Norma Lu Meehan and Mei Campbell, Victorian Wedding Dress in the United States:
A History through Paper Dolls (Texas: Texas Tech University Press, 2009). 32pp., 22 col. illus. Pbk. $12.95. ISBN 978-0-89672-661-1


This slim booklet is a charming introduction to American wedding fashions between 1859 and 1899.

At first glance, it is simply a book featuring three paper dolls: Patricia, Louise and Sharon; twenty wedding outfits; and their (fully dressed) grooms: Phillip, Patrick and Edward. However, it contains three short essays on wedding traditions, as well as full catalogue entries.

Mei Campbell gleaned the archives at the Museum of Texas Tech University and the Northern Indiana Center for History for details to bring these dresses to life. She found, for example, Hattie Napice’s dress ordered from Kentucky, which arrived hours before her ceremony in Texas, as well as Jennie Steel’s plaid silk dress, which she altered and darned for many years after her wedding in 1867. Here we can see the range of American society, from pioneer stock to society leaders, through their choice of wedding fashions be they cotton or Brussels lace.

Two of the grooms wear original wedding outfits, but owing to the lack of menswear of the right date, Phillip has to wear a reconstructed outfit from La Mode Illustrée, (a familiar tale to many of us!).

Norma Lu Meehan’s fine colour illustrations perfectly complement Mei Campbell’s meticulous research. Each colour page includes little details such as fabric swatches, photographs and jewellery. I am not sure what market this book is aimed at. My first impression, whilst flicking through the pages looking at the pictures, was that children might like this, as little girls are often absorbed by weddings, or at least dressing up as princesses. However, the dresses look fiddly to cut round, and indeed the whole approach and tone of the book is clearly aimed at adults.

A quick glance at the back of the book, and on the internet, revealed how many more paper doll fashion histories there are in the United States, from high fashion to uniforms. The publishers claim that Americans are obsessed with weddings, and it is clear that a great number of them are also obsessed with paper dolls. These are highly collectable in the States, whether they are vintage or not. The market for these beautifully designed and researched booklets may be smaller in the United Kingdom, but we should not judge a book by its cover – this is worthy of further inspection.

CAROLINE WHITEHEAD

Brown and white plaid silk taffeta wedding dress, 1867 and two-piece, ice-blue silk brocade wedding dress, 1871.