During the summer of 2007, the Historical Society of Woodstock opened a new exhibit highlighting clothing from Woodstock’s past. The exhibit, “Threads – Fabrics of Woodstock Life,” featured a number of Woodstock Dresses, crafted by Augusta Allen for Woodstock women from the 1920s through the 1940s. Below, you will find background information on the Woodstock Dress and Mrs. Allen. For exhibit pictures click on the link at the bottom of the page.
The Woodstock Dress
Augusta Allen began the design and creation of the Woodstock Dress in 1917 due to economic necessity. Mrs. Allen was a hard working woman in need of money to pay for coal to heat her family’s home. Already an accomplished seamstress, she designed the dress pattern and went to work sewing at her kitchen table. Family members recall hearing the treadle sewing machine “whirring” all night long. Her daughter, Ruth Greenwood Brown, assisted by creating many of the handmade buttonholes.
The dresses were made of cotton, velvet, taffeta and other select types of fabric and it wasn't’ long before the Woodstock Dress was in high demand by women visiting Woodstock. The dresses were worn on many different occasions. It could, for example, be a casual everyday dress to wear to the post office or to the market. It was a favorite of females within the art colony as was worn by many of the Cheats and Swings square dancers during their exhibition dances in the 1930’s and early 1940’s. One dress is known to have won first prize on a ship bound for Europe.
In the early 1920’s, Mrs. Allen also made costumes for different balls and the Maverick Festivals. She was an active member of the Guild of Craftsmen and one of the first to display her work at the Woodstock Market Fair. Every Saturday, during the summer season, you would find her beautiful dresses and aprons on sale in the center of town. Her Troleon skirts, blouses and quilted jackets with silver buttons were very popular. The dresses were sold for $25.00 and her aprons went for $1.50.
