Welcome!
Thank you for visiting the Chrisman Collection! Sarah and Gabriel Chrisman are a married couple who give presentations on fashion in history. We collect antique clothing and use it in our presentations: the Victorian era is our particular love and specialty, although we have some quite interesting pieces from other times as well. We love teaching others about the everyday lives of the past, and feel that exposure to the real clothing of real people offers an opportunity to understand history in a way that can never be conveyed by costumes.
We are NOT actors playing dress-up to portray "great men/women", but just ordinary people choosing to insert as much of history into our present as we can, and using our experiences to teach others. Sarah wears a corset 24/7, 365 days a year. All of Gabriel's current glasses date from the nineteenth century, from his 1850's green sunglasses, to his everyday gold-rimmed spectacles, to his pince-nez for reading. We don't have cell phones, or watch television; Sarah doesn't even have a driver's license. This is who we are.
(Sarah's book about her experiences learning to wear Victorian fashions, including the story of what it is like to wear a corset 24/7, is available on the Aegis & Owl webpage: www.aegisowl.weebly.com .)
In the past, we've made appearances at history-oriented events, as well as giving formal presentations. One of our favorites was presenting the Victorian dressing sequence at the Capital Museum in Olympia, Washington -be sure to check out the pictures. We've also presented an array of antique clothes representing fifty years of fashion, from the 1860's to the 1910's. We would love to do more of these presentations -to historical societies, church groups, schools, or any group of people interested in learning more about the past. If your organization is interested in having us present, by all means please contact us! A number of different options are available: check out the choices by clicking on "Presentation Menu."
We also love talking one-on-one to people we happen to meet, so if you see us on the street be sure to say, "Hello!"
We are NOT actors playing dress-up to portray "great men/women", but just ordinary people choosing to insert as much of history into our present as we can, and using our experiences to teach others. Sarah wears a corset 24/7, 365 days a year. All of Gabriel's current glasses date from the nineteenth century, from his 1850's green sunglasses, to his everyday gold-rimmed spectacles, to his pince-nez for reading. We don't have cell phones, or watch television; Sarah doesn't even have a driver's license. This is who we are.
(Sarah's book about her experiences learning to wear Victorian fashions, including the story of what it is like to wear a corset 24/7, is available on the Aegis & Owl webpage: www.aegisowl.weebly.com .)
In the past, we've made appearances at history-oriented events, as well as giving formal presentations. One of our favorites was presenting the Victorian dressing sequence at the Capital Museum in Olympia, Washington -be sure to check out the pictures. We've also presented an array of antique clothes representing fifty years of fashion, from the 1860's to the 1910's. We would love to do more of these presentations -to historical societies, church groups, schools, or any group of people interested in learning more about the past. If your organization is interested in having us present, by all means please contact us! A number of different options are available: check out the choices by clicking on "Presentation Menu."
We also love talking one-on-one to people we happen to meet, so if you see us on the street be sure to say, "Hello!"
