Sherri Birch gave a wonderful presentation on dating old photographs by clothing at the general meeting thursday. Although she wasn’t able to be in costume (pictured right– it’s a long drive when you’re in a corset, ) she provided the audience with a wealth of information on using fashion to date old photographs. During her lecture she recommended a great reference book: Dressed for the Photographer by Joan L. Severa, Curator Emeritus and costume history consultant for the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Museum. I thought I would repeat the title here for those who weren’t able to attend. One reviewer had this to say about the book:

Ms. Severa’s thoughtful and articulate tour through approximately 60 years of American Fashion reads more like a novel than a fashion textbook, although it is certainly an excellent example of the latter. Her inclusion of a detailed historical preface to each decade studied, provides the reader with a good sense of the times these people lived in, their wants, hopes and backgrounds are all captured and rendered understandable to both the historian and the casual observer.

As a newcomer to the study of dress, I found her ability to recognize and explain subtle details of clothing nuances extraordinary. Many of these were, at first glance barely visible in an aging photograph, but upon her outlining them they became so readily apparent as to cause the reader to wonder why they hadn’t seen it sooner! It is a lovely book, either for the professional costumer or historian, or the casual observer who might want a glimpse into the history of those who came before, and the role fashion played throughout the early history of America.

You can find Severa’s book at Amazon.com and other bookstores.

The Larimer County Genealogical Society website has gotten a complete makeover. There’s a new look and a lot of new content to explore so lets get started.

If you have been to the site before you will notice quite a few changes. The most obvious difference (aside from the theme) is that the News and Calendar information has moved off the front page. Rather than being pushed aside, these topics have been given their own pages so that they can be easily browsed without other content getting in the way.

The new site was designed with members, interested non-members, and researchers in mind. There are now three main sections in the menu: Society, Resources, and Members. By grouping the site information this way we hope that everyone coming to here will be able to find what they need easily.

What’s New?

For starters we have a brand spanking new resources section! There’s information on making research requests, Larimer County and general genealogy resources (links galore), informative articles, video classes and the County Indexes.

The next big addition is the Gallery. Oodles of photos of society members in action and at play.

News and Views is still here but it has taken a different form. As you can see, in the new News Blog section entries show up in a big list, just like the old site, but now they will flow over multiple pages so we’re not limited by space anymore. You can also go to the and view older news by date or category. More importantly, you can now leave comments on individual news posts. The comments will show up in a list at the bottom of the post.

If you would like, leave a comment and tell us what you think. Just fill in the fields below and click Submit Comment. If you have corrections, additions, or specific suggestions send me an email.

Pat Walker, website administrator.

Test your readiness with this printable Genealogy Logic Puzzle. Answers are on the second page so don’t peek. Good luck!