Menu
Wedding dresses recount changing of times, family history
If looking at the concept generally, bridal showers are occasions where well-wishers and relatives provide essential items the wife-to-be will need in her new home. Indeed, they have roots in dowry rituals where the family would provide financial assistance for the wedding.
However, one bridal shower held over the weekend had more than just cupcakes and presents as the main attractions. Rather, they were 12 wedding dresses which span eight decades of family history and show a changing of the times and fashions.
During what was a bustling party at Miranda Brown’s home Saturday afternoon, members of the Pell and Mann families recounted their wedding memories as they played a game of guessing which era each dress came from, as well as who wore it.
The game was a unique way for Chelsea Pell to celebrate her own impending marriage, and to connect with members of both families which will soon be united when she marries her sweetheart Christopher Mann.
“They’re all just so different and unique,” Pell said as she looked up at the staircase from where the dresses were hung.
With the oldest dating back to the 1930s and the newest being worn in 2016, each dress reflected the stylistic preferences which accorded with the values of their time. They also had individual stories to tell that were special to the women who wore them on their big day.
For Susan Pell, who is Chelsea’s aunt, looking at the dress she wore on her wedding day in 1969 recounted the values of countercultural minimalism and nonconformity which dictated fashion at the time.
“I didn’t really look for a long dress,” Susan said matter-of-factually. “I thought short dresses were the in-thing to do. It was a different time with a different idea of what was popular, I guess.”
The dress also prompted some recollections of Pell’s coming-of-age experiences in nearby Brazil, which is where she grew up during what was a particularly turbulent period in our nation’s history.
“The thing to do when I was younger was going to the Brazil armory for dances and other things,” she said. “It was a lot of fun then when I was a teenager.”
Pell related that she and her then-new husband Chris spent their honeymoon in Terre Haute. They were also both freshmen at Indiana State University and Purdue University respectively when they tied the knot. The dress was then kept in a closet for the next 49 years, until Pell pulled it back out for the bridal shower.
However, the dress that arguably had the most interesting history attached to it was the one which could not be found. Relating that as the other dresses were being collected, Chelsea found priceless artifacts from her great-grandmother’s wedding all the way back in 1920.
In a windowsill were a wedding invitation and an ornate marriage license, as well as a certificate of age which provided that the bride was appropriately old enough to be married. A newspaper article which described the blue dress her great-grandmother wore in detail was also among these relics.
The oldest dress in the group belonged to Chelsea’s aunt Doris Hill, who wore it on her wedding day back in 1936. Chelsea related that the antique satin dress had been kept in a box for decades, and that it had to be steamed to get the wrinkles out of it.
There was one dress worn by Chelsea’s sister, Lottie Barcus, on her wedding day in 1998 which one could not mistake as being from any other decade. Made up of a skirt and jacket, including a hat in place of a veil, it was starkly minimalist and sleek in comparison.
“I just liked how it felt,” Barcus said as she described the time when picked out the dress. “Back then, there was a kind of going back to sleeves and being sleek, not really big like it was in the early ‘90s.”
Barcus’ dress also had a companion which holds special meaning for both her and the bride-to-be. Hanging next to it was the flower girl dress that Chelsea herself wore when Lottie was married in Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church more than 20 years ago.
“It definitely brings back memories of my wedding day, and having these dresses here gives me something to look forward to when Chelsea’s will be added to them,” Barcus said. “A wedding is such a special time, and it’s great that we’re all here to celebrate with her.”
Paige Mann, who is the mother of the groom, also provided her dress from 1989, which was more traditional with long sleeves and a beaded design. She concurred that seeing the different styles and learning about the history of each brought back memories of her own wedding day.
For Barcus, having the dresses, and indeed all of the relatives, together emphasized the close ties which they have to each other. The Pells essentially have roots in Greencastle and Brazil, and those ties have been maintained by Barcus’ grandmother Hila Pell through a commitment to keeping the family in line.
“We’re what we call the stick-together family,” Barcus said. “She really has made sure that we all stayed close, and I think today is an example of that and how we stick together and keep those ties between us.”
“We’re all still here, and it’s special for all of us to hold on to these memories, and to be a part of such an important moment in Chelsea’s life.”
Chelsea, who is slated to be married next month on April 13, emphasized that she appreciated the connection she felt with the dresses and feeling the same excitement she will have when she walks down the aisle.
“It’s been very cool to see all of these dresses,” Chelsea said. “I think it’s preparing me for that experience of putting mine on soon, and it’s been fun for everyone to pull them out.”