Fashion

Fashion: May Week #1 – The 18th Century Colonial Dress – Men

Fashions for men in Colonial America mirror those established in Britain during the reigns of the Georgian Kings: George I (1714-27), George II (1827-60) and George III (1760-1820). The two photos on the left capture the aristocrat class while the other two reflect the commoners. But note that both share many of the same fashion principles from top to bottom:

• Buckle shoes
• White stockings
• Knee-length trousers
• Brocaded waistcoats
• A frockcoat
• Ruffled sleeves
• Embroidered gloves
• Elaborate neck cravat
• Perhaps a wig
• Tricorne hat

Fashion: May Week #2 – Toffs vs. Day Laborers

Through the ages, dress has always been a signal of social status, and these two figures from 1850 America make the point. With arms-crossed determination, both are set to meet the challenges of the day.

The “Toff” on the left is every inch an example of the “dress for success” motto. On his head rests a top hat, roughly 8 inches tall and made from either beaver or black silk. He wears a stylish knee length frock (or morning) coat over a white shirt with a stiff collar and double cuffs. His white pants likely signal the summer season and are probably held up by suspenders rather than a belt. His footware appears to be a leather boot rather than a common lace-up shoe. He may be a successful businessman, a lawyer or a politician.

Meanwhile the “gent” on the left is clearly a day laborer in a central city and is dressed functionally to tackle the chores. Rather than donning a cloth cap, he is bare-headed. He wears a rough working man’s shirt buttoned at the neck and with no overcoat. His thick and loosely hanging pantaloons are held up by visible suspenders. They extend down to his boots, which are rugged, extend above the ankle, and are roomy enough for heavy wool socks. His wardrobe represents a sizable investment for him, with a shirt typically priced around $12 and a pair of trousers at $18, in relation to his typical wage of 80 cents per day.

Fashion: May Week #3 – The Feminist Revolution in Fashion

As the 19^th Century dawns in America, women’s fashions are dictated by the rules of “coverture” and dame school education. The former surrenders independence of married women to the will of their husband. The latter teaches the virtues expected of them: keeping a tidy home, raising children, displaying proper decorum in public. These confinements are evident in the fashions of the day, with the symbols being tight corsets and elaborate hoop skirts, often 6 feet in diameter. For the wealthy they extend to accoutrement such as fancy hats and ostrich feather fans.

Fashions begin to change in response to women’s attendance at female seminaries such as Mt. Holyoke in 1837, and at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, where Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony announce their Declaration of Female Independence. Those wishing to signal gender equality abandon hoop skirts in favor of “bloomers,” which provide freedom of movement and parity with men’s trousers. This transition requires courage, but it gradually takes hold.

Going forward, more women trade in their homebound status to pursue careers as teachers, nurses, clerks, factory workers and the like. In turn, dress takes on a much more informal look in service to comfort and functionality. By the 1860’s, women are no longer bound by fashion rules set by men, but are now free to take charge of their own individual appearance.

Fashion: June Week #4 – Facial Hair

Facial hair styles in the early 19^th century are determined either by a man’s delicate skill at using a straight razor or by his regular access to a barber with that know-how. Shaving is thus a daily hassle, with a frequent default being a traditional beard such as worn by Jefferson Davis:

Of course the most famous example of a switch from clean shaven to a typical beard belongs to Abraham Lincoln, during the presidential campaign of 1860. The photo below on the left shows him on February 27 of that year about to deliver his Cooper Union speech in New York City.

Then eight months later, on October 15, he receives a note from eleven year old Grace Bedell who announces:

I have yet got four brothers and part of them will vote for you any way
and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to
vote for you. You would look a great deal better for your face is so thin.
All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote
for you and then you would be President.

According to the lore, Lincoln takes the advice to heart, grows the beard and wins the White House!

At the same time, many other facial hair variations become commonplace.

Mustaches for example provide a rakish look against a clean shaven chin.

Some add a soul patch or combine the mustache with a goatee.

Others allow the mustache to grow all the way down to the chest.

For those totally abandoning the mustache but still seeking some facial hair, there is the plain, carefully trimmed, goatee.

Another striking option belongs to Union General Ambrose Burnside whose last name in reverse gives us “sideburns.” Here a crop of hair darts our from below each ear before linking up above the mouth.

Then come distinctive chin straps circling around the lower jaw.

Buy our facial hair journey ends all the way back at the most widespread alternative to the daily straight razor – full beards tamed or untamed.

Fashion: June Week #5 – Mourning

Rituals related to mourning the dead in early 19^th century America differ sharply by social class.

For the commoners, time could stop only momentarily to put a black ribbon on the front door, lay a casket out in the parlor, have the local preacher say a few prayers in the presence of family and friends, and collect a few remembrances such as a lock of hair or a prized possession. But for the survivors it was quickly back to work, mostly on farms.

Meanwhile America’s upper class mourning customs were very different and well codified during the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

As expected, the burden for compliance falls heavily on women, and proceeds through three stages.

First comes “deep mourning,” marked by retreat from all social activities and dressing from head to toe entirely in black. Faces are covered in veils. Jewelry is forbidden. The dresses themselves are made from dull fabrics like crepe or bombazine and worn exclusively for at least a year.

England’s Queen Victoria sets the standard for deep mourning following the death in 1861 of her husband Albert. Her devastation is such that she is unable to attend the funeral, and then wears nothing but black dress for the remaining 42 years of her life, as shown in her photo on horseback.

For most women, the second phase, “ordinary mourning,” begins one year and one day after a death. Veils are withdrawn from the face and white trims are allowed to set off the otherwise total blackness. Ribbons and subtle jewelry may be added.

Thus we see another devastated widow in Mary Lincoln, adorned in the ordinary morning look she will wear for the remaining 17 years of her life.

The third phase, “half mourning,” takes over for most women after one year and nine months, and lasts for only three months. Crepe gives way to softer cloth and touches of white, while bonnets and jewelry are permitted. The famous widow Myra Gaines, seen below with fan in hand, symbolizes this phase.

The typical duration of mourning varies by the relation to the deceased, as follows:

How Long Mourning Lasts for Women

When it comes to men, the mourning rules are far less restrictive. Aside from wearing black suits in case of the death of a wife, their only mandate calls for black bands on their sleeves over a short period of time. The 1865 photo of General Ulysses Grant is shown here with these ribbons honoring the death of Abraham Lincoln’

Once cameras appear around 1845, photography also plays an important role in mourning as a way to provide a tangible keepsake of a loved one. If fact, many family albums include carefully posed post-mortem images of children and even soldiers lost in the Civil War.