All About Us

Overview:

Lavender’s Green Historic Clothing is a home-based business in Hillsboro, Oregon.  We make each garment to dressmaker standards, one at a time, customized for fit, color, and style. We sell direct to you through our catalog, by individual orders, and at selected trade shows and historic events in the Pacific Northwest. Most orders require from four to eight weeks’ lead time, and at least a 50% deposit before work begins. We are happy to work long-distance, if provided clear instructions and accurate measurements.

Photo right - Lavender's Green Proprietor and Seamstress, Kay Demlow, in a circa 1939 suit.

History:

Lavender’s Green was established in 1991 with the same mission we still pursue today: to bring the romance and beauty of the past to modern people through authentic reproduction clothing. Over the years we have made garments for historic plays and pageants, Oregon Trail Wagon Train travelers, television productions, theaters, and weddings, but one of our favorite challenges is to make affordable, one-of-a-kind reproduction garments for the everyday folks who love history. Our clothes have been worn for living history demonstrations at historic sites throughout America, as well as for school groups, Civil War reenactments, and tours at historic houses, ranches and farms.

Sources:

We find inspiration through a diverse personal library of reference books and original sources, such as old portraits, fashion magazines, sewing textbooks, and actual garments of the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. We purchase new, reproduction fabrics and trims through wholesale sources for use in our period reproductions. We use historic patterns from Past Patterns, Period Impressions, Rocking Horse Farms, and other suppliers, plus our own patterns developed from source books and original garments.

Memberships:

We support historic preservation and living history through membership in several local and national organizations:

• Association of Living History Farms and Agricultural Museums
• Friends of Historic Champoeg
• Friends of Historic Forest Grove
• Greater Hillsboro Area Chamber of Commerce
• Hillsboro Historical Society
• Historic Preservation League of Oregon
• National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Northwest Civil War Council
• Washington County Historical Society

For more information, please feel free to contact us.