Vintage wedding gowns engage collector.Byline: Profile by The Register-Guard Name: Faye Brabham, Springfield Claim to fame: Fashion historian and author of "The Pleasure of Your Company," a self-published book that examines wedding dresses and accessories through the years. Brabham has a collection of 100 vintage wedding gowns. Background: Brabham, who volunteers for the Springfield Police Department and serves as a board member for the Washburne Neighborhood Association A neighborhood association is a group of residents, sometimes organized as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, who take on problems or organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary or mandatory dues. , has been collecting gowns for more years that she cares to admit. Her gowns have been on display at various museums and bridal shows throughout Lane County. The book was co-written by Carol Houde, a retired nurse, who has four generations of wedding gowns from her family. The two researched the topic for two years before publishing the book earlier this year. The book is available at the Springfield Museum and the Shelton-McMurphy-Johnson House. Something old, something new, something borrowed "Something Borrowed" is the 21st episode in the second season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on May 7, 2007. Plot , something blue: Most of Brabham's gowns have been donated to her. But the wedding dresses she has purchased have come from estate sales, warehouses, flea markets See computer flea market. flea market yard sale of used items at low prices. [Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : Inexpensiveness and auctions. The high divorce rate also ensures a steady supply of gowns, she said. "I've been given the first wedding dress of many brides." Everything old is new again: While styles have changed to reflect the times, traditional gowns have always remained in vogue Vogue leading fashion magazine in France and America. [Fr. and Amer. Culture: Misc.] See : Fashion . Many newer gowns are designed similarly to vintage wedding dresses. These include lacy Victorian lawn gowns, 1920s flapper dresses, 1930s bias-cut gowns, tailored suits favored by brides of soldiers on duty during World War II, strapless strap·less adj. Having no strap or straps, as a dress or an undergarment. n. A garment having no strap or straps. strapless Adjective gowns with big tulle Tulle (t  l, Fr. tül), town (1990 pop. 18,685), capital of Corrèze dept., S central France. Firearms and other goods are made there. Tulle was built around a 7th-century monastery. skirts from the 1950s, 1960s fashions
inspired by first lady Jackie Kennedy and mini-skirt dresses from the
late 1960s and early 1970s.
"I still get weak in the knees when I see a new dress," Brabham said. What were they thinking?: While wedding dresses have remained fairly traditional over the years, some wedding gowns from the 1970s took a walk on the wild side. Brabham recalls a particular gown from that era that had long, tapered ta·per n. 1. A small or very slender candle. 2. A long wax-coated wick used to light candles or gas lamps. 3. A source of feeble light. 4. a. sleeves and a hood. "It looked like something Maid Marian Maid Marian n. Robin Hood's sweetheart. would wear." - Jim Feehan If you know someone who would make a great subject for a Register-Guard Profile, send it to Jim Murez at jmurez@guardnet.com or P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440. CAPTION(S): Carol Houde (left) and Faye Brabham wrote `The Pleasure of Your Company,' a book about vintage wedding dresses. P r o f i l e |
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