all-I-can, so rather take and wear a scarf and jacket, and evidently Mr. Lincoln froze, too.

I have another related question to the fashion experts out there.

Kathy writes that Helen Truman noticed that "the First Lady was not wearing an evening gown to match her husband's formal attire. Instead she wore a grey and black spring dress in silk with a bonnet to match."

Now what is the difference between an evening gown and a spring dress, and why can't a spring dress serve as an evening gown? And - silky or not - how/why can a grey and black dress be considered a spring dress? (Grey and black to me represent all the opposite of spring - death, decay, depression, mourning, tristesse, ...)

Thanks for any further fashionable education!

I am not an expert on the Language of Fans, but they were not strictly utilitarian. It is possible that the crowd of people in the theater and the heat from gaslights that it could get rather stuffy in Ford's during April. However, the fan could be used to hide large grins at the play's funny lines, to point out something when pointing with an index finger would be uncouth, even to play a little coy with (but surely not Mary!).

An evening gown would display upper chest, shoulders, and a portion of the bosom and would be complimented with a garland headband or fresh flowers in the hair. I'm not sure that an evening gown would be proper attire in a theater such as Ford's. Her gown seems much more appropriate.

As for the fabric and color, they were very appropriate for a matron -- especially for one who had undergone a great deal of criticism for her outfits over the past four years. If the small piece of fabric at the Chicago Historical Society is truly from Mrs. Lincoln's dress, I wonder if Helen Western actually wrote "sprigged" instead of "spring?" That is/was a sewing term to indicate fabric that incorporated little bouquets of flowers -- I think, where's Donna McCreary when I need her?