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oth the best and rare examples of clothing, accessories, and textiles The dress has undergone alterations, most for Alice Crary Sutcliffe,
that have survived the proverbial “wear and tear” of history who wore it for her wedding on April 30, 1908. Sutcliffe donated the
Bpopulate museum and private collections around the world. On dress to the Society along with her shoes, diamond wedding ring, and
a hanger or mannequin, these historic garments and fabrics tell stories the couple’s silver wedding tankard.
of period fashions, craftsmanship, culture, and social status. With
provenance, they take on a life of their own. Collection: Historic New England
Here are the stories of eight remarkable 18th-20th century women,
some known and others unknown, and a garment left behind to help Woman’s Gown,
tell their story: ca. 1770-1790

Owner: Deborah Sampson
Collection: New York Historical Society
Deborah Sampson Gannett
Wedding Dress, ca. 1712 (1760-1827) led a life that,
Owner: Cornelia de with one extraordinary exception,
Peyster Teller was typical of impoverished
women of her time. Born to
This wedding dress was worn farmers in Plympton, MA, she
by Cornelia de Peyster (1690- worked as an indentured
1756), daughter of Isaac and servant from the age of ten
Maria (Van Ball) de Peyster, on until she enlisted in the
October 12, 1712, when she mar- Continental Army as a man,
ried Oliver Stephen Teller (1685- first giving her name as
1729), son of Andres and Sophia Timothy Thayer then as Robert Shurtleff, in 1782. Wounded in
(Van Cortlandt) Teller. They went Tarrytown, New York, Deborah avoided discovery for eighteen
on to have nine children together. months, when she contracted yellow fever and received an honorable
Yellow and cream silk brocade discharge in 1783. By 1792 she had successfully been granted her back
dress a l’anglaise of English “lace” pay for service in the Massachusetts Fourth Regiment. Her tale
period textile design, possibly appeared in print as “The Female Review: Or, Memoirs of an American
Anna Maria Garthwaite; fitted Young Lady,” in 1797. By 1802 she was on tour to talk about her
bodice cut separately from the experiences, completing her performance with an elaborate military
skirt with pleat from the back of the shoulder continuing down the drill in uniform. She received support for her pension application from
front (originally it would have been a robe and been known as “robe Paul Revere, a personal friend. This dress, a style known as a “round
a l’anglaise;” originally worn pinned to sides of matching stomacher gown” for the closed skirt in front, is an updated 1780s version of an
(no longer extant, but possibly made into front waist fitting); earlier gown. The dress remained in the family until 1998. Family
yellow brocade piece turned to cross grain and made into front waist history identifies it as Deborah’s wedding dress.
fitting attached below a silk chiffon modesty piece creating a low This gown was originally made as an open robe—meant to be worn
square neckline; three-quarter length fitted sleeves with large with a petticoat—most likely in the 1770s. It was re-made into a round
turned-back cuff and needlepoint lace ruffles with a floral pattern gown—the skirt was closed across the front—sometime in the mid to
at the edge; a full round skirt and matching petticoat with pleats at late 1780s. The gown is constructed from plain-weave linen plate-
sides; needlepoint net and lace “engageantes” (false sleeves) not original printed in indigo with a repeating pattern of floral sprays and seashells.
to dress. It was altered again, probably in the late 19th century, to add a row of
According to the New York Historical Society, “Multiple layers of metal hook-and-eye closures down the center front of the bodice. The
historical discourse involving both production and consumption can be back of the gown is constructed a l’anglaise, but without a forreau back,
unraveled from this single garment: the international trade networks which is another indicator of a late 1780s to 1790 alteration. Sleeves are
that brought exotic fabrics like the garment’s sumptuous silk brocade to three-quarter in length, altered to remove the self-fabric ruffles, which
colonial New York; silk production and fabric weaving in 18th-century appear to have been ironed out and pieced into the skirt and
Europe and Asia; consumerism among colonial New Yorkers, lengthened. The bodice is lined with two types of coarser, unbleached
particularly the trend towards cosmopolitanism and exoticism; and the linen. Other 19th-century alterations included shortening the hemline
impact of the colonial revival on early 20th-century fancy dress, and adding lace ruffles to the sleeve cuffs (which were later removed
specifically the re-appropriation of evocative heirlooms such as the de during conservation). The gown has a reproduction plain muslin
Peyster dress. kerchief and sleeve ruffles.

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