Save the date for our Fall Fashion & Textile Symposium!
Genesee Country Village & Museum is excited to announce the date for our Fall 2024 Fashion & Textile Symposium with the theme “Fashion from Head to Toe.” This day of lectures features four exciting presenters, including: Anna Worden (Straw Milliner & Author), Wilma Townsend (Curator of Ontario County Historical Society), Tricia Noel (Executive Director and Curator of Yates County History Center), and our Keynote, Nicole Rudolph (fashion historian, shoemaker, and content creator).
Access to all four fashion and textile-related lectures is included in the price of admission, along with a prepared boxed lunch (hot and cold selections available). A continental breakfast of coffee, tea, orange juice, water, bagels, and pastries will be present upon arrival. At the end of the day (from 3 – 4 p.m.), guests will have the opportunity to enjoy staff-led explorations behind the scenes in either the John L. Wehle Gallery vaults which house the Bruce & Susan Greene Costume Collection. Don’t miss this!
Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. for in-person attendees, and virtual attendees will see programming beginning at 10 a.m.
Opening Speaker (10 a.m.)
Anna Worden – Straw Milliner & Author
Our opening speaker, Anna Worden, will begin the symposium by presenting the talk “Unveiling Rural Milliners.”
About Anna:
Anna Worden is a Straw Milliner and Proprietor of A Milliner’s Whimsy. Known for her research and writing on historical fashion and Victorian fancy work, Anna’s works include Fanciful Utility: Victorian Sewing Cases & Needle-books, From Field to Fashion: The Straw Bonnet, Paisley, Plaid, & Purled: Shawls of the 19th Century, and To Net, or Not to Net: Victorian Hairnets. Through her research-based interpretation of straw millinery and fancy work, Anna strives to illuminate the lives of everyday women of the nineteenth century. Anna earned a BA in Sociology with a focus on women’s historical studies, from SUNY Geneseo and an FDC from Cornell University.
Click here to learn more about Anna and her work!
Second Speaker (11 a.m.)
Tricia L. Noel – Executive Director and Curator of the Yates County History Center
Our second speaker, Triia Noel, will speak on “‘A Different Habit’: the Public Universal Friend, Gender and Clothing in 18th America.”
About Tricia:
Tricia L. Noel is a native of Geneva, New York. She received her bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Wells College in 2001 and her master’s degree in U.S. History from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in 2006. She has worked at the Seneca Falls Historical Society, Colonial Williamsburg, Richmond History Center, and was an archivist for the Virginia State Archives for 11 years. Tricia has been the Executive Director and Curator of the Yates County History Center in Penn Yan since 2018. She lives in Geneva with her husband and two children.
Break for lunch!
This exciting day of lectures will be broken up by a delicious lunch hour, complimentary with your ticket purchase! A continental breakfast of coffee, tea, orange juice, water, and pastries will also be present upon arrival, and beverages will be available to guests throughout the day.
LUNCH OPTIONS:
Boxed lunch options will be announced soon and can be selected when purchasing tickets!
Third Speaker (1 p.m.)
Wilma T. Townsend – Curator, Ontario County Historical Society
Our third speaker, Wilma Townsend, will present “Textiles in 19th Century Ontario County Or Did Our Fore-Mothers Really Spin, Weave and Make All of Their Fabric and Clothing By Hand?”
This talk will explore early textile manufacture in Ontario County, the shift from making nearly all clothing and household linens by hand to the transformative introduction of the sewing machine, and the transition to purchasing factory made notions, lace and patterns for clothing and other decorative items.
Wilma Townsend has been the Curator at the Ontario County Historical Society for over 35 years. She has also been curator at the Landmark Society of Western New York, the Granger Homestead, and Sonnenberg Gardens. She received her master’s degree in American History and Museum Studies from the University of Delaware. Originally from Western Massachusetts, Wilma lives in Victor, NY with her husband and two cats.
Keynote Speaker (2 p.m.)
Nicole Rudolph – Fashion Historian, Shoemaker, and Content Creator
Our keynote speaker, Nicole Rudloph, will wrap up the symposium by presenting the talk “Turning the Shoe Wrong-side Out: 19th century Construction Revealed.”
Despite the trend for paper thin slippers, 19th century shoes had a wide range of strange techniques and materials inside. This talk will explore the hidden ingredients that made up shoes of all types during this era. Silk, tar, boar bristles, rubber, cork, felt, wood, and even paper hide away inside. We’ll look at reproduction parts, as well as antiques that have worn away to their “bones” to see what’s really holding things together (and tell a few stories of failed efforts).
Nicole Rudolph is a full-time fashion history content creator on YouTube, where she focuses on bringing her expertise in historic shoemaking, sewing, and tailoring to a broad, international audience. Before her career on YouTube took off, she worked for several years at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and received her MFA in Material Culture from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. During this time, she has sought to reconstruct historic garments and textile goods for exhibits and experiments that provide insight to how these objects would have been made, used, and worn out.
Take a look behind the scenes! (3 - 4 p.m.)
Explore the Gallery Textile Vaults
At the end of the day (from 3 – 4 p.m.), guests will have the opportunity to enjoy staff-led explorations behind the scenes in either the John L. Wehle Gallery vaults which house the Bruce & Susan Greene Costume Collection.
For virtual participants: This portion of the program is for in-person attendees only. The virtual program will end after Nicole’s presentation (around 3 p.m.).
Ticket Information
In-Person Access:
Museum Members: $75
General Adult: $85
Museum Professional: $70
Virtual Access:
Museum Members: $35
General Adult: $40
FAQs
Yes! Park in any of the main lots at the front of the Museum, and please leave the first two bays available for handicap parking.
In-person attendees can check-in anywhere between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Check-in will be in the Meeting Center Lounge, to the right of Admissions. Go through the white double-doors and follow the signs.
Please have your ticket(s) either printed out OR pulled up on your phone screen and ready for scanning for quick and easy check-in. Pro-tip: take a screenshot of each of your tickets to have ready and pulled up on your phone screen! Please note: Wifi can sometimes be spotty at the front of the Museum.
Yes! While there will be some walking at the end of the day to tour the Art Gallery, this event is mainly held indoors. The Museum will only cancel in the case of a severe weather emergency.
Lunches will be arranged by last name, alphabetically, in the Meeting Center Lounge.
If you did not make a lunch selection, we will have a limited variety for you to choose from. If you have food allergies, please feel free to bring your own bag lunch to enjoy.
Leashed service animals are welcome with proper identification.
The Flint Hill Gift Shop and Historic Village will both be open to visitors from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. The Meeting Center Cafe (in the Meeting Center Lounge) will be open from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. with a limited menu.
No. Presenters are sharing new research that they do not want shared on the web, so this event is not able to be recorded.
Thanks for choosing to join us virtually! Virtual attendees will receive a YouTube Live link the day prior to the event with which they can access the live stream. The live program will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, November 9. A digital moderator will be available via email or phone for any technical difficulties (pengard@gcv.org).
Virtual attendees will see programming begin at 10 a.m. We recommend signing in to join the program about 10 minutes prior.
Tickets may be refunded only up to 7 days prior to the event date and are strictly non-transferable by date, entry time, or program.
