“Vintage Vows” is the name of a featured exhibit of wedding gowns at the La Grange Area Historical Society. The exhibit features 80 years of vintage wedding apparel.
“We had a lot of wedding donations over the years and with the excitement over the royal wedding; we thought an exhibit would be of interest,” said Sarah Parkes, executive director of the historical society.
The dresses and accessories are displayed over several rooms in the historical society, which is housed in a home built in 1874 called the Viall House. The tour starts in the entryway of the home.
“The gown featured in the entryway cabinet was the wedding dress of Franklin Cosset’s (founder of La Grange) daughter, Margaret, who married Charles Shedd in 1888,” Parkes said.
Volunteer Mary Ann Sward provided background on the different rooms and said “Wedding dresses used to be colored before the reign of Queen Victoria – she wanted white dresses so they were white every since.” She added that before 1900, brides often wore darkly colored gowns, which could be reworn.
“The antique gowns are all quite small and we had to search for smaller mannequins to display them,” said volunteer Mark Truax, who added that it took time to sort, steam the gowns and match them with the appropriate period pieces for their time.
In addition to gowns, the display features jewelry, vintage lingerie and even wedding invitations and programs.
“We have one family who submitted three generations of wedding gowns. We also have gowns displayed with the original wedding invitations,” said Parkes.
The exhibit also gives a history lesson on the evolving styles of gowns.
“The 1800s featured many two-piece gowns and in the 1920s you have the straight gowns which were the flapper style,” Sward said.
Each area of the exhibit features a different time period.
“The gowns from the 1930s had the slinky Jean Harlow look,” Sward said. One gown from the 1930s was worn by Mrs. Fred Soderberg in 1934 and was donated by the Soderbergs, who were early members of the historical society.
Sward said another room is called the “War Room” and is dedicated to the members of Post 41 from WWII. It features a display of gowns worn in the 1940s as well as donated displays of uniforms and photographs from the era.
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“We receive so many lovely donations from residents from La Grange and La Grange Park,” Parkes said. “We wish we could take in things from other nearby areas but our storage is almost at capacity.”
The exhibit had a grand opening in April, and will continue until Aug. 31. The hours of the exhibit are 9:30 a.m. to noon Wednesdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, as well as 1 to 4 p.m. the last Sunday of the month. More information can be found at www.lagrangehistory.org.
