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Something OLD something NEW photo by Bob Pennell By Melissa Martin JACKSONVILLE � It took a turn-of-the-century woman all day to get ready for a party. She had to cinch up her corset, pull or button up four or five layers of clothing and shape her long, thick hair into a bun. And just before she strolled out to the carriage, she would expertly pin a stylish hat to her hair. "Back at the turn of the century, the more elaborate the hat, the more status that brought with it," says Loreli Shepherd, a Jacksonville dress designer. "It was like showing off a car or jewelry." Who : Loreli Shepherd What : Loreli�s Romantic Antique Reproductions Where : Jacksonville For more information : Call 899-6899 Women who prefer the slow-paced, romantic days of the Victorian era can step back in time when they visit a new shop in Jacksonville called Loreli�s Romantic Antique Reproductions. (Shepherd can be reached at 899-6899.) Shepherd, the proprietor, restores clothes that have been tucked in an attic. She creates vintage-looking hats and dresses, often just by studying a photograph. One notable project was re-creating the blue and white pinstripe touring suit and lacy hat worn by actress Kate Winslet in the movie "Titanic." Shepherd studied a movie photograph of Winslet stepping out of a Renault limousine before boarding the ill-fated ship. The real owner of the car, Genevieve and Frank Taliaferro, of San Diego, asked Shepherd to recreate the outfit for a car show and a Titanic exhibit at the Maritime Museum in San Diego. Now that Shepherd has landed in a National Historic Landmark Town, she�s designing everything from hats for Jacksonville�s Victorian Christmas celebration to dresses for a bride who wants a turn-of-the-century wedding. "I think it�s the best thing that�s happened to our town," says Terry Gieg, who bought a parade bonnet from Shepherd�s shop. "This is �Year of the Hat� for me and now when my friends see me wearing my touring hat, they will want one too," Gieg says. Women may be turning to Renaissance, Victorian or Western style dresses because they are tired of shopping mall offerings, a colleague says. "So many people are trying to go for something different for a wedding or a special event," says Debbie Bernhardt, a costume designer who has homes in Jacksonville and San Francisco. "Everything off the rack looks the same, but period pieces are so authentic," she says. Authentic is what Dee Melhase of Medford was looking for when she started planning a turn-of-the-century wedding. She stumbled across Shepherd�s Jacksonville shop and fell in love with a lacy, 1915-style dress. "She has fabulous hats," says Melhase, who is preparing for a New Year�s Eve wedding at the McCully House in Jacksonville. "I�m going to wear a touring hat with a cream-colored train, a big bow in the back, satin on top and lots of flowers," says the bride to be. "It reminds me of a Gibson Girl hat." But 22 years in the dress designing business in San Diego has turned Shepherd into more than a hat maker. Her Jacksonville shop displays a dress that she recreated using 90-year-old lace purchased at an estate sale, intertwined with new lace from a fabric store. "I�ve mixed the old with the new and made a new, antique garment," Shepherd says. Another display is a new dress made to look old by dying the fabric in coffee and tea. The delicate, cotton, Battenburg lace gown, which Shepherd designed and sewed, has 80 buttons down the back. "I think women were more into their clothing back then and things were more formal," Shepherd says. Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.