Every year, my kids' school has a History Day celebration sometime in November, usually near the Thanksgiving break. It is a nice way to end before the long break for Thanksgiving, and the kids look forward to it almost as much as the spring Literature Day celebration. They get to dress up in costume and participate in a ton of history-related activities all day.
In classical curriculum, the students study a different period of history each year, starting with the ancient world in kindergarten. By the time they are in 3rd grade, they are studying the modern period (about 1800-1900). In 6th grade, they start over again with the ancient world and delve more deeply into material as they move through middle school and high school.
Piglet is in 3rd grade this year, and his costume options included colonial dress, so he decided to go as George Washington.
Boo's class is studying the medieval period, so he went as Robin Hood.
Birdie is in kindergarten so she went as a Roman princess.
When I heard that Piglet's class was focusing on colonial history, my ears perked up. Long time readers might remember my brief foray into 18th century costuming way back in 2014. I hadn't really abandoned it, but I did shelve the project for a long while. I have been steadily researching textile history and keeping up with other 18th century historical costumers these last years.
In any case, I decided that I could cobble together a working class outfit and make a presentation about it, if the teacher was interested. She was enthusiastic about the idea (and it helped that the kids had visited a colonial farm in early November), so I spent a rather frantic 6 weeks putting together all the pieces I lacked, including stays! (gulp!) I'll try to do a post about constructing the individual pieces soon, but thought I'd share the photos from my presentation in the meantime. I asked a friend to take them and she was sitting on the floor with the kids, hence the angle.
I started out in my shift, cap, and stockings. (I had some modesty stuff underneath the shift to keep it decent in a public place). I talked about my cap, and that I wore it to keep my hair clean since I would be working over an open flame most of the time, and also because it was considered proper for women to cover their hair. I explained what a shift was, and that it was a prehistoric garment worn across many societies and cultures, by both men and women. The basic shape didn't change much over time, and was constructed from a long rectangle of fabric.
I explained that it was made from linen in order to make washing easier, and that people changed their shifts the way that we change our underwear. I talked about pre-modern water usage (no running water = no easy baths or showers) and how keeping clean was different from today.
I put on my garters to hold up my stockings, and explained that before elastic, women and men needed something to hold up their socks! Many 18th century garters are embroidered with funny sayings, but mine were pretty plain (a folk-ware inspired ribbon strip on linen ribbon ties) Then shoes. (Cardinal rule: shoes before stays)
I talked about my stays, gave a brief history (starting with the Elizabethan "pair of bodies") and talked a little about how they are constructed. I forgot to mention that stays were primarily made by professional stay-makers who tended to be men, because it takes a fair amount of finger and hand strength to sew stays (speaking from personal experience!)
Mine are front and back lacing so that I could get into them myself. Stays can be front- or back-only lacing, and some maternity stays laced on the sides. I find front and back lacing stays to be most comfortable as they are more adjustable for optimum fit. They are also much easier to get into by yourself!
Lacing.
Still lacing.
Pulling it all tight. Stays were not tight laced, but rather provided good back support for the heavy labor of the day, and also to give the body a particular shape under clothing. The goal was a conical torso shape, not small measurements.
Tying the ends into a bow to secure the lacing. I added my pockets here (you can see them peeking out in the photo below) Pockets were a separate item of clothing for women until the late 19th century, when dresses became extremely fitted over the hips and separate pockets ruined the line of the dress and became impractical. You read sometimes about women losing a pocket at a ball or some such.
This is my modesty petticoat, which is shorter than a regular petticoat skirt, and designed to prevent wardrobe malfunctions in a high wind or other activities where skirts might fly up! As women (and men) didn't wear anything under their shifts/shirts, this was a real concern.
It laces front to back, just like a regular petticoat skirt. I made this out of a yard of linen and pleated it to a linen tape. The slit in the side allows access to the pockets.
Then my heavy flannel petticoat. You can see how it ties here. The kids were curious about all the ties and lacings. I explained that since washing machines hadn't been invented yet, clothing had to be cleaned by beating it with a stick in running water, so whatever was on your clothes had to be able to survive that. Buttons wouldn't, and were too expensive for my farmer's wife persona. Most clothing was laced or pinned shut.
Then I added my final petticoat skirt, a heavy-weight gold linen that I lurve so much. I can't wear that color next to my face, and this was a fun way to be able to wear it!
I used two full yards and pleated them to a double fold bias tape that I sewed shut on the ends. It isn't as historically accurate as the linen tape, but it worked okay.
Then my shortgown, made from some heavy weight linen scraps. A short gown is a t-shaped jacket without closures that has cut-on sleeves. I had to do some piecing to get it to work, but they would have done in the 18th century as well, so I figured it was all to the good. I left it unlined because I ran out of fabric. I based the shape on several extant short gowns, and the length and general measurements are similar.
There is some debate about whether linen would have been used for an outer garment like this, but I think it must have been since cotton was used once widely available. These jackets and many dresses of the period were often held together with small straight pins.
There was in fact a shortage of pins during the Revolutionary War, and Abigail Adams writes to her husband John, in England at the time, and begs him to send her a bundle of pins in his next consignment to her, as they are desperately in need. I read out part of the letter. I made a little pincushion on a ribbon tie to wear on my apron, since women would have wanted pins near to hand in case they lost one on their clothes during the day.
Pinning shut. The pins are inserted lengthwise, with the pointed end down. Someone asked me if the pins would stick you during the day, and my answer is no, because: stays. There are four layers of heavy cloth plus bones between you and any errant pin pricks. Another person wondered about holding babies with straight pins in the clothes, but babies tended to be swaddled in lots of layers of linen at the time, so I suspect they wouldn't have made contact with the sharp points all that often.
Tucking in my fichu (neckerchief). It fills in the neckline and adds some modesty to the low cut of the shift and stays.
Adding my apron. I showed them how the apron can be tucked up into a little pouch to hold things like potatoes or other garden produce. I'm sure the pouches were used to carry other things as well!
And finally, my Bergère hat! It is quite a hack job, but it worked well for the presentation.
Bet you'll never guess what it is made of! (Hint: a placemat) It is tied on over my cap.
The finished outfit! The hat would only be appropriate for going "to town" or other public places, whereas my cap is more appropriate around the house. This outfit is the 18th century equivalent of jeans and a t-shirt.
I'm ready to haul water, chop wood, tend my cooking fire and the copper, weed the garden, slop the pigs, milk the cow, and generally do the hard labor of the farm!
I'm sure there are a ton of Historical Sew Monthly challenges tied up in this outfit, but I'll hit the details later.
