Astrida Schaeffer Astrida Schaeffer has pursued her interest in historic clothing for over fifteen years. Currently making reproduction clothing from 1770-1918 for Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH, she has sewn for Plimoth Plantation, the American Independence Museum in Exeter, NH, and the Pavane Renaissance Dance Ensemble of Portsmouth, among others.

Research on surviving garments for reproduction purposes led to Schaeffer's thesis topic for her Master's degree in History from UNH, in the course of which she examined over 50 dresses from the Federal period to show how American women remained influenced by European fashion despite the new political independence of their nation. Wanting to focus more on working with "the real thing", Schaeffer participated in a year-long textile conservation project at the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk, Maine.

In the Fall of 1999 she began conservation work on the University Museum textile collection at UNH and started the process of selecting garments for an exhibition. In preparation for this she participated in an intensive mannequin construction workshop at the Textile Conservation Center in the American Textile History Museum of Lowell, Massachussetts.

Schaeffer put her knowledge to the test--of the thirteen mannequins in the UNH Exhibit, eight were made from scratch, as were two hanging dress mounts. The remaining five mounts were extensively modified from existing forms. Schaeffer's hands-on knowledge gained by making period clothing from various eras also proved invaluable during the production of Tailored to Teach. Each garment needed to be mounted on a mannequin designed specifically along the fashionable lines of its day--no two mannequins in the exhibition are alike.

Schaeffer is a member of the New England Museum Association, the Association for Living History, Farm, and Agricultural Museums, and the Costume Society of America.

To contact Astrida, send e-mail to: astrida@schaefferarts.com.

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