Sarah Buffington loves clothes from the past.

It might seem like an odd passion, but it is perfect for her role as the curator at Old Economy Village in Ambridge, especially when its new exhibit features Harmonist clothing and textiles, “A Style of Their Own: Clothing and Textiles of the Harmony Society.”

Old Economy was the former home of the Harmonists, a religious communal group important to the history of Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to Ms. Buffington. The new exhibit allows visitors to view some of their clothes.

“We can only display them every so often to preserve them. They can be on display for three months, then out of the light for seven years because light can cause irreversible damage. That’s one reason this is such a great opportunity,” she said.

Ms. Buffington also loves all things historical, and the two passions — clothes and history — often go hand in hand, not only with her work at Old Economy Village but also with her work as a Civil War re-enactor. Both also played a role in how she met her husband, Scot.

It all started with her father, Jim Kirschensteiner, who is also a re-enactor.

“He started following the Civil War Centennial in 1987. He saw a flier at the hardware and the next thing we know was the whole family got into it,” she said.

Thanks to her love of history, Ms. Buffington chose it as her major in college, but “it wasn’t quite right,” she said. That is where her love of clothing came into the picture.

“I knew a woman who was running a dressmakers’‍ shop making clothing for re-enactors. When she said she had wished she had gone to school to learn how to make clothes, I thought maybe that would be a good fit for me,” she said.

While still in college, she began working as the wardrobe manager with a film crew making historical documentaries.

“It was a life-changing experience. I loved it so much and that was how I met my husband,” she said.

But it took her three summers working on documentaries to actually meet him. In her role, she was to make sure all of the actors were authentically dressed.

“He was so well-dressed that I had never come across him,” she said.

On the third year, she didn’t like his sky-blue pants for the scene they were shooting and pulled him to the side.

“He had this whole story for why he should be allowed to wear them, but I just wouldn’t allow him. Later that night, we got together to compare sewing kits,” she said.

Ms. Buffington had always said she would only marry a man who could sew his own buttons.

“Here was a guy who made his own clothes. He couldn’t afford to buy his period pieces, so he made them,” she said.

A month later, they were engaged and Ms. Buffington moved to the area, where Mr. Buffington works as a history teacher at Lincoln High School in Ellwood City.

When she first moved to Pittsburgh in 2000, she worked in the costume department at Pittsburgh Public Ballet Theater.

Then Mr. Buffington heard that Old Economy Village was looking for a curator, which seemed like the perfect job for his new wife. It was.

Ms. Buffington started as the curator in June 2002.

As the curator, she easily recites a wealth of historical information about the Harmonist founder, George Rapp, and his villagers.

Some might find it odd that an entire museum and village are devoted to the Harmonists.

“It might seem like it was a strange little communal group, but at one time they had more money than the U.S. Treasury and people started asking them for loans,” she said.

Her role at Old Economy hasn’t always been easy. Due to funding cutbacks from the state and donors, the staff has gone from over 20 to six. Ms. Buffington said they now rely heavily on volunteers.

That is another reason she believes the clothing exhibit and other special programs are so important to the area.

“We are able to keep the museum and exhibits going because of our wonderful volunteers. They work so hard to make sure we can keep this alive — this exhibit shows people what the Harmonists actually wore, they aren’t just replicas,” she said.

The display has five mannequins and 38 hanging frocks. Two of the mannequins show a man and woman in working clothing, then one each in Sunday best and one of George Rapp.

Ms. Buffington hopes visitors will come to see not only this exhibit but also one of the other special events, including the reopening of the Rapp House, tentatively scheduled for October.

“Their role was so important to the history of this area. There was one point that they owned nearly all of Beaver County and were instrumental in so many things — the founding of Geneva College for one,” she said.

The exhibit “A Style of Their Own” continues through Aug. 10.

Kathleen Ganster, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.

SARAH BUFFINGTON KFISH

Age: 41

Hometown: Brighton

Occupation: Curator, Old Economy Village

Family: Husband, Scot; children, James, 4 and Elizabeth, 2

Education: B.S. from Michigan State University in apparel design and textile with historic emphasis; additional coursework in education

Hobbies: Civil War re-enactment – member of the 63rd PA infantry, Beaver County

First Published: July 17, 2014, 4:00 a.m.