I just found a really cool article about the historic costuming worn by employees at Colonial Williamsburg. I’m fascinated! It sounds like the world’s biggest theatrical production. I love costume design and historic costume, but I really don’t think I would survive in a costume department like that. I wouldn’t mind being their researcher and/or model, though. 😉
There are also some great articles on Colonial Williamsburg’s costumes page, as well as more discussion of the process by which they costume the cast on the Costume Design Center page. I find it particularly interesting how the level of historical accuracy and the number of costumes have increased throughout the years.
Check out the online exhibition of historic fashions from the Colonial Williamsburg collection, and for those wanting to make their own costumes, there is a fifteen-page pdf of recommended resources.
Photo from The Colonial Williamsbug Foundation (history.org).