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Exhibition Attractions
Modesty Died When Clothes Were Born explores the fashion that defined the Victorian era. Gowns and accessories worn by Twain's wife, Olivia ("Livy") Clemens, as well as other clothing from the Victorian era are on display in addition to two items that were cherished by Twain: the robe he wore when he was given an honorary degree from Oxford University, and the only remaining jacket from one of his trademark white suits. Both the Oxford robe and white jacket are making their first appearance in Hartford.
Other items on display are the family's jewelry, including onyx brooches and a tortoiseshell necklace; and clothes and accessories collected during the Clemens family's world travels. In his fiction as well as his social commentaries, Twain recognized that clothing could be used to define a person, command attention, or flaunt one's wealth and social position. The exhibition explores several of Twain's works, including A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, and The Prince and the Pauper, in which clothing plays a role in defining the characters of the novel.
Items featured in the exhibition include:
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 Black silk dress with pansy embroidery, c. 1882; probably belonged to Olivia Clemens, wife of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). In the Victorian language of flowers, pansies represent "remembrances." The black silk with pansy embroidery suggests that this dress was made in commemoration of the anniversary of one of Livy's deceased loved ones, probably her son, Langdon, who died in infancy.
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Micromosaic brooches, Italy, c. 1870-1900. Twain wrote about the wondrous beauty of Italian mosaic jewelry in The Innocents Abroad.
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Lilac satin and voided velvet evening dress, c. 1883-1884; probably belonged to Livy. In this period when women were showpieces for their husband's wealth, Livy's own clothing habits were refined and demure; her dresses were very fashionable and generally trimmed with lace, but her use of jewelry was moderate.
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 Locket of tortoiseshell embellished with gold and seed pearls; on the reverse side is a photograph of Mark Twain, c. 1875-1890; comb of tortoiseshell and silver, marked "Tiffany & Co.," c. 1880-1890. Both belonged to Livy.
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Velvet with metallic embroidery slippers, from Constantinople, c. 1867-1870. Charlie Langdon brought these slippers from Turkey for his sister Olivia, who married Mark Twain in 1870. Also, a photograph of Charlie Langdon and Mark Twain dressed in native costume, taken in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1867. The Victorians loved to travel, to collect souvenirs and experiences, and to give themselves an air of continental sophistication. Mark Twain's literary reputation was fostered by his travel writings, including The Innocents Abroad (1869), based on the 1867 trip to the Holy Land.
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Photograph of Susy as she portrayed Prince Edward in a family production of The Prince and the Pauper, 1884. Livy designed the costumes, which are a wonderful amalgamation of 400 years of fashion.
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 Mark Twain's top hat and gold pocket watch c. 1900-1910. Marrying into a wealthy family accustomed Mark Twain to elegant surroundings; he desired to be a Victorian gentleman like his neighbors and colleagues. In this persona, he was "S. L. Clemens" and he dressed as carefully as he could remember to.
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Photograph of Mark Twain in his sealskin coat and hat, 1869 and autochrome of Mark Twain in his Oxford robe, 1908. Twain showed himself to be an individual and a character with his distinctive garb, some of which was considered at least slightly ridiculous. The sealskin coat was particularly remembered for being capricious. Like the sealskin coat and especially the white flannel evening suit, the scarlet, violet and white silk Oxford robe, worn at unpredictable times (including his daughter Clara's wedding) was an emblem of Mark Twain's originality.
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| The White Suit
While few garments which originally belonged to the Clemens family survive, there is a bounty of information about the family's clothing tastes and habits in their letters, financial accounts, photographs, and Twain's writings. One important remnant of Twain's era is the jacket of his white suit.
 When we think of Mark Twain today, we picture him in a white suit. In fact, the author only adopted this emblematic year-round outfit late in 1906, a few years before his death at age 74.
Twain disdained the standard black suit which society required of professional men: "What can be more depressing than the somber black which custom requires men to wear upon state occasions? A group of men in evening clothes looks like a flock of crows, and is just about as inspiring."
Twain's long-time friend William Dean Howells remembered the moment the white suit was unveiled at a hearing before Congress: "Nothing could have been more dramatic than the gesture with which he flung off his long loose overcoat, and stood forth in white from his feet to the crown of his silvery head." Newspaper reporters were more interested in his unique costume on that December day than in his speech, and articles declaring "MT Bids Winter Defiance" (New York Herald) and "MT in White Amuses Congressmen" (New York Times), among others, appeared the next day.
Its effect was perhaps even greater than Twain anticipated, for the iconic image of the white-haired man in the white suit has survived in the American imagination for a century.
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