People collect old linens for a variety of reasons. Do you remember curiously touching the scalloped edge of your grandmother’s doilies? Maybe it was your great uncle’s monogrammed handkerchief that really fascinated you. Often, the quiet voice that whispers, “Buy it,” is nostalgia. They really don’t make things like they used to, especially when it comes to linens; all that time, all that care, all those tiny stitches.

Or maybe you just like the elegance and beauty of a delicately embroidered tablecloth, and you can picture that set of six intricately lace cocktail napkins laid out on top of it. You won’t find anything so rare and so distinctive in a department store, because all of those old pieces were made by hand.Your collection may have started with a quilt handed down from your mother, or it may have started with a quilt you bought on eBay. Regardless of what type of collector you are, there are several ways to display your linen collection. Some collections stay carefully folded in trunks older than the linens, but with careful preparation you can display even the most fragile of pieces safely.

Frames are a popular way to display smaller pieces of linen. You might place a handkerchief in an equally lovely antique frame, or you might opt for a more economical but still elegant plaster model from Wal-Mart. Colored matting can be used to set off embroidery, or the frame can be decorated with matching buttons or bits of lace.
Take framing to the next level with a shadow box. Shadow boxes add dimension and variety. You might pair your grandmother’s ivory gloves with her black and white wedding photo, or you might choose to layer your linens for a unique textual effect.
Few quilt collectors are without a curtain rod which allows for quick, easy, and interchangeable wall hangings.

If you really love your linens, why not decorate the guest bedroom in them? The sunrise is lovely through lace curtains, handkerchiefs may be sewn onto pillows, and there’s no better place to display a quilt than a bed.
Long ago, someone put a lot of time and love into each piece of your linen collection; it deserves to be admired.

Alana Morgaine
Our Vintage Linens
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Women’s fashions during the Depression years returned to the somewhat more conservative style of dress that was known before the “roaring 20s.” The wild, untamed years of the 1920s saw inhibitions fall from women’s fashions as liberation was the tone of the times. When the Depression struck, society returned to a more traditional and feminine look during the 1930s. The hardships of those years, when many suffered, saw skirts return to longer lengths and natural waistlines in clothing prevail.

Fashion in the early 1900s was dictated by the styles in Paris and the “haute coutour” movement as it was known. Long, full skirts with hem lines rising ever so tantalizingly, and the bodice narrowing, ever so gradually, introduced a fuller view of the graceful feminine silhouette than ever before. When the Depression years came, clothing reverted to a more reserved look as to reflect the dreary situation during that time.

The 1930s saw a return from play to work for many American citizens. After the fairly frivolous lifestyle of the 1920s, the Depression years saw a need for more practical clothing as many people returned to a harder lifestyle to survive. They worked when they could, at what they could, and the fashion in those days reflected the need for sensible clothing. The 1930s also saw the first real separation between daywear and eveningwear. Simple skirts and blouses that were easy to move in were the choice of the day during the Depression, when women had more work to do around the home. In the evening, for those special occasions when time and money permitted, fashions made from metallic lame were the sought-after trend, while silk remained the mainstay of Parisian fashions. An improved synthetic rayon fabric rose in popularity during this time, and cotton started to be used in creating more chic clothing designs as well.

Popular thought during the Depression years was urged to be, “Spend what money you have wisely and don’t throw it away on folly.” After the joyful and, some would say, reckless years of the 1920s, women’s fashions suffered a blow in the 1930s as well. Less clothing was manufactured in the 1930s in comparison with the 1920s because of the hard economic times experienced by the country. Collecting vintage clothing from the Depression era is made that much more rare and valuable.
Women yearned for the frivolity and light-heartedness of the fashions from the 1920s. Hence was born the “high style clothing” of the 1930s. Due to the sadness in the era, and hot off the trail of the “roaring 20s” era, it was hard to take – this loss of glamour, excitement, and sex appeal. Hollywood came to the realization that it needed to make spectacular and dazzling movies, with beautifully attired actresses, wearing the glamorous gowns the average American women yearned for. Through movies, they could live the dreams they could no longer live in real life. They could escape the drudgery of surviving day-to-day, if only for a little while.
During the hard times of the Depression years, people needed some fun put back in their lives so they could continue to cope with the everyday pressures of existing. Therefore, the dark days of the 1930s that began with more conservative and traditional clothing, led to some of the most beautiful and dramatic gowns and fashion designer marvels of the day. They brought happiness and hope for better times to everyone who viewed them. Collecting vintage apparel today should be seen through the eyes of understanding – understanding the people living through years that the world seemed turned on its end.

Alana Morgaine
Alana’s Cherished Treasures

Our Vintage Sewing Patterns

Little Women
If you, like many young girls, were a fan of Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic, “Little Women,” then you may be surprised to learn of the author’s true intentions. Alcott herself was the headstrong product of a philosopher father and bedraggled mother. She used her young self as the model for Jo, and her three sisters as the inspiration for the other March sisters (Meg, Beth, and Amy). Her sweet but overburdened mother is of course the basis for Marmee. And perhaps it was her tempestuous relationship that caused her to omit a father figure from much of “Little Women.”
It is easy for us as fans of the novel to imagine that Alcott wrote it with great emotion. Certainly the book has touched young women for over a century with its lively characters and the complex relationships they share with each other. The shocking truth is that Alcott did not write “Little Women” as a nostalgic ode to her childhood, but simply to make some money. The same is true of the book’s sequel, “Good Wives.” Not only that, but she held great disdain for the girls genre the book is modeled after. The irony of course is that “Little Women” remains today one of the most successful examples of this genre.
The book centers around the aforementioned sisters and their mother as they struggle to make ends meet with their father away serving as a chaplain for the Union Army. Many critics argue that the story’s depiction of family life, and specifically of an all female household in Victorian times, is too idealistic. In truth, Alcott’s novel and its characters were quite progressive compared to the content of other popular genre pieces at the time.
Each of the girls demonstrates one outstanding character flaw. These flaws alone and the girls’ unabashed embracing of them prove that Alcott was not idealistic but if anything too liberal in the portrayal of the sisters. After all, young women at the time were expected to be without traits like vanity, selfishness, temper, or introversion (each of which was personified by a March sister). No, Victorian women were expected to pursue beauty but remain humble. They were to serve their husbands and elders without consideration to themselves. They were to be submissive in every way, and they were to remain reserved but accommodating.
In Victorian society, a family of girls like the March sisters would no doubt have been shunned, and their mother too for not raising proper ladies. Of course, it is the hallmark of fiction that lovable characters get a happy ending, and no avid young reader of “Little Women” is likely to complain about the historical discrepancies. Just like many of her fellow women authors (Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, etc), Alcott presents a female dominated story full of well-realized characters that defy social norms and still find happiness. It may be a familiar formula, but it is one few starry-eyed girls (and even women) ever tire of. Whether she intended to or not, in pursuing fame and fortune Louisa May Alcott also earned an honored place in literature as a writer capable of creating a story whose characters remain memorable and whose moral remains relevant long after the author has perished.

Alana Morgaine
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