Carlyle House Historic Park

Emma Rowland will present a fashion history lecture, which will cover the economics of fashion in the past, as fashion and clothing were intertwined with the economic, societal, and political systems of the day. John Carlyle was a merchant, and she will discuss the trading and importation of textiles and their importance in Alexandria.

Emma Rowland works in federal policy during the day. On the weekends, she works as a tour guide in Old Town Alexandria for Alexandria Colonial Tours, where she gives tours dressed in her Colonial-era costumes, which she makes herself. She is passionate about history, and her grandmother taught her how to sew when she was 8. When she passed, her grandmother left Emma her collection of antique dresses, and Emma quickly fell in love with the history of fashion.