Victorian Secrets - Part 3

In this episode of EXPLORING NEVADA youll take an undercover journeyto discover the underwear secrets of fashionable women living during Victorian times in Nevada. With fashion-history expert Jan Loverin as guide, youll travel to historic Bowers Mansion in Washoe Valley for the inside scoop on how a genteel lady of the times (as re-enacted by Paulette Grune of Sparks) donned her corset, hoop skirt and other unmentionables.

Then youll get a private view of the genuine artifacts which are safeguarded at the Nevada State Museums Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Research Center in Carson City, where Loverin oversees the study and preservation of thousands of items of clothing used by Nevadans over the past two centuries.

The Center houses more than 10,000 artifacts ranging from the 19th century to current-day fashions, and includes such items as the Inaugural Ball gowns of Nevadas First Ladies, hats and shoes, mens and military wear, as well as items from the Nevada Historical Society and the University of Nevada School of Home Economics. The Center is named for former First Lady Marjorie Guild Russell, whose father, Judge Clark Guild, started the Nevada State Museum in 1939. It is open by appointment to the public. For more information, call 775.687.6173.

The video features period music performed by Sparks Little Theater for the Nevada Womens History Project 2002 conference, at Pipers Opera House in Virginia City .

http://nevadaculture.org/