Beat the Summer doldrums and join experts in a variety of Victorian clothing and fashion accessories in the Sheldon gardens. Bring your vintage hats, dresses, shoes, and other items to learn about. Fashion historians, accessory makers, mending artists, and more will be available to answer your questions. The event will also include fun activities for children and Fairy Tale Farm will be selling their sheep milk gelato. Invite your friends and family and don’t forget to dive into your Grandma’s trunk.
CLOTHING, HATS & SHOES
Costume designers Summer Jack and Aaron P Mastin will share their knowledge of historic fashion. Summer, a faculty at the Theater Department at Middlebury College, designed costumes for over 150 operas, plays, musicals, TV series and motion pictures. Aaron, has worked on major Hollywood movies as a costumer for background actors, including John Adams, 12 Years a Slave, the Underground Railroad, and Manhunt. He is currently on the staff of the Washington Heritage Museums in Fredericksburg, VA
HISTORIC “HAIRDOs”
Ray Lingle will give a demonstration of vintage hairstyling and talk about how to use modern tools to achieve it. Ray has been a hairstylist for 25 years, and enjoys many hand crafts like quilting, and knitting. He is currently a senior stylist at “The Parlour” in Middlebury. Live Demo @ Noon!
VISIBLE MENDING & SUSTAINABILITY
Sarah Ashe will share her skills on how to creatively mend your clothes and make them unique and lovable. Sarah, a local artist, creates stitched fabric collages. She applies this approach to bring new life to her family wardrobe.
CROCHETING & KNITTING
Mimi Wlodarczyk, an avid knitter, crocheter, and fiber arts enthusiast will explore traditional knitting techniques and patterns. Mimi has always enjoyed experimenting with creative fiber arts projects such as embroidery, weaving, fabric stamping and Shibori dye techniques.
VERD MONT BUTTON CLUB
Members of the Verd Mont Button Club will share examples of their fabulous collections of vintage and antique buttons, button materials, and the history of buttons. The Verd Mont Button Club is a state-wide organization of button enthusiasts including collectors, craft people and artists."
MAKE A HAT, TRY ON A COSTUME
Join HSM Summer Interns for fun and whimsical hat making for all ages! Go zany with lots of bells and whistles or make a simple hat that does the job—the choice is yours! Suitable for all ages —from 0-105!
The Festival is part of the Sheldon Museum’s Summer exhibit From Homespun to Couture: Fashion in Historic Middlebury, on view until January 4, 2025.