A Love for Fashion Leads to Couple’s Nuanced Portrayal of Civil War Figures

The Orlandos’ intimate study of the Lees as human beings has given them a nuanced view and a perspective that they realize could be lost if citizens don’t study U.S. history.

GETTYSBURG, Pa.—Bonnie Orlando has always loved to play dress up, in part for the beautiful fashions, and in part to play the role of somebody else for a little while. Her favorite pieces are from eras past; she finds vintage dresses more beautiful and dignified than the dress of today.

It was this love for vintage fashion that led Bonnie and her husband to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to live as living historians.