Hello!
> This time I am trying to re-create a historical character. I chose a
>> bodice with bishop sleeves and a very full skirt. Lots of petticoats. An
>> apron.
If the date you’re going for is 1861, and you’re looking to portray an upper
middle class young-to-middle-aged woman, then hoops are really the way to go.
It would probably be worth your time to look at _Who Wore What?: Women’s Wear
1861-1865_ by Juanita Leisch.
> The fabric is a 100% cotton that is a medium size print in a base of
>> navy/indigo blue,with small white circles surrounded by smaller green
>> crescents and tiny white dots in a a diagonal pattern.
I choose cotton for my civil war day dress as well, but it’s worth noting that
cotton would be much more likely to be made into a wrapper or a work-dress then
an everyday-dress in New England. Wool was the most common fabric for day
dresses; there were lots and lots of wool print fabrics available then.
> 1. Were side front closures the most common? and was it usually the left
>> or the right side?
Actually side front closures were quite uncommon. Center front closures were
ubiquitous for day wear.
> 2. What about pockets? I cannot find any references or photos that
>> show skirts had pockets--were they still using a little pouch tied at
>> the waist under the dress? Is it reasonable to design a watch pocket in
>> the skirt?
My extant 1860s silk day dress has a pocket on the right side only. It’s
similar in construction to modern pockets, but the pocket bag is quite large,
and more closely resembles a tear drop shape then the rectangular or rounded
shape of today’s pockets.
A watch pocket at the waist is occasionally seen in period photographs. It
would’ve been a very small pocket along the waistband, just big enough for the
watch.
> 3. What kind of hose would they usually wear? Above or below the knee?
>> (and I"m referring to daily wear, not formal) and how was it held
>> on?--would she have worn silk or cotton (even though cotton, by that
>> time, may well have been becoming harder to obtain). Can you suggest a
>> reference for making the garters?
I haven’t looked into 1860-65 stockings in particular; I’ve focused on the
1865-75 period. In 1873 E. Feydeau claims that the garter was worn above the
knee, “A woman who commits the crime of wearing her stockings below the knee
does not deserve to live”
Sales catalogues talk about elastic garters, but I haven’t found very many
pictures of them. There are patterns for period patterns for knitted ones -
Katherine Caron-Greig made a lovely one:
http://koshka-the-cat.livejournal.com/662530.html#cutid1
> 4. I have some references that women (of working classes at least) would
>> have had aprons that might be made from previously worn-out dresses or
>> skirts. For an upper-middle-class lady, who probably took care of her
>> own children and house to a large extent (her husband was off at war) ,
>> would that be the case, or would she have worn a
>> newer apron (i.e. white or a solid color; cotton or linen)? Were all
>> aprons the "pinner" aprons? That's what I can find--either those or just
>> the skirt aprons that tied in back. Safety pins were invented in about
>> 1849, were they using those for aprons?
I don’t know anything about aprons. _Calico Chronicle_ by Betty J. Mills talks
about re-using dresses as aprons on the Texas frontier. However, I’m not sure
how much of that focus on re-use applies to upper middle class society in New
England.
> 5. I am not planning to wear hoops, although most of the photos of the
>> Time time seem to imply them, i.e. full, wide skirts. Once the war was
>> Really underway, and there was starting to be some early financial
>> hardships--were the hoops scrapped in favor of petticoats?
Nope, hoops were worn throughout the war, especially among the upper middle
classes. Think of it this way – lots of petticoats were expensive – fabric
being relatively expensive. Hoops were also hailed as a great increase in
women’s freedom of movement.
Hope that helps!
-sunny
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