A Quick Overview on Historical Fashion - Part 1

For those of you who have always been interested in historical fashion, but have felt overwhelmed by everything that goes into it, or for those of you who are just curious, I decided that I would do a post that explained all the integral parts of colonial dress. I'll start with a woman's outfit from the late 1700's, and then share some links that I have found helpful/enjoyed.

Getting Dressed - A Lady in 1770, from the bottom up!

In the 1700's, every woman would have started their outfit with a shift. This was a simple, loose fitting garment that would protect the rest of the clothes from sweat and wear, meaning that things such as silk petticoats or whalebone corsets wouldn't have to be washed every day. The shift would also have been worn to bed, as a night gown. Shifts were usually white, and made out of a light cotton or linen. Often times they would peak out and be seen at the neckline and at the bottom of the sleeves during every day wear.

Stockings would have come next, and they would have been made of a different material depending on your class. A lady of the gentry class would have worn silk stockings, while a merchant class or a worker would have worn cotton, linen, or wool.

Fancy embroidered stockings, along with silk shoes and buckles

Plain, middle to lower class everyday stockings

Next comes the stays, perhaps better known as a corset. Stays served to help with posture, and to give your figure a smooth look, while corsets (which would appear more closer to the 19th century) cinched in a woman's waist, and altered her figure. Corsets and stays would have gained their stiffness from whalebone or wood boning, and would have been made out of silk, linen, cotton, and/or broadcloth. (For more about the construction of a corset/set of stays, you can reference my  post on the making of my own stays!) Girls would start wearing stays with only a few reinforcements at age six, and as they grew they would eventually be introduced to full grown-up stays.

Stays being worn over a shift

A set of stays with straps

Similar to the one I made, this is kind of a 'beginner corset', not drastically effecting the waistline, but definitely cinching in the waist some.

This picture shows views of a set of stays, as well as the busk, which would have been a flat piece of whalebone or wood inserted in the front. The bottom image is a set of unlaced stays, lying flat.

A beautiful corset from the 1700's

You would then put on your shoes, which would be different depending on your class and your day's activities, just like in modern times. Leather was for everyday wear, with leather ties for the lower classes, and fancy buckles for the gentry. If you were attending a ball or something similar, you would opt instead for silk shoes, with ornate buckles.

A pair of leather shoes with buckles

A variety of silk dress shoes, worn by the gentry class.

A pair of ladies silk shoes with a buckle (on the left)

A modern reproduction of a silk shoe, complete with rhinestone buckle.

While not completely historically accurate, shoes like this one are a good place to start if you're interested in costuming but don't want to make your own. This is made out of heavy fabric and has silk ties, and is (in my opinion) fairly comfortable. Shoes like this are also much less expensive than completely accurate reproductions (although American Duchess does make reasonably priced reproductions).

"Lucy Locket lost her pocket..." This article of clothing is where this children's rhyme comes from! In colonial times, a pocket would tie on around a girl's waist, and would usually be embroidered by the girl herself, as an early example of her work. The pocket could be reached though the petticoats and hoops thanks to a series of slits in the sides (the amount of fabric would have concealed these holes though, so no need to worry about being immodest!)

These pockets are unembroidered, and are similar to the ones used by the lower class (they would not have been able to afford the amount of leisure time needed to embroider a pocket, especially as it would not have been seen).

This is a wonderful example of an embroidered period peice

Beautiful embroidery on this one!

This pocket highlights the center opening with patterned binding, so that it is easier for you to see.

Next comes one of my favorite parts of costuming, the hoop skirt! The size and style of hoops would vary with years and the events they were being worn for, but the basic principle was the same - to accentuate your lower half so that your waist would appear smaller, thus contributing to the famous hourglass shape. In the 1770's, side pannier hoops were in style, and ranged in width depending on formality. Smaller hoops were for day wear, while bigger hoops would be for parties in the evenings. However, when side pannier hoops began to get larger and larger, notes would start to appear beside announcements of parties, stating that women should wear their smaller hoops, due to a lack of space or an abundance of people in the room. Later on towards the 19th century, hoop skirts would come into style, which is the type of hoop most people are familiar with (just think of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind). Just like side panniers, hoops skirts would also grow in circumference over the years, peaking around the time of the Civil War.

The skirts would be made with flexible, thin bands of green wood, such as ash or willow. Casings would be sewn around them, and then attached to longer strips of fabric, which could be attached to another hoop. They would tie on around the waist, usually with a drawstring cord. Much like with corsets and stays, young girls would not wear hoops right away, usually starting around age 12-16, initially worn at their first big dance, as a kind of "coming out" symbol.

These hoops are much bigger than would be used for normal day wear, but show the fabric casings and the series of wooden hoops well.

This is a formal hoop, worn for dances and such, that I find particularly elegant.

This shows a girl having her corset tied up as she wears side pannier, or basket, hoops

This is a set of side pannier hoops worn over a corset and a shift. I'm hoping to replicate a pair like this very soon, and I will do a post on it when it happens!

Another pair of "basket" hoops.

The framework of a hoop skirt over a corset and shift.

A hoop skirt from the mid-1800's, much like the kind you would see in Gone With the Wind, or Lincoln.

An antebellum hoop skirt with ruffles to make it even fuller - it's hard to fit through some doors when you're wearing one of these!

A more conservative hoop skirt, seen earlier in the 1800's.

The hoops that I will be replicating, from the Milliner's shop in Colonial Williamsburg.

There's not too much to say about the under petticoat, other than that it went under the real petticoat, and over the hoop skirt. For poorer members of society, it might be the only petticoat, especially when worn with a short gown (in which case hoops would not be owned, let alone worn). For richer members, they might have multiple under petticoats to smooth out their figure and to fluff out their bottom half even more.

A normal under petticoat, the yellow fabric at the top has ties attached that tie around the waist, and an opening on each side to reach the pocket through.

A quilted petticoat, very common for the time.

The side ties can be seen in this picture, as well as a little bit of the side openings.

A petticoat worn over a shift, without a corset or hoop. This is a good example of the way a petticoat would have been worn by field hands and the lower working class, with only a short gown over it.

All modest ladies would cover their hair when they were out in public. A mob cap would be worn either on its own or under another hat, and would not only cover the hair for modesty, but also to keep the hair clean from dust and dirt, so that it would not need to be washed as often.

A mob cap worn to cover hair out of modesty.

A child's mob cap

Another mob cap with lace around the edge.

The over petticoat, or just the petticoat or the skirt, would lie on top of the under petticoat, and would usually be seen through an opening in the front of the gown. This petticoat would be made of nicer material than the garments under it, and might have a fancy trim basted on that could be removed for washing.

This shows the petticoat (brown) worn over side hoops and under a gown with a kerchief.