Historical Clothing

We have extensive experience studying and making historical clothing. It has been a hobby and a passion of Smoking Iron Owner, Michael Dollinger, for the majority of his life. In addition to experience, he has also amassed a substantial collection of books, journals and other resources on clothing from the past, which can be consulted to insure the accuracy of your custom order. While we specialize in Colonial and early federal period or Napoleonic era and also enjoy the Renaissance era, we can create, from scratch, any item of historical clothing you are interested in. We ask clients to provide a photo and/or a good description of the desired garment. If you determine a particular time period or era you want, we can also work with you to create a concept for your garment. We can create museum-quality copies of other garments or create a replica to fit you.

We offer custom-made pieces for reencators of all eras. Although many people think of reencement as just military, we have seen a growth in the demand for civilian garments and so offer these as well.

We offer a modest selection of historically accurate rental options for children and adults. We can help you portray the right styles and fashion for the era you desire. Some examples include elementary students studying colonial history and wanting to dress up for class; we've even helped out by supplying accurate costumes for plays, musicals and movies.

Some of our clients are looking for historical clothing that is much more recent. We’re created pieces for car club members who are searching for clothing to match the era of their vintage automobile. We can help by altering items you’ve found or creating new garments to your liking. Other clients just simply like the way clothing looked in a certain time frame, for example the 1960’s. We can help you portray the image you are going for by modifying your current clothing according to the trends of another time, altering garments from your era to fit you, or creating new custom garments.

Please contact us if you need advice and recommendations on historical clothing. We have extensive experience and resources and enjoy consulting. We’ve assisted the Indiana State Museum when they were creating a promotional piece, other museums as well as music videos, movies and the like.