1. I think only the very poor would have possessed only one outfit. Anyone with any pretensions to respectability would at least have had an everyday dress and a Sunday best.
2. For centuries, outer garments were not easily washable and people wore a lot of underclothes to act as a washable lining to their clothes. A man's shirt counted as underclothing and a woman wore a shift/chemise with the same function. These would go in the laundry, and the outer clothes would merely be brushed/sponged to remove mud splashes etc. Kate Bunting Retired librarian & 17th century reenactor. On Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 7:00 PM, <h-costume-requ...@indra.com> wrote: > Send h-costume mailing list submissions to > h-costume@mail.indra.com > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > h-costume-requ...@mail.indra.com > > You can reach the person managing the list at > h-costume-ow...@mail.indra.com > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of h-costume digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. wardrobe size again (Cascio Michael) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 21:25:36 -0700 > From: Cascio Michael <rosen...@yahoo.com> > To: h-cost...@indra.com > Subject: [h-cost] wardrobe size again > Message-ID: > <1413951936.54448.yahoomailba...@web160401.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Hi All, > I've found all your replies really helpful and now have a question on > the practicalities of a small wardrobe. How many dresses would a lower > middle class married woman have in her wardrobe? What type of garments > would they have been, wrappers, dresses, nightgowns, etc.? And what would > you wear on laundry day if you only had one dress? I've read how the kids > would be told to stay in their rooms in their undies while the laundry was > drying but mom would have had to wear something while out in the yard > hanging out the clothes to dry. Ditto for dad because he couldn't not work > just because his clothes were being washed. > > > Cassandra > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > > End of h-costume Digest, Vol 13, Issue 85 > ***************************************** > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
