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Women’s fashions through the decades will be on exhibit at the La Grange Area Historical Society through September, but free champagne and refreshments will be offered to visitors only through May 30.

The historical society, at 444 S. La Grange Road, is offering private tours of “A Century of Fashion,” showing clothes and accessories from the 1870s to the 1980s until May 30, when complimentary champagne and sweets will be served.

The public also can view the collection from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Wednesday mornings, and starting June 5, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays through August.

All the items on display were donated by women who lived in La Grange or La Grange Park, said, Sarah Parkes, the society’s executive director.

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Visitors may be surprised by the small size and good condition of the oldest garments.

Sarah Parkes, executive director of the La Grange Area Historical Society, in the first room of the exhibit, “A Century of Fashion.”

The shoes in the 19th century, for example, were amazingly narrow.

Women’s shoes from the late 19th century in the exhibit, “A Century of Fashion.”

The program for the exhibit says fashion in the 1880s had a slender and angular outline, marked by heavy decoration.

“In that time frame, all the decoration would be stitched by hand,” said Parkes, marveling at the intricate work.

Women wore long dresses on streets that were dusty and unpaved.

“Cleaning them was quite a labor,” Parkes said. “Anything white was boiled with bluing,” to make the fabric look whiter.

In the late 1890s, the bustle had disappeared from the backs of dresses, and the tops often featured leg-of-mutton sleeves.

The tea gown on the left features mutton-leg sleeves. The day dress on the left had six panels on the back to hold a bustle.
The tea gown on the left features mutton-leg sleeves. The day dress on the left had six panels on the back to hold a bustle.

“A lot of these clothes were remade” to suit newer styles, Parkes said, “and some might be made into children’s garments.”

The program identifies who owned the clothes, where they lived and, in some cases, what for what occasions they wore an item.

The program notes say this crushed velvet formal dress was worn by Mrs. Sally Lee's aunt to college dances in 1925.
The program notes say this crushed velvet formal dress was worn by Mrs. Sally Lee’s aunt to college dances in 1925.

On display are the sleeveless sheath dress and shoes one La Grange resident wore to one of Nixon’s presidential inaugurations and the suit the first woman president of the La Grange Village Board, Elizabeth Asperger, wore when she took her oath of office in 2005.

This chartreuse and sliver striped sheath gown was worn by La Grange resident, Evelyn Metcalfe, to the Nixon-Agnew Inaugural Ball.
This chartreuse and sliver striped sheath gown was worn by La Grange resident, Evelyn Metcalfe, to the Nixon-Agnew Inaugural Ball.

Accompanying the mannequins wearing dresses and hats are copies of old advertisements from the local newspaper, The La Grange Citizen, which showed women had several locals stores where they could buy their clothes.

Old newspaper advertisements show stores, styles and prices long-gone in the La Grange Area Historical Society's exhibit, A Century of Fashion.
Old newspaper advertisements show stores, styles and prices long-gone in the La Grange Area Historical Society’s exhibit, A Century of Fashion.

The retrospective concludes with halter dresses and pantsuits in metallic paisleys from the 1970s and the padded shoulder jackets of the 1980s.

For more information, look at the La Grange Area Historical Society’s website, www.lagrangehistory.org, or call 708-482-4248.