Yes, it all helps a lot. Since I am not re-enacting, but doing a very short stage presentation in which I have to sit in a rocking chair for most of the presentation, , I may make hoops, but not wear them on stage. I am still looking into the aprons--the photo I have is also from the western territories, which shows an elderly woman wearing a printed apron that doesn't match the dress top (she is seated). I may go with the skirt pocket too, I really want that. And I may go ahead and make the cotton dress, and look for a lightweight printed wool (I have a lovely light pearl grey lightweight fine wool, but I really want a print for this). A center front closure is dandy--the pattern (from Patterns of Time) says a back closure. I knew that wasn't right.
If you think of anything else, or see a photo, pls add any comments. You guys are so brilliant about this, it helps so much, even if it just steers toward the right sources. Yours in costumign, li saA On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 14:12:02 -0700 (PDT) Sunshine Buchler <sunny_buch...@sbcglobal.net> writes: > 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 > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume >
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