VINTAGE ATTIRE WILL BE DISPLAYED AT SHOW

A vintage fashion show Tuesday will feature everything from petticoats to polyester.

The show, sponsored by the Cape River Heritage Museum and the Historical Association of Greater Cape Girardeau, is one of several activities planned for National Historic Preservation Week.

The fashion show and luncheon "Stepping Out of History" starts at 11:30 Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau Country Club.

"We have fashions from the 1860s to the 1960s," said Dr. Bonnie Stepenoff, a member of the Cape River Heritage Museum's Board of Directors and a professor of history and historic preservation at Southeast Missouri State University.

"The theme is stepping out, so they're clothes people would have worn to go out," she said. "They're dress-up clothes."

Fashions for the show came from the museum, the Glenn House and private collections, Stepenoff said, and some reproductions will be included.

"We're not going to model anything that's too fragile," she said. "Most of what we'll be modeling from the 19th century will be reproductions. From the 20th century, it's all real."

Proceeds from the show will help raise funds for materials to make padded hangers and for special boxes and acid-free paper for storing the antique clothing.

Older fabrics, especially those decorated with sequins, beading and brocade, usually fare better when they're folded. When hung, the fabrics may stretch or tear, Stepenoff said.

Among the fashions featured are a daytime dress from the 1860s that a woman would have worn to go calling on friends, a bride's "second-day" dress from the 1870s, a beaded sheath dress from the 1920s, and a royal blue beaded evening gown from the 1930s.

"It looks like something Joan Crawford would have worn in a movie," Stepenoff said.

It's interesting to see changes in cultural norms reflected in changing fashions, she said.

The flapper fashions of the 1920s reflected the change in women's roles, she said.

"These clothes reflected freedom from corsets. It's funny. In the '70s, feminists burned their bras, but the brassiere really was part of the reform from all the restrictive undergarments women had worn before," she said.

The Historic Preservation Committee of Cape Girardeau will also sponsor several events next week.

On Sunday at 7 p.m. on Cable Channel 5, Dr. A. Mattingly will give an overview of historic preservation and Dr. C. Morrow will discuss archaeology and the mound-builders in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

On Monday, winners of a children's coloring contest will be on display at West Park Mall.

Monday at 3 p.m., a reception will be held at Cape Girardeau City Hall in honor of 10 homes designated by the city and the committee as local landmarks.

On Thursday at 7 p.m., programs will be presented at the Cape Girardeau Public Library on "Problems with Older Masonry" and "Dangers of Lead-based Paint."

Also Thursday at 7 p.m. on Cable Channel 5, Stepenoff will give an overview of the National Historic Register and Joan Feezor of the Missouri Secretary of State's office will discuss preservation and cleaning of documents and photos.

On Friday, the Historical Preservation Society of Southeast Missouri State University will conduct Academic Dome tours 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.