Gowns highlight of special exhibit

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, May 8, 2000 by Matt Moline Capital-Journal

First ladies'

inaugural gowns on display in Abilene museum.

--- Matt Moline/Special to The Capital-Journal

By MATT MOLINE

Special to The Capital-Journal

ABILENE --- Fashion-conscious women wouldn't dream of attending a presidential inauguration ball wearing an evening gown adorned with hand-painted insects.

But U.S. First Lady Martha Washington did --- to the 1789 gala honoring her well-known husband's first inauguration as the nation's chief executive.

More than two centuries later, a reproduction of the salmon-pink dress highlights a new Eisenhower Center exhibit of inaugural ball fashions worn by 28 first ladies, from Washington to Rosalynn Carter's 1977 gown.

Since opening a few weeks ago, the show has proved irresistible to high school-age girls, even though nearly all of the fashions might be dismissed as ancient history by many teenagers, reports museum curator Dennis Medina.

"Because it's prom season, we get a lot of girls who come in here and say they'd like to wear some of these dresses to the prom," Medina said last week. "In fact, a lot of these formal styles are coming back in style, particularly the dresses with simple lines but highly decorated."

But that endorsement alone may not assure the digital generation's acceptance of Martha Washington's winged-creature look, although the gown's complementary design of hand-painted native wildflowers isn't a total turnoff to the young, Medina says.

More popular with exhibit visitors of all ages is First Lady Louisa Catherine Adams' white satin inaugural ball gown worn in 1825 for the installation of husband John Quincy Adams, the nation's sixth president. Gallery-goers also have ogled Julie Gardiner Tyler's triple-flounce skirt gown worn at the gala following the swearing-in of husband John Tyler in 1840.

In 1841, Julie Gardiner Tyler wore the frock at a court presentation ceremony in the palace of King Louis Philippe of France, Medina said.

"First ladies have always fascinated Americans because of their fame, status and social position," Medina said. "Often, these women are thought of as American's version of royalty."

On loan from the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., most of the fashion reproductions were created in the 1950s by the late Baroness Diana Westall von Langendorf as a promotion for her Great Lady perfume line.

In 1990, an anonymous donor presented the collection to the Smithsonian, including updates for more recent first ladies Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson and Carter.

A companion exhibit features examples of fashions worn by average Kansas women from the 1870s through the 1930s, provided by Abilene's Fashion Museum.

Completing the show are rarities from the Eisenhower Center's permanent presidential collection, including a roof fragment from George Washington's revolutionary war-era military headquarters in Morristown, N.J.