From the Education Department: National Lace Day

February 3^rd is National Lace Day, and here at the Neville Public Museum, we have a lot to celebrate.

Lace was first developed in Europe during the 1500s, and two methods of lace making formed simultaneously: needle lace (using a single needle and thread) and bobbin lace (intertwining many threads). Initially, it was made of linen before transitioning to silk and metallic gold threads. In the 1800s, though, lace makers turned to cotton, which is what is currently used. During the 16^th century, lace would often be named after the region it was made in. Even though lace was made all throughout Europe, Italy, France, and Flanders (modern-day Belgium) established themselves as the leading centers for lace making.

The finest lace was created by three specialists: an artist who created the designs, the pattern maker who put the designs onto parchment, and the lace maker who made the lace itself. All the effort that went into creating the lace was the reason it was seen as the most treasured, but the creation of all lace was tedious, which is why it was such a coveted fabric. It adapted with style through the centuries and, until the 1700s, it was commonly worn by men and women. Lace was an incredibly popular way to show off one’s high societal status throughout Europe until the late 18^th century because of the French Revolution.

During the French Revolution, nobility and royalty would be killed. Not speculating any farther than their clothing, the seemingly wealthy were beheaded. Once the revolution was over and all its fighters dead, lace resurged. John Heathcoat invented a machine for making the most tedious part of lace, the mesh ground, during the Industrial Revolution. Despite the continual advancements of technology to create lace, handmade lace was still in demand. Now that aristocrats and nobility no longer feared for their life, they could return to flaunting their wealth. As Europeans immigrated to the United States, they brought lacemaking with them.

Lace was first introduced in Wisconsin in 1898 by Sybil Carter, an Episcopalian missionary from Louisiana. Carter taught the Oneida women how to bobbin lace and established a system sending teachers and materials to several tribes across the United States, including the Oneida. The finished products were shipped to New York and went on to win international awards and were sold for high prices. When Native American children were forced to go to boarding school during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries to assimilate into the white American culture, they were taught lacemaking. Upon returning home, not wanting to have to leave their communities again, many Oneida women took up lacemaking as a career. Therefore, lace goods made by the tribe during this period may often appear Eurocentric, but they did include many important symbols to the Oneida, such as the sky dome and the tree of life.

During the Victorian Era, death was everywhere. Since the Industrial Revolution was happening simultaneously, so was lace. With death being frequent and romanticized, women would often wear mourning dresses after losing a loved one, many times including lace. Queen Victoria herself is most known for this, having worn a mourning dress for 40 years after losing her husband, Prince Albert. There were various opinions about the social norms of mourning, especially in the United States: even commonalities between citizens differed from city to city. When a woman was widowed, the fashion rules were relatively strict for the two years she would be in mourning. During the deep mourning phase, a woman would wear plain black clothing and a veil. Should she wear lace in this stage, it had to be dull and black. Throughout mourning, a woman may wear this type of lace, and it was acceptable to wear lace mourning gloves in the later stages of mourning (first and second mourning). Lace would not be a main fabric worn until the final stage of mourning, known as half-mourning. Then, a widow would often wear a black lace bonnet with flowers on it. 

Lace mourning gloves and a mourning bodice trimmed with lace. The bodice would be acceptable at any stage of mourning, but gloves such as these should only be worn after the deep mourning has come to an end. 

During the 1920s, lace was especially popular on tea length flapper dresses, but, once the Great Depression started, most people could no longer afford lace, but that did not stop them from recreating the style. Using gingham fabric, cheap thread, and simple embroidery techniques, women developed Depression Lace that they would add to make other fabrics more appealing. Real lace was also used when it could be. If a woman had lace before the Depression started, she would cut it out of outgrown or shabby clothing to be reused. 

A tea length flapper dress trimmed with lace.

A dress from 1930 made of lace with an underdress made of more practical fabrics. The Great Depression did not affect everyone to the same extent. For example, the owner of this dress could still afford the expensive materials despite most of the country facing a dark time economically. 

Mar McKenna

Intern

De Pere High School, Class of 2024