Then there were the historical outfits.
Marilucile Counce came to the convention dressed as Martha Washington. She sported a floor length white dress with small red and blue stars dappled over it. A navy blue apron was tied around her waist, and a shawl matching the dress was held on by a Republican elephant pin. On her head was a navy blue mob cap with white lace trim. She made the outfit herself.
“I want people to get interested in realizing their government is not what our founding fathers intended for it to be,” Counce said, saying it was a political statement meant to highlight the fact that government was too big and that there have been too many transgressions against the Constitution.
Anita Dougherty’s period costume was less about making a political statement, and more about having fun and saying thank you.
Wearing a white curly wig topped with a large feather, and a dress with a white bodice and a red and blue skirt, Dougherty, who is attending as a guest, explained: “When I found out I was going to be coming I wanted to make a historic dress, because I feel very strongly about our representative government.”
“I’m just very grateful to be a citizen of this country, and I wanted to express my gratefulness for our founders, and liberty is what we all look for,” she said, pointing to a sash she wore that said liberty.
Dougherty says she expects to wear it again, possibly for Fourth of July or another patriotic event. It’s not her only costume, however. She also has “some Renaissance costumes, some from the Spanish Court,” which she wears to Renaissance fairs.
The prize for best outfit coordination goes to the delegation from Texas, easily spotted in a crowd by their white Stetsons, all of whom have worn matching outfits for the first two days of the convention.
Wednesday, the outfit was a blue button down shirt with a Texas embroidery along with the pocket, topped with the hat.
“They asked us to submit the hat sizes and a generous sponsor provided them to the delegation,” explained Vergel Cruz and Elizabeth Dillon.
The hats are worn every day. Tuesday’s outfit was a Texas flag shirt. Thursday, they will dark suits, with a Texas flag tie for the men, and a scarf for the women.
