I. CLOSURES: Buttons, and hooks and eyes. All
button holes should be hand-stitched. Existing clothing with machine
made buttonholes may be modified by removing this stitching and
hand-stitching the button holes. NO zippers, elastic, or velcro.
II. BODICE types include a fitted (darted)
bodice, gathered bodice. The gathered bodice is more acceptable for a
work dress. A bodice generally requires between 2 and 3 yards of
fabric and as much lining. A white blouse should not be worn with a
skirt without a vest or jacket and only teens or young women would
have worn such an outfit. A white blouse was considered underwear and
not worn alone. Shoulder seams on a bodice should drop 2 to 3 inches
off the shoulders. A day wear bodice should close up the front, have
a high neckline, and long sleeves. Dresses should have a white collar
and cuffs. Many original homespun bodices survive which are unlined
or only partially unlined so you might consider this for hot weather.
III. SLEEVE types consisted of full gathered,
bishop, coat, full pagoda and modified pagoda. Full pagoda sleeves
had fallen out of favor by the 1861-1865 period. The most commonly
used are the full gathered or coat sleeve. Piping should be applied
to the armscyes when setting in sleeves and it should be of the same
fabric. Piping should be small - this was functional, not decorative.
Dropped sleeves gave the appearance of sloping shoulders and narrow
back. Undersleeves should be worn with modified pagoda sleeves.
IV. FABRIC. Fabric type: for a dress and
undergarments we recommend 100% cotton or wool. It looks more natural
and is cooler as natural fibers "breath" and synthetics do not.
Pattern: Solids, plaids, checks and small
stripes are acceptable. Generally the pattern should be small as
designs were matched in original clothing and a smaller design
wasted less fabric. Patterns commonly found today rarely reflect
the period so seek advice from your mentor when choosing.
Color: Colors should be natural reflecting
the natural dyeing process. Brown is an excellent choice because
many shades of brown could be obtained from dyeing with black
walnuts which were readily available. Black walnut is a natural dye
which does not necessarily have to be mordanted, and in the
blockaded South this was an important factor in making homespun.
For that reason brown would have been easily obtained by Southern
women. Other colors to consider are blues, greens, black, gray,
burgandy to pinks, and yellow to orange. Ersatz
in the Confederacy by Elizabeth
Massey and A Blockaded Family, Life
in Southern Alabama During the Civil War
by Parthenia Hague discuss colors that were worn by Southern women
and the dye stuffs used to achieve the color.
V. SKIRT:
Four to five yards is recommended - depending on
how the dress is to be worn. If you choose to wear a hoop at some
point the skirt should drape loosely over it and conceal the bands
underneath. The skirt and bodice may open down the center, or the
bodice may open down the center and the skirt down the side. When the
bodice is attached the area from the skirt opening to the center front
is left unattached and hooks and eyes are attached to hold the two
together. The skirt can be attached by gauging (cartridge pleating),
knife pleats, or box pleats. The method used would depend on the
impression you seek to portray - gauging would be perhaps most common
on a work dress whereas a nice day dress might incorporate box pleats.
VI. ACCESSORIES: Brooch at neckline, earrings
with French wires, wedding ring, cameos are good choices. A reticule
or basket is a good idea for carrying necessities. Avoid baskets of
modern design.
VII. HAIR/HEAD GEAR: Hair should be parted in
the middle and pulled back at the hairline. Hair pieces are
acceptable. If your hair is too short to wear pulled back part in the
middle and consider a cotton sunbonnet, corded bonnet, or slat bonnet
with shoulder-length curtain.
VIII. TRIM: Southern women wore little trim on
their dresses and a work dress should have none. Acceptable trims are
ruching, ribbon, buttons, etc. Lace should be avoided on day wear,
and used sparingly on better dresses and only of acceptable type and
fiber.
IX. HOOP
Hoops were generally not worn by women as they
conducted their daily activities. Skirt support can be achieved with
the use of a corded petticoat. This is a much more practical approach
to activities such as cooking around the fire. A cage may be worn to
tea, church, dances, etc. It should be noted a cage will shorten a
dress - be aware and make allowances. We recommend a cage crinoline
of 90 to 110 inches - most sutler hoops are far too large to give an
accurate silhouette.
X. HEMS
Work dresses were generally hemmed shorter than
other dresses and would be acceptable from just off the floor to 3 to
possibly 4 inches off the floor. Hems of better dresses may be faced
with a band of cotton 6 to 8 inches wide and braided hem tape could be
applied over that to prevent wear on the skirt hem. Tape is of
worsted wool or 100% cotton twill. Original homespun dresses
generally did not use this technique. Facing the hem in wool will
prevent the dress from soaking up water from damp grass etc. as the
wool repels water.
XI: EYEWARE: See
general guidelines
