From fashion to farmstead, Olmsted County looks to breathe life into history

ROCHESTER – Valerie Wassmer was seriously skeptical of her flowery white, form-fitting dress adorned with flower print.

That’s what women in the 1760s wore whenever they had to do chores, or go for a walk to visit a neighbor. Wassmer’s skirt was detachable in case she had yard work to do, her hybrid hat accentuating the look and a long lace scarf — called a fishu — covered her neck for modesty.

It’s a long cry from what Wassmer, the interim director of the History Center of Olmsted County, normally wears.

“I could not imagine doing yard work in this,” Wassmer told more than 200 people Sunday to laughs at the History Center’s historic fashion show.

It’s the third fashion show the center has put on in recent years, this time featuring clothing styles from 1700s France to the U.S. and Europe in the 1860s and 1870s.

Staff and volunteers say projects like this is par for the course for the History Center, which is poised to grow even further with potential legislative funding and a master plan that could transform its 50-year-old building for the 21st century.

The center’s officials are lobbying for a pair of bills in the Minnesota Legislature totaling nearly $4 million in state funding to renovate and expand the group’s main building, along with restoring the George Stoppel Farmstead on the History Center’s 54-acre property in southwest Rochester.

That’s on top of a $3 million fundraising campaign for the Stoppel farm. The board is also finalizing a master plan for the historical society’s future expansion.

It’s part of a larger mission to make history more accessible, according to Wassmer.

“It really brings history to life,” she said. “It’s not just what you read in a book, it’s something tangible.”

Built in the 1970s, the History Center is filled with Rochester-centric memorabilia from toys and everyday items found at the turn of the 20th century to displays showcasing Rochester’s famous Mayo brothers. But the center seeks to go beyond exhibits, with potential plans for interactive displays at the Stoppel farm and technological upgrades to better engage visitors.

Joy Melcher doesn’t normally work with local historical societies like Olmsted County. The costumer, based in Osage, Iowa, has studied historic fashion and women’s history for more than 30 years, making a name for herself as a premier Civil War costumer.

Melcher normally works on everything from film and re-enactments to balls in the U.S. and Europe. But she was drawn to the idea of showcasing historic fashions in the Midwest — she normally works on the East Coast.

People have become more interested in period fashion since TV dramas like “Downton Abbey” and “Bridgerton” debuted, which Melcher said opens doors to show how women’s social standing has changed over the years.

“Fashion is important for women, we like to look at things like that,” Melcher said. “But I also like to educate about clothing history and why we wear the things we wear.”

She explained each detail in the dresses on Sunday, from compartments in wigs used to store party favors to lace accents and jewelry more than a century old.

Each of those things tell a story. In the French noble court, women wore white at night and dark during the day, which was reflected in the fancier dresses.

Or the jewelry made from hair worn by a model wearing mourning clothes, demonstrating how people once took hair of departed loved ones to make jewelry.

At the end of the show, Melcher offered a big reveal: a framed veil worn by Queen Victoria, which she picked up for a song during one of her trips to England.

“I know I should conserve it and put it away, but here we are in the middle of the U.S.,” Melcher said, explaining people could come and take a picture with the veil. “When would you ever be able to do that?”

That’s a better lesson than anything you’ll find in history books, Wassmer said. “You can learn history in places you’d never imagine you’re learning about history.”