Weeden House: Century of Fashions and Wedding Gowns

 

 In between snows, I managed to make a visit to The Weeden House for their special showing of vintage wedding gowns and other fashion articles.



For those of you not familiar with the Weeden House, it is the former home of poet and painter Maria Howard Weeden, dating back to 1819. In the Victorian era this lady went by the name Howard in her books of poetry, and was commonly taken for a man. Weeden gained notoriety in the modern age for her lovingly painted portraits of African slaves and servants that shared her home - a phenotype of humanity not seen in American anymore.

The house was taken over when the Union occupied Huntsville and the Weeden family was thrown into the streets. The Union burned most of the family's furniture, but the antebellum house escaped serious damage. Restorations have brought the home back to Maria's day.

Although much of the land has been sold off since the Weedens lived here, the House maintains some beautiful gardens.

A lovely collection of woman's dress graces the house from top to bottom. The Weeden House is usually very beautiful, but the clothing also seemed at home in the surroundings. 

Nicely arranged on both manikins and draped across furniture, the dresses and undergarments often seemed to have been laid aside by the former occupants of the house.

Fashion from the Victorian era to modern day, on loan from the collection of Gay Money. Such a wonderful thing to share with the community!

Click on any photo to enlarge it and see the detailing in these hand sewn garments.

 

 A whole room full of vintage wedding gowns in the shimmer of a filtered sunlight is the first thing you see upon entering.

  
I'm especially taken with the details every part of the garment holds. In today's American culture, clothes are almost disposable. In other eras, clothes were lovingly made to last a lifetime - and beyond as these garments prove.

 Hats have always been a passion of mine. There's a great little collection here!

 Be sure to visit the Weeden House for the last weekend of A Century of Fashions and Wedding Gowns, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-28. Check out the details yourself!

Huntsville in Snowmageddon 2015

As Southerners we don't get too many chances to enjoy the simple pleasure of snow. 

I grew up here, and I've come to the conclusion that there are two types of Southern snow people. 

The first type whine and complain at the idea of a snowflake. I don't understand this person. Your life should never be so busy you can't take a day off and play. If it is, you're not living right.

 Meanwhile, I'm more like the second type of Southerner. When a sprinkling happens everyone runs to the door. When a dousing happens (like yesterday) everything else in life stops and it's all about the snow. The white stuff turns everyone into kids, full of wonder. Snowmen, snow games, and photographs of the snow in the yard. My family also took a night walk to Bridgestreet.

I have never been fully convinced that I like the design of Bridgestreet, but in the snow with empty streets I felt as though I had fallen into a vogue fairy-land. 

 The traffic from 565 was absent and cars on Alt 72 were few and far between, with only a few dooffuses driving along the road way too fast. Add to that the dampening effect the softness of snow has anyway and we're talking one magical night.

At some points the snow was falling so thickly we could barely see the rocket, and we became like furry snowmen trudging in the snow up to our calves.

The carousel was home to Aslan, who looked on at the vast white expanse. 

 


And the new LED color columns in the snow are beyond words and photographs I think. Cycling through the rainbow, reflecting beauty off the snow...

My main objective for this walk, was to have fun and view the snow, so I did not bring my huge camera along - and, as my legs were burning from walking in the snow that long, I'm glad. However, I picked out my phone just for the camera and I'm generally happy with that purchase.

 This entire post was shot on a Samsung Galaxy S5, so get your hatin' out of the way. 

 Film is a media that can't be replaced, but digital is its own media and can be just as beautiful. Acrylics didn't replace oils, they just added a new dimension.
  

Thanks for joining me on my nighttime walk through Bridgestreet during Snowmageddon 2015. Down the road from Bridgestreet and across the road from the Space and Rocket Center we got 7 inches of snow yesterday! How about you?

As always, click on any image to see it larger.