Elizabeth Keckley--The Dresses

In her autobiography, Elizabeth Keckley describes the first evening that she finished a dress for Mary Lincoln:

Mrs. Lincoln looked elegant in her rose-colored moire-antique. She wore a pearl necklace, pearl ear-rings, pearl bracelets, and red roses in her hair. Mrs. Baker was dressed in lemon-colored silk; Mrs. Kellogg in a drab silk, ashes of rose; Mrs. Edwards in a brown and black silk; Miss Edwards in crimson, and Mrs. Grimsly in blue watered silk.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/keckley/keckley.html#keckley228

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Mary Todd Lincoln's seed pearl necklace and bracelets
https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2016/12/rare-item-of-the-month-marys-treasures/
 
One of Keckley's first famous dresses in Washington was commissioned by Robert E. Lee's older brother, Sydney Smith Lee. He gave Keckley one hundred dollars to purchase the lace for his wife's dress for a state reception for the Prince of Wales in 1860. She purchased the lace at Harper and Mitchell and was given a $25 commission. According to Keckley's memoir, Mrs. Lee attracted great attention at the dinner-party, and her elegant dress proved a good card for me.

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Captain Sidney Smith Lee

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Anna Marie Mason Lee
 
My goodness! What talent! Amazing! I agree about her eye for style, the dresses not being so fluffy and fussy! Definitely a more classic, tailored look! Thanks so much for posting!
Of course, I also can't help but to notice the off the shoulder evening wear and not think of my favorite lines from Mammy in Gone With the Wind telling Scarlett not to show her bosoms before 3 pm!
 
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A mourning dress of Mary Todd Lincoln from after Willie's death. Not attributed to Keckley, but your guess, is it one of hers?

The sleeves look similar to the strawberry dress.
 
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My goodness! What talent! Amazing! I agree about her eye for style, the dresses not being so fluffy and fussy! Definitely a more classic, tailored look! Thanks so much for posting!
Of course, I also can't help but to notice the off the shoulder evening wear and not think of my favorite lines from Mammy in Gone With the Wind telling Scarlett not to show her bosoms before 3 pm!

The style supposedly emulated that of Princess Eugenie of France and other Europeans.

Mary Lincoln liked to wear ball gowns with very long trains but also without shoulders and President Lincoln once remarked that he thought she needed “a little less tail and little more neck” instead. She was also known for wearing elaborate head-dresses of multiple roses, and in a letter to his wife, one Senator described Mrs. Lincoln critically, as wearing a “flower-pot” on her head. (National First Ladies’ Library)​
 
I think I have mentioned it before on here, as someone who is just trying to learn how to sew in a straight line, I just can not imagine the gift she had! There is so much that goes into dress making (at least for me, way above my pay grade)! I remember reading in the Little House on the Prairie series how Laura went to work hand sewing men's shirts for a while and how much she disliked he job but labored at it until she was able to quit. The stiff joints and sore fingers! Is it know if Elizabeth Keckley used a sewing machine all or was everything hand stitched or a combination of both?
 
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We can probably get an idea of Elizabeth Keckley's sense of style from dresses created for herself.


Ah. I'm sorry, no one dressed like Elizabeth Keckley- not even Mary since she was obligated to use other makers ( and it bit her ). Chic, elegant, genuinely fashionable and with that figure and face? She looks more like a Duchess than a fashion queen.
 
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