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Collection: Victoria & Albert Museum Collection: Electra Havemeyer Webb,
founder, Shelburne Museum
Evening Dress, ca. 1908
Owner: Lady Pearson
Two-Piece Satin Evening Dress, ca. 1950
Owner: Shelburne Museum
Annie Pearson, Viscountess
Cowdray, (1860–1932), was an Electra Havemeyer Webb, the founder of
English society hostess, suffragist, Shelburne Museum in Vermont, was one of
and philanthropist. She was nick- the very few women collectors of her time.
named the “Fairy Godmother of A genuine pioneer, she began collecting
Nursing” due to her financial “folk art” in 1907 before almost anyone
patronage of the Royal College of knew that Americans produced it and was
Nursing and her work to promote piling up “Americana” before the term was
district nursing throughout coined. She founded the museum in 1947 to
England and Scotland. She make her vast personal collections accessible
served as the President of the to the public and create “an educational
Women’s Liberal Federation project, varied and alive” for all of Vermont
from 1921 until 1923, and was and beyond.
also the Honorary Treasurer of The Shelburne Museum was originally
the Liberal Women’s Suffrage named “The Electra Havemeyer Webb
Union. She was the only woman Museum of Fascination.” Mrs. Webb’s original
to hold the office of High
Steward of Colchester, serving from 1927 until she died in 1932. collections of fine art, folk art, decorative art,
waterfowl decoys, textiles, wheeled vehicles,
The dress is dominated by boldly embroidered panels imported
and more formed the basis for a collection
from Turkey and made up in London. In style, this dress is transitional that now numbers more than 100,000 objects. Electra’s clothing
between the pronounced curved shapes of the early 1900s and the designer of choice was Hattie Carnegie of New York City.
straighter lines (with high waists) that had become current by about This two-piece satin evening dress, ca. 1950s, was made with silk and
1909. There is some evidence that an earlier dress may have been metal. The Shelburne Museum acquired it from the Estate of J. Watson
adapted to suit the tastes of 1908. The inside of the bodice has a Webb, Jr. It features a fitted pink bodice, three-quarter length straight
grosgrain waist stay (grosgrain is heavily ribbed silk) with the woven sleeves, stand-up collar, and is tied at the waist with a peplum blending
label of Jays Ltd, which bears a taffeta ribbon marked “Lady Pearson,” into the skirt. The skirt is pleated so the top shows only pink and then the
the name of the wearer. green stripes appear to flow out from underneath with a ballerina shape.

Collection: Purdue University, George Palmer
Collection: John F. Kennedy Presidential
Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers Library and Museum

Suede Jacket, ca. 1930
Owner: Amelia Earhart Woman’s Wedding Dress,
ca. 1953
Owner: Jackie Kennedy
Amelia Mary
Earhart (AE) was Jacqueline Lee Kennedy
born on July 24, Onassis was an American socialite,
1897, in Atchison, writer, photographer, and book
Kansas, and went on editor who served as the first lady
to become one of the of the United States from 1961 to
most famous women 1963 as the wife of President John
of the 20th century. F. Kennedy. Kennedy was known
In December 1920, for her taste and timeless style that
she took her first ride set fashion trends around the
in an airplane and in world. Jackie Bouvier’s wedding
January 1921, began to Jack Kennedy in 1953, held in
taking flying lessons. front of 800 invited guests, was
With help from her what we would call today a media
family, she took a circus; her much-anticipated wedding dress, designed by Ann Lowe,
job in a telephone was widely photographed. Ann Lowe was a sought-after dressmaker to
company and bought elite East Coast families—like the Rockefellers, Du Ponts, and
her first airplane. In 1922, she set her first aviation record with an Roosevelts—for bespoke bridal and debutante gowns.
unofficial women’s altitude record of 14,000. The following March, The pristine pleating on the gown’s bodice, intricate scallop pin
Amelia appeared as one of the attractions at a local air rodeo, and in tucks, and complex rosette embellishments with dainty wax orange
May 1923 she acquired her airline pilot’s license. She was the first blossoms nestled in the center—all meticulously done by hand—are
woman, and seventeenth pilot, to receive a National Aeronautic trademarks of Lowe. As impressive as it is today, the wedding gown
Association pilot’s license. In May 1932, Amelia became the first almost didn’t materialize. Two weeks before the ceremony, and after
woman (and second person) to fly solo across the Atlantic. With this two months of hard work, Lowe’s atelier flooded. Jackie Kennedy’s
flight, Amelia also became the first person to cross the Atlantic twice by wedding dress was destroyed, along with the bridesmaids’ dresses. The
air nonstop, setting a record for the fastest Atlantic crossing and the designer, at her own expense (and ultimately for a financial loss on the
longest distance flown by a woman. She and her co-pilot and plane project), purchased new fabrics and assembled an emergency seamstress
went down during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe at the team. Unbeknownst to her high-profile clients, Lowe recreated the
equator in 1937. The plane and their bodies were never recovered. collection in just 10 days. Today, the wedding dress, too delicate
Suede jacket worn on 1932 solo Atlantic flight, Abercrombie
& Fitch, medium brown leather, six buttons with two side pockets, to exhibit, is preserved in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
and Museum.
ca. 1930s.
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