Caucasian dress in the 19th century in the United States. An analysis of the clothes worn by Caucasian-Americans in the 19th century is particularly important because, during this century, Caucasian-American dress was to become an endemic part of the attire of the "Five Civilized" tribes, especially of those Indians that relocated to the Oklahoma Territory. Caucasian-American dress, hitherto simply called "American," will be divided into two broad categories - city and rural. Rural dress will, also, encompass frontier style clothing. As has always been the case, women's rural dresses were modeled after the styles of upper class women, who resided in cities or, in the south on plantations. The upper class, whether living on a plantation, on an estate, or in a city, imported their dresses from Europe or hired seamstresses to copy styles from Ladies Fashion Magazines. The men, also, sent away to Europe for much of their attire. The non-wealthy women in the cities and towns as well as rural and frontier women, at the least, were not able to wear dresses of the latest fashion. Sometimes they copied them from Fashion magazines that were a few years old. Usually their everyday clothing was more practical than fashionable while their special occasion clothes were treated very carefully, remade, and handed down within families. Normally, rural and frontier women had to wear what was practical. The men's every day clothing was, also, more practical while their special occasion clothing was a less rich version of that of the wealthier class. The illustrations in this section reflect those drawn by one of the authors as well as those from fashion magazines from the authors' private collection. The magazines used were: Godey's, Peterson's, Delineator, and McCall's. The magazines depicted basically two types of dress: dress that represented the epitomy of fashion and dress that was used to illustrate a story, poem, or as a piece of art. The styles shown in these latter types of illustrations were more representative of clothes worn by the "everyday" woman whose life style eliminated her from merely being a "fashion plate." Fashionable Dress Costume Plate # 25 Footgear consisted of slippers or half boots with very thin soles. Through out the period, long gloves that reached to the elbow were very fashionable. The hair was worn in little curls that surrounded the face with clusters of curls worn high upon the back of the head. Turbans, wide brimmed hats, and feathers, as part of the headdress, were also worn.1 As the first quarter of the century progressed, the waist began to return to its normal position and the skirts became fuller as did the upper portion of the sleeves, called gigot and demi-gigot sleeves. The lower part of the dress was very ornate and sometimes padded so it would stand out. Collars, also, became exaggerated. Hair was parted in the middle; curls still framed the face but could be worn longer; hats had very wide brims.2 Costume Plate # 26 Breeches differed from pantaloons in that they only extended a few inches below the knee. They could be made in a tailored manner or cut along looser lines. They extended a few inches below the knee. The outer most part of a man's indoor garment was a coat. The front part ended at the waist and the back ended in tails. Under this was worn the waistcoat. The preferred colors for the coat were dark green, blue, or brown. The waistcoat was often striped. Shirts could be ruffled in front or plain. When ruffled, they were often very elaborate with ruffles of fine cambric linen and innumerable three corned gussets.5 The shirt's collar was made with two points that were worn either pointed toward the face or folded over. Cravats were wrapped around the neck. Wigs were disappearing and men's hair was worn in loose short curls or cropped. Costume Plate # 27 In the beginning of the eighteen thirties, women's dresses continued to have wide sleeves and fuller skirts. The waistline continued to be at the waist but could be pointed. The day dresses were made out of flower patterned fabric. Skirts started to extend toward the sides. Large shawls were fashionable during this period, while hats started to shrink in size. Turbans were still worn as were indoor caps. By the beginning of the decade of the eighteen forties, lace was worn extensively and was very popular. Skirts were still wider with gathers around the waist which extended to a point in front. The hat had lost its popularity and bonnets became fashionable. The hair was still parted in the middle, but gathered over the ears and either arranged elaborately in braids that encircled the ears or arranged to fall over the shoulders in ringlets. Even though slippers were still worn, low boots became stylish.7 Costume Plate # 28 Breeches were not worn much as outer wear being replaced by pantaloons. Full length pantaloons could often not be distinguished from trousers. The shirt could be fancy with embroidery, pleats, ruffles on the front and at the cuffs. High neck stocks were worn over the collar. The hat brim had all but disappeared giving the name of chimney-pot to this hat style. The clothes of the eighteen forties showed normal variations in style from the previous decade; however, the jacket became very fashionable. The jacket was similar to a skirted frock coat but was shorter and came to about the hips. It replaced the frock coat for summer wear. During the time period from 1830-1850 men wore their hair in loose curls and with side whiskers. Toward the end of this period, both the hair and whiskers became longer.9 In women's dress, the period of the eighteen fifties and sixties was characterized by the hoop worn under the skirt. Skirts were exceedingly full and voluminous. The most popular bodice worn was that of the basque which was worn over the skirt since it had a short skirt of its own. The dresses were often made of plaid or striped material. The neck was, often, high and adorned with a small collar. Under the collar could be a cape of the same material as the dress that fell to the shoulders. The sleeves were of a bell shape. Evening bodices were characterized with very low necklines. Small hats were worn as well as relatively small bonnets. These were very fashionable; they allowed for the front of the hair to be seen which was neatly parted in the middle. The hair was worn loosely pulled back over the ears with a chignon in back. Some side curls were still worn as were braids that formed a coronet on the head. The outer garments consisted of pelisses that were fitted at the waist or loose bell shaped mantles. Shawls were still worn.10 Men's clothes of the period were rapidly evolving into the familiar styles of the twentieth century. Suit coats ran the gamut from the traditional frock coat with tails to the shorter jacket and also a loose jacket that came to the knees. In the early part of the period, the trousers matched the waistcoat not the suit coat or jacket. Circa 1855, the waistcoat became short and began to resemble the vest of the twentieth century. Trousers were still tight but beginning to be looser and less form fitting. Knickerbockers began to appear in the late eighteen sixties and were worn in the country. They resembled breeches but were fuller and often elasticized at the knee to create a fullness at that point. Shirt fronts did not show very much, often being covered by a neck cloth ornamented with a colorful stud. The cuffs were, also, closed by jeweled studs. Colored shirts were popular for sporting events. Loose cape-like cloaks were popular as outer garments. The hats were still tall, but there were many styles with lower crowns. Heavy side whiskers were still popular. Small mustaches became popular after the Crimean war.11 Women's styles of the eighteen seventies and eighties can be described as complicated and gaudy. The skirts were either slightly "A" lined or straight in the front and pulled toward the back into a huge complicated bustle. As the decade progressed, the skirts became tighter in front and the bustle in back was followed by a train that swept the floor. Everything of that period was exaggerated and flounced. The sleeves were usually tight fitting and the necklines high. With the beginning of the eighteen eighties, the shape of the skirts began to return to the earlier style of the "A" line in front with the bustle in back. The same material as the bustle was usually draped in the front of the dress ending in a point in horizontal type pleats. The clothes were not graceful, but appeared rigid. Hair was worn crimped in the front with tiny bangs and pulled into chignons at the back, cascading curls, etc. Hats came in many shapes and varieties and were worn perched atop the head. The brims were relatively small. Day caps were not worn at all by 1887 except by the elderly.12 Men's dress during the corresponding period became less formal in the sense that tailed frock coats were mainly worn for evening wear and business suits with jackets instead of frock coats became popular. Also, there was an increase in specialized sporting or lounging wear. Waistcoats were made with and without lapels and extended only to the waist, and trousers all had fly fronts. Beards and mustaches became popular which were a continuation of the bushy side whiskers. The neckcloth gave way to the ascot, and, later in the period, the tie. Although men's dress in the eighteen nineties underwent some changes, they were not significant enough in the context of this book to warrant reporting.13 Women's outfits in the eighteen nineties can be characterized by two extremes - tailored and frilly. The bustle during the eighteen nineties disappeared and was replaced by pleats in the back. Skirts also became bell shaped and gored. Sleeves were aptly named "leg-of-mutton" sleeves being very full at the shoulder and tight further down the arm. Necklines, except for evening wear, were usually high, ending in a band-like collar. Waists were made to look excessively small. Blouses were worn that were made of a different material than the skirt. While some were soft and feminine with lace down the front; others were rigidly tailored and sported a tie similar to a man's. By the late eighteen nineties, women were allowed to wear bloomers and leggings for certain sporting attire . Women's hair styles continued with the crimped front fringe until the mid-eighteen nineties when the hair was brushed high and straight back from the forehead ending in low or high buns.14 Rural and Frontier Clothing Rural and Frontier dress can be considered to be on a continuum as differentiated from the dress found in cities, even among the poorer class of people or among the wealthier who resided on plantations or estates. Costume Plate # 29
Camp Meetings held by itinerant preachers or missionaries were one time when everyone wore their best. "New dresses and new hats were always in evidence at those camp meetings. It didn't matter so much about new clothes the balance of the year just so they had new ones for the camp meetings. Our mothers began in the winter tucking voluminous underskirts, chemises and drawers. They all had yards and yards of lace, tucks, and embroidery, and we had lots of underclothing for the summer. We wore two, three and four petticoats at the time depending on the thinness of the dresses. Those girls who lived ten or fifteen miles away brought trunks full of clothes, with Negroes at the camp meetings to do the cooking and take care of their clothes, but a girl would wear a new summer dress all summer without washing it. We prided ourselves on keeping our dresses clean and nice.....Granny Oakes said that when she was young they made pretty buttons by covering acorns with material like the garment they wanted to put them on or covered with contrasting colors for trimming."15 Costume Plate # 30 Another style of garment was the wrapper, labeled later in the century as the "Mother Hubbard". This dress was loose, comfortable, did not need a corset, hoops, or petticoats other than for modesty's sake. It became a classic and the hallmark of frontier dress. It could be worn belted or free flowing. It was made with a yoke that extended to the vicinity of the shoulders and could be round, square, or pointed. The throat of the dress could have a collar or not. The sleeves of the dress could be loose or fitted although they always ended at the wrist in a cuff. The dress was buttoned up the front, from the neckline to the waist and reached to the vicinity of the ankles.17 Costume Plate # 31 Around the middle of the nineteenth century, another style of costume for women was introduced. This consisted of a separate bodice called a waist (became known as a shirtwaist in the 1880s)18 and a skirt. The shirtwaist was usually of a simple high necked cut with long sleeves; while the skirt was usually of the bell shape or "A" line shape. Initially both pieces were of the same material. By the end of the century, the shirtwaist was usually made of a light color and the skirt of a dark color.19 These outfits, with some modifications, remained popular among many socio-economic classes into the twentieth century. Not all the women on the frontier wore costumes of calico or homespun. Some women were the wives of well off men and had servants to do most of the work. These women dressed in clothes similar to the upper class described earlier in this section. Two other hallmarks of rural America and the frontier were the apron and the bonnet. Fashion Plates # 14 & 15 Wrappers The bonnet was worn both as a decoration and as a protection against the sun. On the farm and on the frontier, the bonnet had a wide brim in front and a cloth skirt around the side and back for further protection. The piece of the bonnet that encircled the back of the head was usually puffed out and the gathers attached to the brim of the bonnet.21 Toward the end of the century, Wrappers could be purchased by mail order as could the shirtwaist and skirt. Betty Mills, in Calico Chronicle, delineated the colors worn and materials used in (frontier) women's dresses. In the 1830's and 1840's some of the materials used were calico, linsey-woolsey, fine wool, silk, tarlatan gingham, etc. The colors used were for the most part soft in nature - mauve, violet, gray, vanilla, lilac, etc. Also used were strong colors like purple, plum, claret, chocolate, and cabbage green. The fabric designs were patterned and flowered. Also used were small plaids, checks, floral sprigs, and stripes as well as solids In the 1850's and 1860's, the linsey-woolsey became linsey-homespun. Velvets, piques, corded ottoman, and chintz were added. The basic colors used were strong colors, like blue, magenta, hunter green, and sapphire. Some soft colors were still used like dove gray but these were in the minority. As the colors became bolder, so did the fabric designs. Large floral prints were used as well as Scotch plaid, checks, and stripes. The 1870's saw a decrease in the coarser fabrics and an increase in the daintier like gauze, dotted swiss, dimity, etc. However, poplin, velvet, turkey twill, calico. etc. were still in use. The colors still continued strong with many dark colors becoming popular. Black, prune, and dark reddish plum became more common. The patterns were not too dissimilar from those used during the two previous decades. Some of the fabrics used in the 1880's were: percale, soft homespun (no mention of linsey), wool, striped gauze, bengaline, etc. The colors became softer, once again, and tended to be of the nature of cream, fawn, smoke gray, pale pink, primrose, etc. The patterns, also, reverted to those used in the 1830's and 1840's with dots, stripes, checks, and combination patterns common. Floral patterns are not mentioned. Fashion Plate # 16 Men's basic frontier and rural dress was strictly practical. Typical work shirts were made of three rectangles. One rectangle was folded in about half to be used as the body of the shirt. The other two rectangles were likewise folded in half to be used as the sleeve. The two arm rectangles were attached starting at the folded part (shoulder) of the body rectangle. The body of the shirt had a hole in the top middle with a slit long enough to pull the shirt over the head. In order to give more movement to the sleeves, a gusset was sometimes added under the arm. These were simple shirts to construct. (See Costume plate # 10 for a basic shirt pattern.) Yoked shirts were also made, whereby the body of the shirt was in two pieces. The distance from the cut out neck line to the shoulder was longer in the front to allow for gathers. On both shirts the sleeves were full and gathered at the wrist onto an arm band.23 Sometimes the shirt was cut long enough so when tucked into the pants it acted as an undergarment as well. Some of the shirts had soft lay back collars, as well. A traditional work shirt could be made into a dress shirt with the addition of ruffles at the front opening.24 After the first quarter of the century, almost all rural and frontiersmen wore trousers instead of breeches.25 From about 1800-1840, men's pants were held up by two buttons on the side at the waistband. The top of the pants could be gathered (at the waist) in back and/or in front.26 They could also be fastened in the front with a "broadfall" which was a an extension of the front of the pants and buttoned in three places at the bottom of the waistband.27 These garments were usually made of homespun. Fashion Plate # 17 The men's coat was more similar to the loosely or slightly fitted men's jacket although a little longer. The neckline was rounded and the sleeves straight.29 Men, often wore a neckerchief tied around their neck.30 Hats, often, had wide brims as a protection against the weather.31 Buckskin clothes were usually worn only by the Indian scout, Buffalo hunter, etc. For dress, they could be highly ornate with bead and quill work. Shoes were worn in rural America by both men and women for comfort and not as a fashion statement. They were low heeled and made of soft leather. They were closed in the front by a tie. The shoes resembled Indian moccasins except for the sole and heel. Boots were also worn. In the summer, people went barefooted.32 Fashion Plate # 18 Boys of that era wore, in the summer, straw hats, breeches [which were long pants] of a thin material held up by "galluses" [suspenders] and no undergarments. The shirt was buttonless and of cotton, sometimes fastened closed at the collar with a string. Shoes were not worn in the summer. In the winter, wool breeches replaced those made of cotton and a woolen jacket (also referred to by the author as a coat) was sometimes worn over the shirt. Some boys wore durable cowhide shoes and hand knit socks while others did not wear shoes at all. A boy's hair was usually cut with the help of a mixing bowl. This bowl was placed over his head and the hair cut by following the outline.34 1. Elizabeth McClellan, History of American Costume, pp. 273-373; C. W. Cunnington and P. Cunnington, Handbook of English Costume in the Nineteenth Century, pp. 347-399. Cunnington, Cunnington, & Beard A Dictionary of English Costume, pp. 159 &202. 8. The skirt of a frock coat is the material that started at the waist in front, and extended downward to form the bottom of the garment. 9. McClellan, pp. 583-595; Cunnington & Cunnington, pp. 125-193. 10. McClellan, pp. 461-495; Cunnington & Cunnington, pp. 442-485. 11. McClellan, pp. 597-614; Cunnington & Cunnington, pp. 194-253; Willet & Cunnington, The History of Underclothes, p. 101. 15. Mrs. Sophia Hibben Payne, born 1887 (a White woman). Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 93, pp. 152-153. |