A Quick Overview on Historical Fashion - Part 2

Blogger wouldn't let me upload this as one big post, so I had to split it into multiple parts. This is the second part, with some of the pretty and fun stuff!

The gown is what everyone thinks of when they imagine colonial ladies' clothing. It was put on much like a jacket, and then either closed in front with a stomacher, pins, or hooks and eyes. There were many variations of gowns, just like there are different styles of shirts today, and what you wore depended on your place in society and your daily activities. Short gowns would have been worn by the working class, and were pretty much a long, shapeless shirt that would be pulled in at the waist when worn with an apron. A full gown, on the other hand, would have been worn by the gentry class, and would come all the way to the ground, usually made out of silk or taffeta and with fancy embroidery, pleats, or other adornments.

A short gown

A short gown without being tied with an apron

A flat short gown.

A formal gown that fastens around the navel.

A full gown with elaborate trim (some of which would have been easy to take off for washing).

A full gown with decorative pleats, on display in the Milliner's Shop in Colonial Williamsburg.

This gown, with a sacque back, would have been popular from 1740 on, although probably at the height of fashion in the 1770's.

This dress is one of my favorites, with pretty ornamentation around the neckline, cuffed sleeves with just a little bit of the shift showing through, as well as peeking out at the neck, and lovely striped material with a light pink inside that fastens in the front. Hopefully I can make a dress like this someday!

I will be making a dress almost identical to this one very soon (right after the prom dress and the side hoops!), and I can't wait to share the process with you guys. I won't be using a pattern, and I will only be working off of my own sketches and various period pieces and reproductions that I have seen - hopefully I can get some good pictures of the making of the dress and the separate layers as I put it on that can better illustrate how colonial clothing was really worn.

A stomacher was usually only worn by the upper classes, and would close the gown in the front, usually with hooks and eyes. Stomachers were often made to be mixed and matched with different gowns, if you could afford it, and would usually have bows or embroidery on them.

An ornately beaded and embroidered stomacher, with flaps to attach it to the gown.

An embroidered stomacher, with easily visible flaps (these would have had hooks/eyes on them), and its place on the gown highlighted.

A beautiful stomacher worn with a fancy gown.

In colonial times, pale skin was in, because it meant that you didn't have to work out in the fields to earn a living. So, ladies of high class would wear silk or lacy neckerchiefs, and everyone else would wear linen ones. Even people who had to work out in the fields would wear them, in order to protect their skin from sunburn, or just to keep the heat off. They would wrap kerchiefs around their necks, and then tie them or tuck them into their gowns.

A middle to high class kerchief.

A casual kerchief, worn over a dress.

A close up on an embroidered kerchief. They were usually white, but could be other colors too.

Aprons in colonial times weren't just utilitarian, they were also worn to be stylish. While plain aprons would be worn by women working in some trades or in the kitchen, aprons could also be worn over the top petticoat as another accessory. These aprons would generally incorporate lace and silk, not just linen.

A basic apron, tied around the waist.

An apron tied around the waist, and then pinned to the dress at the top.

A lace apron worn over a petticoat

A lady would usually top off her outfit with a wide brimmed hat, to further keep the sun off of her, and as a fashion statement. They would usually be be straw with ribbon around them for the middling classes, and silk for the gentry class.

A line of straw hats with ribbons, one of my favorite sights to see in Colonial Williamsburg.

A felt hat with colorful ribbons

A fancier straw hat, with ribbon rosettes.

A silk hat that matches a dress!

Of course, these things are just the basics for going out in public. We have accessories today, and so did people in colonial times! By now, you've probably picked up on the trend: expensive materials like lace or silk were only for the gentry class, linen was for the lower classes; the less you needed to work, the more clothes and accessories you would have.