13
upfront
Hats off to the glorious warmer days of Spring.
Wilmington business owners Linwood Gainey and Frank Potter of Bangz Hair Salon are keeping the
spirit of the Azalea Festival alive for a second year with creativity and innovation. Margie Michel, who
specializes in custom wreaths and special event decorating, created these spring-theme mannequins,
currently on display in the salon.
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
HERE’S been much discus-sion
this past year about
dresses.
Seven years ago, a trip
to Hillsborough for a grouping of
magazine features (search our archives
for “Under the Hillsborough Sun,”
May 2014) started me reading about
the dressmaker of first lady Mary
Todd Lincoln, the wife of one of my
three favorite presidents.
Just west of the Hillsborough
Museum was a house with a placard
that said Mrs. Lincoln’s dress
designer, Elizabeth Keckley, had
been a slave there before being taken
to Missouri. There, supporting the
family that owned her as a dress-maker,
she still managed to earn
enough to purchase her freedom and
that of her son.
Mrs. Keckley’s book, The Story
of Elizabeth Keckley, describes her
spectacular rise from slavery to
become one of the most sought-
after Washington dressmakers of
the 18th century.
You will find samples of Keckley's
dresses created for Lincoln at the
Smithsonian in Washington.
Mrs. Lincoln was quite fashionable,
and these bell-shaped dresses were all the rage in America; north, south, east and west.
I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the young women of this area in replicas of these type of gowns every year during our beloved
Azalea Festival. In late 2019, my team sent me to dressmaker Debbie Scheu and, after an enormous amount of urging, I donned one
of her bell-shaped dresses.
I can confirm what you will read in Christine Gonzalez’s article: stepping into one of these replica dresses is an adventure and once
installed in it, it brings a broad smile to your face. There was zero chance I was going to be photographed in it, but I did quite enjoy
my few minutes in front of the mirror. What’s not to love about the hats and gloves, and parasols?
The Azalea Festival has always been a much needed economic driver for the area and that's actually why it was created. Businesses
small to large (not to mention the nonprofits who benefit from the proceeds) depend on the flow of money generated by those who
attend the weeklong celebration with all its traditions.
But I trust you will humor me in my executive decision — even though I am not yet back to work —
to take a fond walk down
memory lane while acknowledging the magnificent work of the talented, present-day dressmakers.
Don't miss this year's fine kitchens, the drive down scenic byways — something I had a chance to do in March —
as well as our
recipes for tasty smoked meats.
Have a blessed and happy Holy Week.
Editor/Publisher
ALLISON POTTER
T