1890s Paper Doll Fashion Show
Looking for an excuse to make a new 1890s look? Want to re-wear an 1890s look you already have? Sign up to be a model for this special members event happening this spring at the Chicago History Museum!
In 1895, the Boston Herald released a series of women's fashion plate paper dolls that were swiftly picked up by other newspapers. The Chicago History Museum has an amazing collection of these dolls from the Chicago Record, and we're working making a digital dress-up game with them that will launch at this event!
Rules
Even though the original paper dolls were only womenswear, we'd like to showcase menswear of the 1890s as well! There are some potential outfits at the bottom of the signup document.
Recreations of the original looks are highly encouraged! During the show, there will be a picture of the original look behind you as you walk. Your look doesn't need to be an exact 1:1 recreation (say you have a different fabric/color/trim you want to use, that's totally fine!). However, the silhouette/social function/spirit of the original paper doll's look should be evident!
If you already have an outfit that's close enough to an existing look, feel free to sign up for it!
If feathers are part of your look, they'll need to be substituted with something else for the show as outside feathers are not allowed in the museum.
If someone besides you will be modeling your look, please indicate on the sheet!
Other Info
Wherever possible, I've linked a reference image of the original uncut fashion plate in the spreadsheet.
-Learn more about the dolls here!
Queen Mary Tavern Event
Have you recently watched (or re-watched) The Terror? Always wanted to dress up like an old sea captain and sip some navy strength rum in a moody pub?
Join us at the maritime-themed tavern, the Queen Mary for your ration of grog and chowder (I promise there's no lead in it).
Ice Skating and Christmas Market
Don your best historical winter wear and glide out onto the ice! CHCS is back with ice skating at the bean!
Sunday, December 15th at 1PM we’ll gather at the Millennium Park Ice Rink to enjoy the winter air and some fun on the ice. Feel free to bring your own skates to skate for free or rent a pair at the rink. After a few hours on the ice we’ll pack up to walk over to the Christkindl Market at Daley Plaza in front of the Picasso.
Please follow this link https://www.chicago.gov/.../supp_info/millennium_park10.html to reserve your spot on the ice ahead of time and make sure you bring cash to use afterwards.
Any era of historical dress is encouraged. Please make sure you can safely skate or watch others do so in your ensemble!
Victorian Holiday Potluck
Deck the halls with CHCS for a Victorian holiday potluck! Dine on pretty china, play parlor games and enjoy a buffet provided by fellow society members as we celebrate a wonderful year of costuming.
In the spirit of a true potluck, everyone must bring something. It can be a bottle of bubbly, a favorite recipe, or you may try a historical dish for the group! Food and beverage sign-ups will be released a few weeks before the event.
Tickets are required to cover the cost of the venue. After purchase, please RSVP & note any food allergies and we’ll ensure everyone is notified of allergies to accommodate during food sign-up.
Suggested Attire: Festive Victorian (any decade)
Friendsgiving Tea at the Drake Hotel
Come enjoy an afternoon tea service at the Drake’s Palm Court! This November 16th at 12:30pm, don your most festive attire or embody the look of a beloved character from literature of the past! Attire from before the 21st century is encouraged.
Tickets available at $98, which will include an assortment of savories & sweets as well as your choice of tea blend. Any additional beverage, wine, champagne, etc. can be ordered at your own expense. Please plan to arrive between 12:00 and 12:15 so that we might all be seated together.
The Drake offers valet parking for tea-goers at $24. There is also nearby paid street parking and other paid garage & valet options available thru SpotHero.
Graceland Cemetery History Walk & Tour
Attire: Mourning/Gothic/Victorian
Join CHCS for a visit to Graceland Cemetery, a certified arboretum and one of the best examples of Victorian cemetery design in the country! With winding paths, impressive monuments, and a peaceful reflecting pond, Graceland is a serene space to connect with art, nature, and history. It is also the final resting place of figures such as Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, Marshall Field, Jack Johnson, the Palmers, Richard Nickel, George Pullman, Allan Pinkerton, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
Please reserve your spot ASAP so we can provide a headcount to the cemetery, and click here to access self-guided tour materials.
3rd Anniversary Edwardian Boat Cruise
Don your boater hats, sailor suits, flowing lawn dresses, and other nautical finery as the Chicago Historical Costume Society celebrates its third anniversary with an unforgettable two-hour cruise along the Chicago River!
Enjoy beautiful city views, drinks, and hors d’oeuvres aboard a gorgeous vintage boat, play parlor games in the elegantly appointed salon, make a watercolor postcard, and learn about notable events from Chicago’s history at the turn of the 19th century.
Included with ticket purchase:
Two-hour cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady
Spanish Charcuterie tasting by Café Ba Ba Reeba (GF, vegetarian, and tree nut-free options available)
Open bar with wine and draft beer
DETAILS
Date: Saturday, September 14
Time: 7pm - 9:30pm. No late arrivals.
Where: 112 E Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60601 (Chicago’s First Lady riverside boarding dock)
For more location and boarding info, see: https://www.cruisechicago.com/location
Tickets: https://ko-fi.com/s/b7a9dfca8d
FanExpo Chicago Meet-Up
Join members of the Chicago Historical Costume Society for a meet-up and photo during FanExpo Chicago!
We will meet at 11:30am in the Cosplay Photo Park. If there is interest, we can walk over to concessions together for lunch following the photo.
FanExpo Meet-Up
Date: Saturday, August 17
Time: 11:30am
Location: “Cosplay Photo Park” at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
Map: https://fanexpohq.com/fanexpochicago/floor-plan/
Suggested Attire: Historical Costume from Any Era or Cosplay
Cottagecore Faire Frolik
Join the Chicago Historical Costume Society for a meet up at the Bristol Renaissance Faire this July.
Family Day at Lincoln Park Zoo
Bring your family along for a fun, fashionable day at the Lincoln Park Zoo!
Founded in 1868, Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in North America. It’s home to a wonderful conservation program and over 200 species of animals, as well as the historic Kovler Seal Pool (1879), Kovler Lion House (1912) and Cafe Brauer (1908).
Details
Admission is FREE. No tickets/reservations necessary.
We’ll meet at the Searle Visitor Center (main entrance, off the East Gate attached to the parking lot) at 10am and plan to regroup at the Park Place Café for lunch at noon.
Please plan to bring a picnic or buy food at the Park Place Café (menu here). Please visit lpzoo.org for more zoo information and click here for a zoo map.
Attire Suggestion
Lincoln Park Zoo became free to the public in the 1878, so anything from 1880s-1920s is great! Please be mindful of the summer heat when dressing yourself and any young ones, and be sure to bring water.
Driehaus Museum and Jewelry Exhibition Private Tour
Join the Chicago Historical Costume Society for a private tour of the Driehaus Museum and its featured exhibition, “Chicago Collects: Jewelry in Perspective”!
Tickets: $35/person, 20 spots available.
The Richard H. Driehaus Museum explores the art, architecture, and design of the late 19th century with a focus on the Gilded Age. "Chicago Collects: Jewelry in Perspective" includes over 200 pieces of jewelry and objects collected by Chicagoans, including a 19th-century jeweled monstrance, three magnificent tiaras, jewelry renderings by René Lalique, and a collection of medals of the French kings.
The museum is housed within the historic Nickerson Mansion, a fireproof “Marble Palace” that was completed in 1883. The mansion was the site of a grand masquerade ball hosted by Matilda Nickerson in December of 1883. You can learn more about the museum at driehausmuseum.org.
Schedule
We will meet outside the museum at 9:50 am. The tour begins at 10, and the museum opens to the public at 11. After the tour, folks are welcome to browse the museum our their own, disperse, or grab lunch nearby.
Attire Suggestion
Late Victorian daytime or evening, approx 1880-1900. In a nod to the exhibit, jewelry is encouraged!
Spring Lecture Series: A Journey Through Medieval Fashion
Join the Chicago Historical Costume Society for a day of delving into the rich world of medieval fashion history and its Victorian afterlives. Our scholars, Professor Emerita Gale R. Owen-Crocker and Robin Netherton, will guide us through three captivating lectures exploring surviving examples of medieval headwear, the Victorian misinterpretations of medieval fashion, and a survey of Anglo-Saxon clothing. Don't miss this rare opportunity to learn about medieval fashion history from two renowned experts in the field!
As a bonus, admission to the Chicago History Museum is included with your purchase of this ticket as well as 10% off in the North & Clark Café throughout the day.
Schedule
9:30 am: Meet at the North & Clark Café to check in, and for coffee/meet & greet
10-11 am: “Headgear with a History” with Gale R. Owen-Crocker
11:10-12:15 pm: “When Medieval Meets Victorian: The Roots of Modern Costume Sources” with Robin Netherton
12:15-1 pm: Lunch break
1:15-2:15 pm: “Anglo-Saxon Dress” with Gale R. Owen-Crocker
2:15-3 pm: Book signing and opportunity to order fashion history books
Please note: There is to be no audiotaping or videotaping of the lectures. Participants may take still photos of the speakers, but they may not photograph the slides, which would violate the speakers’ arrangements regarding permissions to use the images.
Lectures
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Headgear was an immediate identifier of gender, role, and status throughout the Middle Ages (and indeed into modern times). This lecture takes a close look at four surviving items, respectively from thirteenth-century Spain, fourteenth-century Sweden, very early medieval Scotland (third to seventh century), and fourteenth-century England. The first two are closely contextualized. The latter two have no associations, and the objects have to tell their own stories—but what a lot they can tell us!
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The lecture begins by considering how we come to know anything about dress in the Anglo-Saxon period (England, c. 450–1066), considering in turn the written evidence, the archaeological evidence, and the evidence of art, and explaining the special value and limitations of each. It continues with a rapid chronological survey of what we know, highlighting what seem to be particularly favorite features throughout the Anglo-Saxon era.
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Too often, books present “facts” about medieval and Renaissance dress that are actually misinterpretations dating from the Victorian era. This lecture traces the development of modern costume scholarship and examines the motives and methods of 19th-century costume historians, to help the 21st-century costumer recognize — and compensate for — Victorian influence in current sources.
Lecturer BiOs
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Ms. Owen-Croaker is Professor Emerita of the University of Manchester. She has published extensively on early medieval culture and on medieval dress and textiles, beginning with the landmark study Dress in Anglo-Saxon England and more recently such titles as Textiles of the Viking North Atlantic (2024), Textiles of Medieval Iberia (2022), Refashioning Medieval and Early Modern Dress (2019), and Clothing the Past: Surviving Garments from Early Medieval to Early Modern Western Europe (2018). She directed the Manchester Lexis of Cloth and Clothing Project (http://lexisproject.arts.manchester.ac.uk) and is Chief Editor of the Encyclopedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles of the British Isles c. 450–1450. With Robin Netherton, she co-founded and for fifteen years co-edited the academic journal Medieval Clothing and Textiles.
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Ms. Netherton is a researcher specializing in Western European clothing of the Middle Ages and its interpretation by artists and historians. Since 1982, she has given lectures and workshops on practical aspects of medieval dress and on costume as an approach to social history, art history, and literature. Her lectures emphasize approaches for researching medieval costume and ways to avoid common myths and mistakes. Her published articles have addressed such topics as fourteenth-century sleeve embellishments, the cut of Norman tunics, and medieval Greenlanders’ interpretations of European female fashion. With Gale Owen-Crocker, she co-founded and for fifteen years co-edited the academic journal Medieval Clothing and Textiles.
Cherry Blossom Stroll
Join the CHCS in lush pastel historical springtime attire of any era to usher in the new season!
We might miss out on the cherry blossoms this year but we can still enjoy ourselves!
Please plan to bring a light picnic to enjoy and your art supplies!
Should it be too rainy, please prepare to attend to Museum of Science and Industry with plans to head to Plein Aire Cafe for an afternoon bite!
Spring Cleaning Costume Swap
Looking for a costume wardrobe refresh? Need to make space in your closet for more supplies and costumes? Want to dip your toe into historical costuming?
Cost: Admission is $5. Purchase a ticket here.
What to bring:
Any historic/vintage costumes and notions you no longer want/need
Big bags to take your now finds home!
Donating is encouraged, but you’re also welcome to sell pieces, as long as your items are tagged with a price and your name.
If you have costumes, fabric yardage, or vintage clothing and notions you’re interested in selling, please tag the items with a price and your name. To speed up transactions you may consider bringing a QR code printout of your preferred payment method(s).
We’ll have plenty of racks and hangers but you’re welcome to bring your own hangers to speed up set-up. If you’re bringing a lot of items, please feel free to come at 12:30pm.
If you’re not selling, just bring anything you want to go to a good home and it will!
Don’t have anything to bring? Not a problem! This event is also for those who are looking to get into the hobby and want to acquire costumes or materials in an affordable, sustainable way!
Changing rooms will be available.
Masking is strongly encouraged for this event.
American Girl Luncheon
Join us for another luncheon at the American Girl Place Chicago this March!
Sundaes at Margie's
Join us for a sweet treat at Chicago institution, Margie's Candies! Founded in 1921, Margie's vintage interior looks much the same as it did 100 years ago. We hope you'll enjoy wearing a 1920s or vintage Valentine's day outfit as you enjoy a sundae!
Fall Photoshoot
Dreaming of flaunting your favorite outfit in a jaw-dropping historical setting? Dress to impress and pose for the camera with Chicago's very own editorial portraitist, Cassie Scott.
CHCS Into the Woods
Don your red riding hood and join us on an adventure through the woods. More info coming soon.
LPAC Archery Class
Join us for a free clinic with the Lincoln Park Archery Club on Sunday, July 23rd.
LPAC hosts free monthly clinics covering basic topics - safety & etiquette, equipment, and shooting form.
More details coming soon!
http://lincolnparkarcheryclub.org/newsite/clinics/
Bristol Renaissance Festival
Join CHCS on a trip to the Bristol Renaissance Festival. More details coming soon.
CHCS Anniversary Picnic
Join us in celebrating our 2nd anniversary with a picnic. More details coming soon!
Family Outing at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Bring your family along for a charming, fashionable day at the Zoo!
Chicago Pride Parade And Picnic
Come celebrate Pride with CHCS!
We are hosting a relaxing, whimsical late afternoon picnic to get away from the high energy of the parade. Bring your friends, a snack to share (or not) and your pride!
Feel free to wear anything from flamboyant fantasy to serious historical costume. Comfy t-shirt and shorts also welcome!
We’ll have some historical lawn games and maybe some tarot or cards!
The Chicago Pride Parade begins at 12pm on Sunday, June 25. The parade route begins in Uptown and ends in Lincoln Park.
A Day at the Beach
Come soak in the sun this June! Our first of two beach days in the city, come join CHCS Saturday afternoon in your vintage, antique, and inspired swimwear!
Be sure to bring a towel, sunscreen, a snack, and plenty of water!
Cycling Along the LakeShore
Join us for a bicycle ride from the Aids Garden in Lincoln Park down the lakeshore to North Avenue Beach.
Come in your jauntiest bloomers, knickerbockers, split skirts or riding pants and mount up! We will meet at the Aids Garden near Belmont Harbor and plan to ride down the waterfront to North Ave beach (about 2 miles). There we will enjoy a picnic together in the southern half of the park between the zoo and the Chicago History Museum.
1890s cycling or sporting attire is encouraged.
Please bring a picnic snack to share.
If you do not own a bicycle, you may rent a Divvy bike at the park. More info on Divvy bikes here.
If you prefer not to cycle, you are still welcome to join us at the park for a picnic!
Iowa Trip: Sporting Fashion
Join the CHCS on a trip to the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa.
We will be attending the Sporting Fashion Yacht and Sailing Night event Friday eventing at the Figge. Champagne and charcuterie will be served followed by a guided tour of the Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960 exhibit.
Winter Ice Skating
Fly over the ice this February in historical costume! Join the CHCS this spring at the Millennium Park skating rink in front of the bean.
All eras of vintage or historical winter wear are welcome, plan to warm up at the Palmer house for a cocktail, winter beverage and world famous brownie afterward!
Soirée Dance Rehearsal
Feeling a little rusty on your dance moves? Come practice the Waltz, Galop, and Polka in this 90-minute workshop. We may also choreograph a grand march to perform at the ball depending on attendance.
RSVP to this event on Facebook or Discord.
CHCS American Girl Outing
The hottest lunch spot in Chicago? It's the café at the American Girl store! Grab your favorite doll and put together an outfit to match, because we're about to live out our childhood dreams!