#1 Thing I hate when going Confederate

[Allie]

Good question!!.....As for me, I have always bought my gear bigger, and have personally never experienced anything shrinking too much, except when I gain weight!!
I bought my jacket "used" from a friend, so it is about as sized as it is gonna get....
Thanks!!

Okay, I don't think we're understanding each other! . "Sizing" is a finish put on fabric by modern manufacturers to give it body. It has nothing to do with the size that clothes are made to.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Although I don't reenact as a Confederate, I sometimes hear the same comment. I heard it last week when I showed a picture from Bentonville, and in this case the observation is probably correct! Federal troops were ragged and filthy by the end of the Carolina Campaign! By and large, we are too clean. I never wash the wool items, and only wash my shirt, drawers and socks. The problem is we don't wear our gear as hard as they did. We are also careful, since replacement costs are high. Sometimes I think our stuff is higher quality than the original issue items, because, after all, who would buy gear knowing that it's going to need replacing at the end of the season?

 

[unicornforge]

I can absolutely say that no one has ever complained that I am too clean. Because I work with coal, by the time I get the fire lit, my hands are blackened, and my clothing has soot spots. ....... I (and other smiths) have on more than one occasion, with groups that I no longer associate with, been placed far downwind so that pristine polyester uniforms that others were wearing would not get dirty. .... And as an aside, the only way to tell if cloth/uniform is natural fibers (regardless of what a vendor tells you) is to cut off a small piece and put a match to it. If it melts it contains polyester; if it results in only ashes then it is natural fibers.

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

Okay, I don't think we're understanding each other! . "Sizing" is a finish put on fabric by modern manufacturers to give it body. It has nothing to do with the size that clothes are made to.

HA!!....That being the case, my clothes are so old & used that I am sure the sizing has worn off!!

 

[Poor Private]

One of the things I hate when going confederate: Yankees wearing those dang-gone Iron bullet proof boiler plates.
The most thing I hate about going confederate is being asked: the total politically incorrect question the one no-one has mentioned yet---Does that mean you believe in slavery? Good Gosh Gee wizz all mighty!!
No I just like non conformity, and not enough confeds to play with up here in the great white north, everyone wears blue.

 

[scarter92]

I do a Confederate impression 100% of the time for reenactments. I usually stick to early to mid-war impressions but have been known to do late-war from time to time.

The number one thing I hate hearing from fellow reenactors is "Your uniform is too clean for Confederate" or "You need to put some serious wear into the leathers and jean wool to make it authentic."

When did it become so mainstream to go "ragged rebel"?

I understand we see this occasionally in photos but people tend to forget the photos of clean, well kept Confederate uniforms.

As a digression, Revolutionary War soldiers were often shoeless and almost naked, which is quite unlike what we see at reenactments. Even the British soldiers probably were much more ragged.

My current outfit, a Revolutionary regimental jacket, breeches and such, I am planning on cutting wood in soon. Maybe I'll do some gardening to get a little Earthy. Good times.

 

[Mint Julep]

I do a Confederate impression 100% of the time for reenactments. I usually stick to early to mid-war impressions but have been known to do late-war from time to time.

The number one thing I hate hearing from fellow reenactors is "Your uniform is too clean for Confederate" or "You need to put some serious wear into the leathers and jean wool to make it authentic."

When did it become so mainstream to go "ragged rebel"?

I understand we see this occasionally in photos but people tend to forget the photos of clean, well kept Confederate uniforms.

Probably a misunderstanding from the point of view of a non-historian. Some states were well equipped with uniform articles by the end, North Carolina being one such state.

 

[Dave Hull]

I air dry all my stuff for a week or so after any event, brush off the mud and hope for no grass stains. Wool is pretty good about ridding itself of stench if properly aired out. Jean cloth on the other hand seems to hold on to that field earned stench without hand washing. Must be the cotton content. Cold water and lay it flat, no worries with shrinkage. If you need a little extra room in the sleeves and chest, hang it up wet. When it stops dripping you can pull the sleeves and body to gain a bit of extra length. The wash stuff stays indoors usually hung in the basement till dry, the air dry stuff I hang on under our covered porch. With no direct sunlight, you avoid fading as well as shrinkage.

 

[yankee hoorah]

One of the things I hate when going confederate: Yankees wearing those dang-gone Iron bullet proof boiler plates.
The most thing I hate about going confederate is being asked: the total politically incorrect question the one no-one has mentioned yet---Does that mean you believe in slavery? Good Gosh Gee wizz all mighty!!
No I just like non conformity, and not enough confeds to play with up here in the great white north, everyone wears blue.

In the south we have an overwhelming amount of rebels in the field.