Meet Our Team
Kara Bocek
Kara has been involved in 1860s living history since 1995 and making reproduction clothing since 1997. She earned a degree in Anthropology from the College of William and Mary where she also took costuming and patterning classes for fun. After several years doing archaeology Kara decided to put her sewing skills to more use and started her business Corner Clothiers, which focused on civilian men’s clothing during the American Civil War. In addition to use by living historians her reproduction clothing and accessories are used at State and National Parks across the country and appear in several productions on television and the big screen. Collecting and researching original garments and photographic images are personal passions as well as key components of her business. Kara now works for the DAR Museum in Washington, DC.
Kara has been an organizer and instructor at Corsets & Cravats since 2018. |
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2026 In-Person Instructors
Katie Donnelly
Katie Donnelly has always had an interest in history, especially clothing,
fashion, and textiles. From a young age, she would dress in historical clothing “just because”. She graduated from Fairmont State University with a bachelor’s in history, then from Norwich University with a master’s degree. She taught at Fairmont State and worked as an historic interpreter for seven years before pursuing her second master’s in museum administration, also from Norwich University. Now, she’s working as Museum Coordinator (that’s short for archivist, curator, exhibit designer, administrator, and “other duties as assigned”) for a city-sponsored museum. In her “spare time,” Katie sews, knits, spins, and weaves. She’s been collecting antique clothing for about 20 years and has almost 180 pieces in her collection ranging from the early 1800s to the 1970s. Her long-term goal is to open a fashion history museum, sharing her collection and her knowledge with the world. Katie is new to Corsets & Cravats in 2026 and will be presenting Museum-Level Collections Management for Non-Museum-Professionals. |
Susan and Nicki Hughes
Nicky Hughes’ career in public history began when he became curator
of the Kentucky Military History Museum in 1974. Working at a succession of historic agencies and institutions since then, he has experience in exhibit design and installation, acquisitions and collections management, outreach programs and special events, as well as living history and publishing. The author of several photographic history books, he speaks often about 19 th century material culture and military history. Now semi-retired, he manages the Sandford Duncan Inn, an 1819 log structure in southern Kentucky. Susan Lyons Hughes has had a career in public history since 1978, first at the Kentucky Historical Society and for twenty years at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. Her primary focus has been on interpretation of historic sites and implementation of special programming. She oversaw development of collections policy and catalogued the collection of the Jack Jouett House Historic Site. Her current semi-retirement position is at South Union Shaker Village near Franklin, Kentucky. Susan and Nicki will be presenting Getting Your Foot In The Dorr: Obtaining Access to Museum Collections at the in-person conference in August of 2027. |
Carolann Schmitt
Carolann Schmitt is a scholar of mid-nineteenth century clothing, needlework, and textiles. She participated in her first living history event in 1969, beginning a journey that led to an avocation that continues to be a major part of her life. Carolann founded the Genteel Arts Academy in 1988 to encourage interest in the clothing and needlework of the mid-nineteenth century. From 2000 through 2018 she was the sponsor and organizer of the annual 1860s Conference/Civilian Symposium held in Harrisburg, PA. She continues to lecture and teach hands-on classes at locations across the country, and believes you can never have too many books or too much fabric.
Carolann is a member of several national and international costume and historical organizations, and is a Past President and former member of the Board of Directors of the Fashion Archives and Museum at Shippensburg University. She has contributed articles to several publications and has been a featured speaker at conferences and historic sites throughout the country and Canada. Now retired from her 21st century career, Carolann continues to pursue independent research and study in her areas of interest. She also devotes significant time as a volunteer working in the collections and archives of the Adams County (PA) Historical Society. She currently estimates it will now be 2372 before she completes the items on her “To-Do When I Retire” list. Carolann has been an instructor since 2018. She will be presenting Life as a Barn Rat: How Volunteering in a Historical Society Helped Me Manage my Collection at the in-person conference in August of 2026. |
Jessica Craig
Jessica Craig is a living historian, event planner, researcher, and collector. She has been involved with reenacting nearly all her life and has always loved history. Jessica earned her degree in historic preservation and worked in architectural history for a few years before pivoting to her current profession in prospect research, supporting fundraising for The Hotchkiss School. Jessica’s passion is planning civilian living history events, and she leads the Steady Habits Travelers group to places like Cape May, Saratoga, and Mount Washington. She is an avid collector of CDVs, which she often shares through the Image Share programs of the Corsets and Cravats Virtual Programs. She is also a civilian consultant for The Research Arsenal, a database of primary-source Civil War material that includes her entire CDV collection. Jessica lives with her family in Torrington, CT.
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Heather Bigwood Stevens
Heather Bigwood Stevens has been in love with old things her entire life. This interest sent her down a rabbit hole of collecting, research, historical costuming, and living history. All these eventually led her to a bachelor’s degree in History at Kansas State University. While studying there, she realized the connection between her interests and museum collections and thus embarked on her adventures in the museum field.
Heather interned at the Historic Costume and Textile Museum on the KSU campus for two years before working as a museum assistant at a local museum. Later she was hired as Curator for the National Orphan Train Complex. After caring for its collection for fourteen months, Heather began her journey as an independent collection consultant. Heather has been a loyal attendee of Corsets and Cravats since 2019. She’s delighted to be teaching herself this year and to be sharing her specialized knowledge with the C&C family. |
Paige Myers
Paige Myers has worked in the textile/museum field for almost 30 years. Currently, she is the Textile Conservator at the NC museum of History. She has worked as a contract conservator at the National Museum of American History, Behring Center, and the Smithsonian on exhibits such as The Price of Freedom, September 11, Bearing Witness to History, and the First Ladies traveling exhibition.
In addition to conservation work, Paige has worked as a professional costumer for over 25 years with among others Raleigh Creative-Costumes, Toika (a Broadway costume shop), the Baltimore Symphony, and Baltimore Opera. She has been involved with several filmmakers as a wardrobe assistant, FX makeup artist, properties master, and production manager on such films as Dar He: The Lynching of Emmett Till, The Carrington Event, and Fever Dreams. Paige has been a Corsets & Cravats instructor since 2023.She will be presenting An Introduction to Working with Fosshape for exhibition supports, Caring for Your Personal Collections: An Intro Guide to Basic Conservation Techniques, and Introduction to Using Ethafoam for Mount and Mannequin Construction at the in- person conference in 2026. |