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Wedding Dress

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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This garment, a brown silk taffeta dress with applied black trim and buttons, was the wedding gown of Julia Guilford of South Ashfield. She married Lyman Whitney Williams, a Civil War captain, of Williamsburg, Massachusetts, in 1865. Although the skirt has been altered, it still retains much of the fullness it would have had, made possible by the invention of the cage crinoline or hoop skirt in 1856. The bodice exhibits much of the stylish details put forth by "Godey's Lady's Magazine" for 1865, including shaped sleeves, made possible by two seams, center front buttoning, and a slight elevation of the waistline.

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