My nineteenth dC dresses have buttons or hooks and eyes, center front.? One has
a left side closure with HandE.? Middle class women of the ordinary sort?often
could not count on help getting dressed and so front closures were independence.
-----Original Message-----
From: "Lisa A Ashton" <[email protected]>
Sent 6/7/2010 9:27:58 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [h-cost] Query RE: early Civil War women's dressHello to everyone, I
have newly subscribed, and hope you can help with
some little detail-oriented question I have about dress for an approx.
1861 upper-middle-class women's dress: (She lived in New England). I
appreciate in advance your help--you were all EXTREMELY helpful about 6
years ago, when I reproduced my great-grandmother's dress from a family
photo. The final product was amazing. This time I am trying to
re-create a historical character. I chose a bodice with bishop sleeves
and a very full skirt. Lots of petticoats. An apron. The fabric is a
100% cotton that is a medium size print in a base of navy/indigo blue,
with small white circles surrounded by smaller green crescents and tiny
white dots in a a diagonal pattern.
.
Anyway, here are my first questions about the 1861 lady:
1. Were side front closures the most common? and was it usually the
left
or the right side?
2. What about pockets? I cannot find any references or photos that
show skirts had pockets--were they still using a little pouch tied at
the waist under the dress? Is it reasonable to design a watch pocket in
the skirt?
3. What kind of hose would they usually wear? Above or below the knee?
(and I"m referring to daily wear, not formal) and how was it held
on?--would she have worn silk or cotton (even though cotton, by that
time, may well have been becoming harder to obtain). Can you suggest a
reference for making the garters?
4. I have some references that women (of working classes at least)
would
have had aprons that might be made from previously worn-out dresses or
skirts. For an upper-middle-class lady, who probably took care of her
own children and house to a large extent (her husband was off at war) ,
would that be the case, or would she have worn a
newer apron (i.e. white or a solid color; cotton or linen)? Were all
aprons the "pinner"
aprons? That's what I can find--either those or just the skirt aprons
that tied in back. Safety pins were invented in about 1849, were they
using those for aprons?
5. I am not planning to wear hoops, although most of the photos of the
time
time seem to imply them, i.e. full, wide skirts. Once the war was
really
underway, and there was starting to be some early financial
hardships--were the hoops scrapped in favor of petticoats?
Doubtless I will have more questions, but these are the major ones as I
dive in. I really want to create a persona here and be really accurate.
Thanks for any help you can give.
Yours in costuming, Lisa A
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