Conrad closets spill history

Last weekend I brought out all my sweaters and donned a pair of the wool socks I will wear for the next five months. Among the three basic needs, clothing seems like the lightweight, but a layer between self and environment can be lifesaving.

Leave it to humans to spice it up over time. 

I learned as much when I took a tour earlier this fall with Teresa Knutson, collection manager of textiles and clothing at the Conrad Mansion. I not only received a distilled course in the history of clothing but also embellishments, especially between 1900 and 1955, and as illustrated by the closet contents of one of the Flathead's most prominent families. 

Knutson, a petite woman with a twinkle in her eye and dressed in classic knits, sat down with me and opened a thick binder full of pictures of clothing through the ages, before we got to the real deals on the mannequins.  

“We’ve always decorated our bodies,” Knutson said and referred to sewing needles that were found to date to 20,000 years ago. At first people wrapped themselves in hides and skins, then blankets. It wasn’t long before cuts and closures made garments more utilitarian, fitted and, eventually, fashionable. 

Knutson, who’s always sewed and then worked in costuming at Minnesota Opera as well as dressing mannequins for museums from Michigan to Memphis after extensive study of historical clothing, led me around to her latest picks from the collection, which ranges from 1849 to the early 1970s. 

“I chose the things that would make people go, Wow,” Knutson said. I did.  

From the 1907 fine wool off-white dress with Irish crochet lace, tassels and silk soutache braid (used since the Middle Ages for uniforms) to a 1920s silk baby dress with shadow embroidery (“it almost looks quilted”) to all the different embellishments on the 20 selected pieces that were made and applied to fabric, I was struck by the results of seemingly simple activities — as Knutson said, what happens when “somebody had a needle and thread, and time to kill” (and no smartphone). 

The sheer variety — chenille and fly fringe, embroidered net and lace, whether Italian reticella, bobbin, Valenciennes, needle, Alencon or Battenberg — showed what happened when you wanted to show skill and stand out. 

Knutson teased out the history, such as 1800s voyageurs bringing notions to the West, which surfaced in ribbon skirts among native peoples. Clothing also tells personal history: a purple seersucker dress was modified for matriarch Lettie Conrad after she had a mastectomy in 1919. 

Niche expertise in this valley is varied and deep, and crops up all over, including the culture core of Kalispell museums. Every year Knutson applies her expert eye and hands to curating exhibits (and special tours) of textiles placed throughout the mansion. The temporary exhibits and the tours that focus on them are strategic and add a fresh, still historic element to the well-appointed landmark on Woodland Avenue. 

“Textiles are not meant to be out forever,” Knutson said. “Plus, we have a decent-size collection. I try to make the exhibits educational.”  

Knutson probably is already researching next year’s offering. We might have our sweaters put away by then. 

Margaret E. Davis, executive director of the Northwest Montana History Museum, can be reached at mdavis@dailyinterlake.com.