MILLINER
In 18th-Century Williamsburg, the milliner’s shop was a veritable “department store” of merchandise to suit the fancy of women and men, gentry and farmers. Displayed in shop windows were bolts of the finest silks and brocades, jewelry, shoes, combs to adorn gleaming hair, fragrant soaps, hats, hoops, muffs and other offerings sure to create a pleasing appearance or, perhaps, catch a suitor’s eye.
Local milliners paid particular homage to the fashion dictates of London, designing caps and hats with the finest materials, including dyed ostrich feathers, ribbons and other adornments. Sometimes a mantua maker took up residence in the milliner’s shop, stitching ladies’ gowns according to the styles imported from overseas.
Today, the tradeswomen at the Margaret Hunter Shop create garments and accessories in the style and manner of our colonial ancestors, to the delight of Colonial Williamsburg guests.
For more information:
Book – Eighteenth Century Clothing at Williamsburg
Book – What Clothes Reveal
For inquiries or purchases please contact Prentis Store at 757-229-1000, Extension 2117 or prentis@cwf.org.
