CLOTHES STORIES: Marie Tanner’s Engagement Outfit

marie rottler 1956 christmas outfit then and now

1956: Marie Margaret Tanner from St Louis was 19 years old that Christmas, and freshly engaged to Mr John Owen Rottler. She must have spent a fortune on this celebratory Claudia Young ensemble: an ecru wool dress with ruching on the sides, and a raspberry cotton velvet evening coat. It had good juju: the marriage lasted 54 years, until Marie Rottler’s death in March 2012, and they had seven children, nine grandchildren, and (so far), one great-granddaughter.  

Thank you granddaughter number one, Erin Truax, for the fantastic fashion collection of your Grammy, complete with the notes (below) she wrote to commemorate their notable occasions. The dress has sadly fallen victim to tineola bisselliella (clothes moth sounds eviller in Latin), but is about to undergo some creative visible mending. The coat is as good as new. 

 

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