Costume Society of America: Williamsburg, Day 2

Another full day in Williamsburg.  I started with a tour of the textile artifact storage and conservation lab.  It is beautiful, roomy, and I am thoroughly jealous of the space. 

These flat storage drawers are great.

Afterwards, there was a visit to the Dewitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, which was everything I hoped it would be.  I especially enjoyed the special exhibition on printed fabrics, copious porcelain, dollhouses both gigantic and compact, and a fun gallery of keyboard instruments.  My favorite staging elements were the recordings of several of the instruments in use (playing contemporary pieces), and the video fashion show, with interpreters (cheekily!) modelling reproduction print garments. 

 

Then it was back to historic trades--today we got into the foundry, the James Geddy House, and the carpentry shop. 

Spinnet in the Geddy House.
I want a half-green room.

Wares in the foundary--today they were casting brass.

And then, we decided to live it up in style, with a carriage ride around the historic district.

Horses! Also, an open carriage.

In the afternoon/evening the conference programming started. There were some meet-and-greets, a keynote panel, and the opening of the marketplace (wherein, I may have acquired more books than was strictly advisable).