Bicentennial Dress, 1976
Countless American communities put on historic pageants and parades at which “colonial” costumes were worn. Though hardly strictly accurate, they evoked “1776.” This one was worn at events in Sumter, South Carolina by Mackenzie Anderson Sholtz. The dress inspired Mackenzie to study historic dress and eventually to form a historic pattern company.
Cotton dress from Butterick Pattern, 1976. Photo of Mackenzie Anderson in her bicentennial dress, 1976. Butterick Pattern #4261. Loan and images courtesy of Mackenzie Anderson Sholtz.