One Aiken resident will celebrate Aiken's 175th anniversary in period threads every Saturday all year long.

Coleen Reed, director of the Farmer's Market, decided to re-create a wardrobe of a woman living in Aiken in 1835. The collection includes five complete costumes with a sixth to be completed soon and plans for a seventh. To date, Reed has completed six hats and two bonnets to accompany her outfits.

"My goal is to be able to be in costume every Saturday for 2010 at the Farmer's Market," she said.

In order to create her costumes, Reed did extensive research on clothing worn by women in 1875. She discovered some things that surprised her.

"The women wore lots of layers, and one thing I learned is most women were only fortunate enough to get a new dress every five to 10 years. Black was a popular color that was worn for weddings and funerals. When a garment would become soiled, the women would dye it black," Reed said. "There are not many garments left over because they were typically remade and passed down. The clothing was very durable and the women wore a lot of aprons to protect the garments."

In 1875, the clothing was hand sewn and there wasn't much wasted fabric. Reed found patterns fashioned after vintage clothing and discovered when she was finished following the directions that there was about enough fabric left over to make only one small patch for a quilt. Excess fabric was used to create hats.

Hats of 1875 utilized ribbons, feathers, beads and whatever else might be on hand. Ribbon roses were popular, as were flowers. Each hat Reed has made has taken 12 hours to complete with the hand stitching.

"If I used modern methods, the hats would take about two hours, but I chose not to. It was more fun getting into it. I felt like an old milliner," Reed said.

In order to complete her costumes, Reed accessorized with a chatelaine that hangs on her skirt with keys, scissors, a pill case and a needle case attached with chains. She also decided to leave her glasses behind because they aren't period appropriate.

Reed isn't the only Aiken resident creating costumes to celebrate Aiken's 175th anniversary. Many of the costumes will be worn this Saturday during Celebrate Aiken's yearlong kickoff event. Festivities begin with the ringing of the church bells a little before 1 p.m. in downtown Aiken. The opening ceremony will be held at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts at 1 p.m. with activities to continue until 5 p.m. Throughout the day, a flea circus, magic show and original plays will be performed at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. The Municipal Building located in the Alley will be the center of children's activities with an old-fashioned schoolhouse and games. Newberry Hall will be home to a food demonstration focused on foods of 1835 and the Aiken Center for the Arts will host a variety of activities. The Alley also will be filled with activities. The celebration is free and attendees are urged to dress in period clothing. For more information, call 641-6777 or visit celebrateaiken.com.

Contact Rachel Johnson at rjohnson@aikenstandard.com.