OPEN THROUGH DECEMBER 14. 2012

Astrida Schaeffer, guest curator at the University of New Hampshire Museum, describes the smooth grey silk of a Victorian-era dress. As she speaks, her love of fabric brings the garment to life. The dress, she says, has been knife-pleated on the cuffs and bodice, its bodice pleat-edged with contrasting sea-green trim. Schaeffer used her knowledge of fabric and passion for fashion to select 25 garments and accessories from the period for the exhibit “Embellishments: Constructing Victorian Detail.” The exhibit runs at the UNH Museum through December 14, 2012. (Continued with photos below)

The exhibit borrows from the Irma Bowen Textile Collection. Bowen donated 600 textile pieces to the university. She collected samples of the clothing that she used in dressmaking technique classes that she taught at UNH in the 1920s. 

The Victorian-era garments and accessories on display in “Embellishments” explore the aesthetics of 19th century clothing design, and how their embellishments were constructed.

“To embellish something, to transform it with decoration and then add more, is at the core of the Victorian sense of beauty,” says Schaeffer. “Yet the fabulous effect is in fact the result of just a few simple design principles combined in a variety of ways. ‘Embellishments’ looks at what these principles are, and how they are applied, to help you see Victorian fashion in a new way.”

The first of these design concepts is called “self-trim” and used a garment’s own fabric to decorate itself. Deliberate color or texture contrast (or both) could then be added to enrich the effect. And finally, elements were repeated, combined, or layered upon each other, Schaeffer says. When applied to simple techniques such as ruching or gathers, pleating, bound edges, piping, appliqué, ribbon work, cord and braid work, and to materials such as passementerie or woven trims -- the result is a visual feast to modern eyes. Each of the mannequins in the show was custom-made to support its historical garment safely and correctly.

Schaeffer will present three programs in conjunction with the exhibit -- a curator’s tour, an in-depth examination of three dresses, and a hands-on embellishments workshop. For more info about workshops and the exhibition, visit the University Museum’s Web site at www.izaak.unh.edu/museum. The University Museum, located in the Dimond Library bottom floor, is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday noon to 4 p.m.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.