1907 Lace and Silk Wedding Dress

An off white silk wedding dress, consisting of a bodice and skirt, from 1907. Bodice and skirt have an overlay of Battenberg lace of flowers and scrolls in the same beige color as the silk. Bodice has a center front piece of hand painted organza attached to right side that extends around the neck to form the high collar, which is trimmed in lace scrolls, pink and green silk ribbon and a gathered organza ruffle on the edge. The skirt is made of the same silk and lace as bodice with a small train with organza ruffle and smaller silk ruffle at the hem.

HCT.2007.15.2a-c

1907

This dress was worn by Lucile Joyce on the occasion of her wedding to James Edward Hagerty October 26th, 1907. Dr. Hagerty had been a professor at Ohio State University for six years at the time of his marriage and would have a long and illustrious career with the university. They had five children together. Lucile was the daughter of John Joyce who immigrated to the United States in 1851 and was the founder of the Green-Joyce Company. It was a highly successful dry goods business that began operation in 1884. Sadly, John Joyce died of a heart attack shortly after his daughter's wedding in January of 1908. After his passing, the Green-Joyce Company continued to operate until 1929, when it became a victim of the stock market crash. By 1900, the number of dressmakers listed in the city directory had decreased to a mere 125, almost one third of those only 5 years previous. The listing of ladies' tailors, however, had increased from one (Thomas Higgs) to seven. Kate Hoffer opened her dressmaking business in 1899 at 1409 N. High St. Her husband Frank was then working as a barber. By 1901, the dressmaking business listing was under Frank's name. It must have been a more lucrative business than barbering, because by 1902 Frank was listed as a tailor. By 1910 the business was located at 256 Oak St., while the Hoffer's resided on fashionable E. Broad St. at number 1039--with Frank listed as a dressmaker and Katie as a ladies tailor. Like, Daisy Schaefer, Kate was of German descent. Born in West Virginia in 1861, she was seven years older than Daisy. She married Frank in 1884 and had two daughters who were 16 and 13 when the dressmaking business opened. The Historic Costume & Textiles Collection owns three dresses with Kate and Frank Hoffer's label.

Standing-Band Collar, Hourglass Silhouette

fiber content=Silk

1900-1909

Off-white