WEDDING GOWN

1901

1988.117.04 a-c

Twenty-one-year-old Emma Jama wore this oyster-colored silk and tafetta wedding gown and matching wide-brimmed hat at her wedding to thirty-nine-year-old Czech immigrant Frank Mares. A justice of the peace married the couple on April 21, 1901, in Helena's Central Park. Like many early wedding gowns, this one was designed for double duty. Its multipiece design meant it converted easily from a demure, long-sleeved wedding dress to a more fashionable, sleeveless ballgown.