MacDonalds Shop for Women

Ladies’ furnishings shops were stores that specialized in women’s clothing. They combined high-quality dressmakers’ goods with the convenience of ready-to-wear garments. Several early specialty shops in the capital city started with a resident dressmaker in-house. Macdonald’s Shop for Women, located at 50 N. High Street, was one of the first of these shops to arrive on the scene in 1913. The store would remain in business through 1928. HCTC owns two dresses from the MacDonald’s store. One is made with gold silk velvet and lace worn by Mrs. Fannie Barker Brown (mentioned previously). Mrs. Brown’s dress dates to the early years of the store’s operation, c. 1915. The other dress was worn Mrs. Frank Long and dates from the early to mid-1920s.