Mary Meux only wore the dazzling gown once. But that single day — nearly 100 years ago — was enough to give the dress a magical life that has transcended time and thrust it into a permanent place of honor in the Meux Home Museum in Fresno, Calif.
It all began the evening of Oct. 29, 1907, when Mary Meux married Harry E. Barbour in the parlor of her parents' house, now the Meux Home Museum.
"Everyone felt quite convinced that Miss Meux would be a beautiful bride, but none were quite prepared for the loveliness of her bridal finery, which was of the most elegant and in perfect harmony with her coloring," a reporter for the Fresno Morning Republican wrote.
"Her gown was of ivory satin, both the skirt and bodice being elaborately trimmed with Irish point brought to her from Europe by her sister and cousin. Down the front of the skirt was a beautiful panel of ornamentation of lace with touches of lace about the entire skirt, which was made with a long train and fastened above the waistline in the back in empire effect.
"The yoke of the bodice was of lace and about the shoulders fell in graceful folds fastened here and there with pearl ornaments. It was indeed a gorgeous wedding gown and was worn with distinction by the pretty bride."
Unlike Meux, who would go on to become the mother of two sons and see her husband elected to the U.S. House in 1918, the wedding dress quickly slipped from public view. It remained a family keepsake until 1978, when it was donated to the museum and put on display until its deteriorating condition impelled officials to see whether it could be restored.
"The 100th anniversary of Mary's wedding was coming up, and we decided to see if the dress could be restored," says John Campbell, the museum's executive assistant.
The dress was sent to the Textile Conservation Workshop in New York for an evaluation.
"They told us it couldn't be restored," Campbell says. "We were very disappointed."
The dress literally was falling apart at the seams. With little hope of saving the dress, it appeared the museum would have to preserve its memory through a bridal photograph of Meux — or have a duplicate made. Then fate brought Fresno seamstress Nancy Liddell into the picture.
Liddell met Campbell while she and a friend were attending a Valentine's Day tea at the Meux Home last year. When Campbell found out that Liddell was an experienced seamstress, he asked whether she could make a wedding dress like the one worn by Meux.
"Of course she can," said Linda Roy, Liddell's friend.
Liddell had been making wedding dresses for 40 years and was intrigued by the challenge of re-creating a dress made in 1907. She also felt drawn to the task by some common bonds she shared with Meux. She and Meux were both married on Oct. 29.
The original gown cost $400 and took three seamstresses three months to make, Campbell says. Liddell went to work on the dress in late July and took four months to restore it at a cost of about $7,000.
"All the satin, taffeta and organza had to be replaced," she says. "But I kept all the original lace, beads, pearls, hooks, boning, medallions and ribbon."
Liddell says it was fascinating to discover how dresses were made a century ago. "They put in all kinds of detail you don't see in gowns today," she says.
Dist. by Scripps Howard News Service