Wedding Dress

Gussies's Dress

Cotton, Silk, Metal

This wedding dress was made and worn by Augusta Dobe Beutler. Augusta Dobe opened a dressmaking shop in 1909 after finishing her education at Snow’s College of Dressmaking in La Crosse, where she learned to become a seamstress. Since most of her business came from the wealthier ladies of La Crosse, the shop was prosperous. After her marriage, Augusta Dobe Beutler closed her dressmaking business to fulfill a married woman’s customary role as a wife and mother.

Katrina Bjornstad is from Cashton, Wisconsin.  She is currently working toward a Public & Policy History Major and Political Science Minor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Mixed-Media: Monotype Printing, Fabric Collage, Hand Stitching

On seeing Gussie’s dress I was moved by the care evident in her choice of lace and other details, and by the stitches made by her own hand. In honor of the celebratory nature of the artifact, I have used some similar materials, in a very different way, to create “Gussie’s Dress."

Marcia Thompson was an art instructor of elementary, middle, high school, and college students for thirty plus years. She now creates prints in her home studio.