her dress

If you know me well, you know I am extremely sentimental--maybe even to a fault. Almost everything in my life is tied to a memory, a person, a place. I desperately want to remember. It is hard for me to get rid of things around our house because I can always come up with a reason to keep whatever it may be. I have trouble "living in the moment" because I am constantly thinking about how I need to be taking pictures so I can look back on the moment later. Kevan knows every story from every bit of my life because I can't help but share what I am reminded of when I hear that song or pass by that street or eat that meal.

I also enjoy feeling connected to my history and my heritage. I love to think about what it was like when my brothers and I were little, or when my grandparents were dating, or when my ancestors came to America. I adore nostalgia. Anyway, I say all that to say this: I am sentimental--not sometimes sentimental, or sentimental on occasion--I AM sentimental.

So you can imagine how much this meant to me.

This dress was worn by my great-great grandmother, Francis Elliott Coursey, on her wedding day in 1882, exactly 100 years before I was born. And one day, back in the fall, I got to wear it.

It had been on display for a little while in the Coleman, Texas city museum and my dad's cousin, Anna, now has it. She brought it over for me to see and graciously let me try it on. (Unfortunately, I forgot my corset and wasn't able to get it completely buttoned up.) :)

I love how it is simple, but also beautifully detailed. The exterior fabric had been imported, but the dress was lined with thin cotton fabric, probably to save money (my kind of girl).
I couldn't help but think about her as I wore it...how she must have felt as a bride in the year 1882... what her life was like thereafter...was I anything like her?

Needless to say, I loved every bit of this experience, and even though it happened months ago, I knew I needed to post about it so I could, you know, remember.