To Dye For: From Seed to Storage An Examination of Three Purple Garments

Dyes, both natural and synthetic were a critical part of textile manufacture in the nineteenth century. Using an interdisciplinary and material culture approach, this thesis uses three extant purple dresses to follow the ingredients used to dye these artifacts in Canada and around the world. The first portion focuses on the global journey the dyes and silk took before becoming the fabric for these garments. The second section focuses on one of the garments, a wedding dress belonging to Clara Bell Waddell, a nineteenth century resident of Hamilton, from its construction to eventual donation to Black Creek Pioneer Village, offering understanding into Canadian social history. Taken together, these three garments provide insight into the fashion history and international and Canadian textile manufacture.