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Searsport may be well-known for the ship captains — most often men — who historically lived there.
But a new exhibit at the Searsport Historical Society shines a light on the women of the midcoast town — specifically, the varied clothing they have worn on their wedding days and how it reflected the changing times.
It features a dozen gowns, as well photos and other mementos of brides going back more than a century. The goal is to show the evolution of bridal fashion from the 1800s until the 1990s.
Members of the society’s archival team — Nancy Blanchard, Becky Ellsmore, and Judy Staples — have put on display four dresses that already belonged to the historical society. In the spirit of the “something borrowed” wedding tradition for bridal garb, they and other residents have lent eight other dresses to the display.
“Searsport really is a generational town,” Blanchard said. “There are just generations and generations that remember different things about it, as with other Maine towns.”
For example, Ellsmore’s wedding gown from 1963 had been sewn by her mother, and she later passed it down to her daughter for her wedding.
The dresses are meant to capture the historical trends in how brides have dresses in the U.S. The 19th century featured corsets while dresses from the 1940s and 1950s — in the wake of World War II — were often sewn from satin or parachute silk and featured simpler silhouettes.
Depression-era brides often wore their best dress. Some dresses included repurposed lace from other garments.
In the exhibit, a distinctive blue velvet gown with a drop waist and scalloped trim accented with a rare touch of white lace at the V-neckline features flapper-style fashions from the 1920s. One of the oldest pieces belonged to a bride named Margaret Pendleton Thompson, who was married in 1918, whose picture accompanies the dress.
The most modern gown, worn in 1995, features the bride’s cloth flower bouquets and is flanked by dresses worn by the maid of honor and mother of the bride. Veils and shoes are featured as well.
The exhibit also features a special section celebrating the work of Norma Whitcomb, a Searsport-based photographer who died in 1970. She was also an active member of seven local organizations, and her work was featured in various Maine publications.
“We’ve all been photographed by her,” Ellsmore said. “People who didn’t know her, maybe they will get to know her through this exhibit.”
The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 13 and from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 14 at the society’s Crary-Carlin-Colman House at 4 Sears Island Road.
