If the fibres of Nellie McClung's wedding dress were as enduring as her popularity, the Western Development Museum would not have to worry about the future of the 102-year-old garment.

The dress worn by the famous Canadian on her wedding day in 1896 must be carefully preserved to keep it from breaking down with time. Former Western Development Museum conservator Mark MacKenzie is used a non -traditional technique to store and protect McClung's dress. Clothing and textiles are conventionally stored flat, but in time, creases in the fabric become brittle and break easily. MacKenzie designed a soft mold composed of foam, synthetic quilt batting, and unbleached muslin that will imitate the body proportions of McClung when she wore the dress on August 25, 1896. A protective frame for lifting and storage was also designed. By creating a custom-made mount for the dress, Mackenzie says it can be stored, preserved and displayed with minimum handling.

"This is a three dimensional artifact, so we are building a three dimensional mold," he explains. McClung's wedding gown was donated to the Western Development Museum by her daughter in 1965. The dress has since attracted interest from museums outside the province. It was loaned to the Dugald Costume Museum in Manitoba in 1991. In 1996, Carmen Beaumont of Hanley, Sask. designed a replica gown for the museum in Wawanesa, Man., the town where McClung was married.

The dress represents a part of McClung's life that is often overshadowed by her political achievements. As a wife and mother of five children, she faced criticism for her decision to pursue a career in politics in the early 1900s. McClung was also a successful writer who published several short stories and novels. She is perhaps best known for her role in the Person's Case of 1929, when five Alberta women, including McClung, successfully challenged Canada's highest court and won recognition for women as persons under the law.

Aside from the history of its famous owner, McClung's wedding dress also provides a glimpse into turn of the century fashion.

 

Photo courtesy Dugald Costume Museum

The olive/brown brocade material was not an unusual color for a wedding dress of the time. 

"White has only been the common color for wedding dresses since the 1950s," says Monique Brandt, curator for the Dugald Costume Museum in Manitoba. "Before 1900, most women wanted to buy a dress that they could wear more than once, and white was just not practical."

The Western Development Museum has other items of Nellie McClung's including a family quilt, but none are as personal as her wedding gown. By all historical accounts, Nellie and Wes McClung enjoyed a happy marriage, but no biographer could describe it as deftly as McClung herself: "We did not always agree but he was a fair fighter, and I knew I would rather fight with him than agree with anyone else."

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