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magidLast Thursday I went to the first of this month's Middays at the Meeting House. This month's theme is "Fashion Conscious: A History of New England Style" (this assumes, of course, that "New England Style" isn't an oxymoron :-). I realized when I'd already left my floor that I'd intended to bring paper and pencil this time, not just my crocheting, so it's whatever I remember (now compounded by being 4 days too lazy as well). The speaker was Diane Fagan Affleck, a senior research associate at the American Textile History Museum.
The biggest impression I got was the emphasis on how much material cost. A merchant in pre-Revolutionary days bought a carved mahogany bed for 12 pounds, and other furniture for prices about that, while the bedclothes (including the hangings all around the four poster, to keep the heat in) cost 52 pounds (!). Rather different than today. So fabric would be used very carefully, and clothing would be repurposed if possible (adding inserts in the back of a vest if one gained weight, changing just the top of a dress to fit changed fashion, and so on).
There were sumptuary laws on the books in Massachusetts, and the magic number was 200 pounds: if you (as a man; or the breadwinner in your family, for anyone else) earned that much, you were entitled to wear fancier materials, and have slits in your clothes (the kind that show the fancy garments underneath, not the artfully mangled jeans kind), and so on. Not that this was commonly followed, but it was kept on the books anyway (the legislature occasionally bemoaning the sad times they lived in, when poor people wore fancy clothes above their stations.).
There were slides showing the progression of fashion, much slower than today, of course, and only for those with sufficient income; working people had to wear things that were practical in cut and length. For women, corsets that emphasized a straight front went over the shift and under everything else. Dresses changed to emphasize the hips, first by draping fabric, then by putting ever-more-involved frameworks underneath, until women had to go through doorways sideways. For men, the changes weren't as dramatic, as waistcoats got shorter and jacket shapes changed some.
The handwork on fabrics could be pretty impressive, though usually only where it would be noticed. One slide showed a fabric rectangle with odd embroidered shapes on it, ready to be cut out by a local tailor and turned into a waistcoat (complete with button coverings).
There was some talk of other textiles. Rugs used to be too expensive to be put on the floor and worn out, so they'd be on tables instead. Upholstered furniture went through styles as well, as new fabrics from India became available, for instance.
Interesting stuff, if a bit of a mishmash in overview.
The biggest impression I got was the emphasis on how much material cost. A merchant in pre-Revolutionary days bought a carved mahogany bed for 12 pounds, and other furniture for prices about that, while the bedclothes (including the hangings all around the four poster, to keep the heat in) cost 52 pounds (!). Rather different than today. So fabric would be used very carefully, and clothing would be repurposed if possible (adding inserts in the back of a vest if one gained weight, changing just the top of a dress to fit changed fashion, and so on).
There were sumptuary laws on the books in Massachusetts, and the magic number was 200 pounds: if you (as a man; or the breadwinner in your family, for anyone else) earned that much, you were entitled to wear fancier materials, and have slits in your clothes (the kind that show the fancy garments underneath, not the artfully mangled jeans kind), and so on. Not that this was commonly followed, but it was kept on the books anyway (the legislature occasionally bemoaning the sad times they lived in, when poor people wore fancy clothes above their stations.).
There were slides showing the progression of fashion, much slower than today, of course, and only for those with sufficient income; working people had to wear things that were practical in cut and length. For women, corsets that emphasized a straight front went over the shift and under everything else. Dresses changed to emphasize the hips, first by draping fabric, then by putting ever-more-involved frameworks underneath, until women had to go through doorways sideways. For men, the changes weren't as dramatic, as waistcoats got shorter and jacket shapes changed some.
The handwork on fabrics could be pretty impressive, though usually only where it would be noticed. One slide showed a fabric rectangle with odd embroidered shapes on it, ready to be cut out by a local tailor and turned into a waistcoat (complete with button coverings).
There was some talk of other textiles. Rugs used to be too expensive to be put on the floor and worn out, so they'd be on tables instead. Upholstered furniture went through styles as well, as new fabrics from India became available, for instance.
Interesting stuff, if a bit of a mishmash in overview.