Around the year 2000, a new and different shop opened in Jacksonville. This shop, called “Gussied Up,” captivated our feminine fancies while appealing to our love of Jacksonville history.
Hats! Gorgeous hats, custom-made, with feathers and flourish, and 1800’s-looking gowns, all lace and ribbons, bows and bustles.
This writer cannot begin describing the hours Jacksonville ladies spent in “the store,” finally calling ourselves the “Gussied Up Gals.” Of course, menswear was available, so we added “Guys” to the “Gussied Up” title. We purchased all we could afford, and then some, along with the gloves, the jewelry, the shoes, the parasols, all the while researching the internet for authenticity.
We paraded, we performed, we strolled in our finery, even staging mock holdups on the trolley!
When the store closed, the name went with it, so we, who had by now multiple outfits for multiple types of events, became “Belles & Beaus Old West/ Victorian Society of Jacksonville,” our name since around 2006.
Our organization expanded to include more than Civil War hoop skirts, more than the 1870’s bustles that became outlandish in the 1880’s. After the airing of Downtown Abbey, we all became enamoured of the Edwardian Period, also called Titanic era, and continued to collect and sew those styles, too. New costumes became a desirable and continual addiction!
So today, almost twenty years later, we are still active and appear in parades, conduct fashion shows, sponsor Saloon Nights, Elegant Evenings, costume swap/sales, summer picnics, Ladies Lunches at selected restaurants, and the annual Easter Sidewalk Promenade. At our most recent Victorian Christmas Parade, we featured one of our families with young children.
Membership is not exclusive. We welcome folks of any age who love history, love dressing up, love being a part of Jacksonville’s Home Tours, Hanley Farm History Days, and even travel to Yreka or Gold Hill for their Gold Rush Days events. If interested, please contact Sharon Becker at 541-326-6832.