Re: [h-cost] wardrobe size
I've studied the Gunston Hall probate inventory database for late 18th-early 19th century, and a friend shared some New England inventories from the same time. But it is frustrating in that there aren't that many women listed. Also, for both men and women, the enumerators sometimes didn't make a list, but just recorded, wearing apparel of the deceased with a lump sum value. Gee, thanks. However, you can get snippets that way. Ann Wass -Original Message- From: Heather Rose Jones heather.jo...@earthlink.net To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Sent: Wed, Oct 8, 2014 10:28 pm Subject: Re: [h-cost] wardrobe size Wills are often a great place to research this type of question. Unlike a trousseau, they tend to reflect possessions at a random point in life (rather than a planned-for life transition). There are a lot of researchers studying clothing represented in wills in various times and places, so you might be able to find a good selection across time. I sorry not to have specific authors or publications to recommend, but that might give you keywords to work from. Heather On Oct 8, 2014, at 4:16 PM, Cascio Michael wrote: Hello, I'm trying to look into the size of the average middle-class woman's wardrobe through the centuries. Finding advice on the trousseau is easier, at least after the advent of ladies' magazines but I'm most interested in how many dresses a middle class woman would own. How common was the one dress for every day and one for Sunday with a multitude of aprons? Do women start having more dresses after the advent of cheap cotton? Since the list covers a large span of history I'm hoping for answers from many centuries. Cassandra ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] wardrobe size
In response to the original question I believe the question is too broad for a reasonable quality of research results. For example - * which country? In the US in the 19 century would have been seen differenences between East and West coasts. In Europe tremendous differences exist between countries. Do you include China? * As one reply stated middle class is a bit vague. For instance a 19 century farmer's wife might have very different clothing habits (no pun intended!) from a city dwelling bank employee's wife. * I think clothing is also too broad. Perhaps no of pairs of shoes? I don't want to discourage you, it sounds a very interesting research project. Please tell us how you get on. The comment on wills is very interesting - but remember that the laws for wills change by country and over time. In 15 cent England women often had no real possessions or money of their own. Everything, including the woman herself, was owned by the man! B 2014-10-09 4:27 GMT+02:00 Heather Rose Jones heather.jo...@earthlink.net: Wills are often a great place to research this type of question. Unlike a trousseau, they tend to reflect possessions at a random point in life (rather than a planned-for life transition). There are a lot of researchers studying clothing represented in wills in various times and places, so you might be able to find a good selection across time. I sorry not to have specific authors or publications to recommend, but that might give you keywords to work from. Heather On Oct 8, 2014, at 4:16 PM, Cascio Michael wrote: Hello, I'm trying to look into the size of the average middle-class woman's wardrobe through the centuries. Finding advice on the trousseau is easier, at least after the advent of ladies' magazines but I'm most interested in how many dresses a middle class woman would own. How common was the one dress for every day and one for Sunday with a multitude of aprons? Do women start having more dresses after the advent of cheap cotton? Since the list covers a large span of history I'm hoping for answers from many centuries. Cassandra ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] wardrobe size
And for the 19th and 20th centuries, manuals of wardrobe advice and articles about it in fashion magazines. Fran Lavolta Press Books on making historic clothing www.lavoltapress.com On 10/8/2014 7:27 PM, Heather Rose Jones wrote: Wills are often a great place to research this type of question. ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] wardrobe size
manuals of wardrobe advice Oh, yes. I used to collect these. One that told what a young woman should take to college, for example. Ann Wass -Original Message- From: Lavolta Press f...@lavoltapress.com To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Sent: Thu, Oct 9, 2014 12:59 pm Subject: Re: [h-cost] wardrobe size And for the 19th and 20th centuries, manuals of wardrobe advice and articles about it in fashion magazines. Fran Lavolta Press Books on making historic clothing www.lavoltapress.com On 10/8/2014 7:27 PM, Heather Rose Jones wrote: Wills are often a great place to research this type of question. ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] wardrobe size
What's middle class? For example, in the Victorian era this included people who were just barely managing to keep up a middle-class appearance, and an upper middle class that could be quite affluent. Fran Lavolta Press Books on historic clothing www.lavoltapress.com On 10/8/2014 4:16 PM, Cascio Michael wrote: Hello, I'm trying to look into the size of the average middle-class woman's wardrobe through the centuries. Finding advice on the trousseau is easier, at least after the advent of ladies' magazines but I'm most interested in how many dresses a middle class woman would own. How common was the one dress for every day and one for Sunday with a multitude of aprons? Do women start having more dresses after the advent of cheap cotton? Since the list covers a large span of history I'm hoping for answers from many centuries. Cassandra ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] wardrobe size
Wills are often a great place to research this type of question. Unlike a trousseau, they tend to reflect possessions at a random point in life (rather than a planned-for life transition). There are a lot of researchers studying clothing represented in wills in various times and places, so you might be able to find a good selection across time. I sorry not to have specific authors or publications to recommend, but that might give you keywords to work from. Heather On Oct 8, 2014, at 4:16 PM, Cascio Michael wrote: Hello, I'm trying to look into the size of the average middle-class woman's wardrobe through the centuries. Finding advice on the trousseau is easier, at least after the advent of ladies' magazines but I'm most interested in how many dresses a middle class woman would own. How common was the one dress for every day and one for Sunday with a multitude of aprons? Do women start having more dresses after the advent of cheap cotton? Since the list covers a large span of history I'm hoping for answers from many centuries. Cassandra ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
