Day Dresses

[JPK Huson 1863]

Once again, color! Peacock blue? Please no one say cobalt. No female ever, ever on the planet should be accused of wearing something called ' cobalt '. That's a car or uniform or something you go find on a workbench. You could get on board with ' Peacock '.

Sorry 18th, just thought of something fatal to thread direction. Best job ever? Making up names attached to paint sample color strips. I want that job. ' Bear's Breath in July ' ' Sweetest Sunkist Rockpile ', you've seen them. Makes you wish for the days when you bought ' white ' and ' not white '.

 

[Bryan_C]

More working women:

Laundress in Virginia LOC

Actually, this laundress and her family are at Fort Slocum, DC which was just SE of Fort Stevens, where the battle took place in July 1864. Fort Slocum was also part of the battle as its guns were the first to fire on the enemy.

 

[Northern Light]

Once again, color! Peacock blue? Please no one say cobalt. No female ever, ever on the planet should be accused of wearing something called ' cobalt '. That's a car or uniform or something you go find on a workbench. You could get on board with ' Peacock '.

Sorry 18th, just thought of something fatal to thread direction. Best job ever? Making up names attached to paint sample color strips. I want that job. ' Bear's Breath in July ' ' Sweetest Sunkist Rockpile ', you've seen them. Makes you wish for the days when you bought ' white ' and ' not white '.

I was looking for an off-white chip the other day. First one I picked up: "Senior Moment"! Hah!!!!!!

 

[18thVirginia]

View attachment 70984

Actually, this laundress and her family are at Fort Slocum, DC which was just SE of Fort Stevens, where the battle took place in July 1864. Fort Slocum was also part of the battle as its guns were the first to fire on the enemy.

Thanks, Bryan C. Always helpful to get the exact location of a photo correct.

Here's another, lesser known shot of the laundress at work.

 

[grace]

I have greatly enjoyed this thread, so I am bumping it...thanks so much to all who have posted!

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

I have greatly enjoyed this thread, so I am bumping it...thanks so much to all who have posted!

It's nice, isn't it? " Day Dress " used to confuse me- then discovered the ' walking dress ', ' carriage dress ', ' morning dress ' and a few others- like women spent their day exhaustingly watching the clock. Gee whiz. In a say, 16 hour day how many would be spent changing?

Have a feeling most of us wore one, no? Even with enough wealth to own several, had to have been a small percentage of awfully wealthy women who wore ' designated ' dresses. ' Day ' was probably it.

 

[Northern Light]

It's nice, isn't it? " Day Dress " used to confuse me- then discovered the ' walking dress ', ' carriage dress ', ' morning dress ' and a few others- like women spent their day exhaustingly watching the clock. Gee whiz. In a say, 16 hour day how many would be spent changing?

Have a feeling most of us wore one, no? Even with enough wealth to own several, had to have been a small percentage of awfully wealthy women who wore ' designated ' dresses. ' Day ' was probably it.

I wonder how many women actually changed for every occasion during the day? Perhaps there were specific reasons for each type of gown, such as an material that was easy to clean the dust from after a lengthy carriage drive, or a slightly shorter gown with a replaceable edging on the hem for extended walking. I would hazard a guess that most women only had two or three dresses at any given time, the poorest only having one.
I can't imagine spending all day changing clothes. I usually just throw something on in the morning, and that is it for the day, or until I spill something on me.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

I wonder how many women actually changed for every occasion during the day? Perhaps there were specific reasons for each type of gown, such as an material that was easy to clean the dust from after a lengthy carriage drive, or a slightly shorter gown with a replaceable edging on the hem for extended walking. I would hazard a guess that most women only had two or three dresses at any given time, the poorest only having one.
I can't imagine spending all day changing clothes. I usually just throw something on in the morning, and that is it for the day, or until I spill something on me.

That's what I guessed, on how many most women owned? It had not occurred to me these purpose-type dresses would have been cut differently or of different fabric to suit where one was headed- makes sense!

Have to say, some morning dresses sure look like they're some slowwww way to slide into the day- you changed from nightgown to a dress-bathrobe hybrid, with hoops. How funny, thinking somewhere your alarm went off. Morning-Day-Walking-Carriage, if you rode, a riding habit, then Dinner Dress or Evening Dress ( not to be mistaken for Ball Gown ). Being wealthy must have been exhausting.

Hang on, something called a House Dress, from Godey's. That may make sense too. Those hoops are as big as a house.

 

[Northern Light]

That's what I guessed, on how many most women owned? It had not occurred to me these purpose-type dresses would have been cut differently or of different fabric to suit where one was headed- makes sense!

Have to say, some morning dresses sure look like they're some slowwww way to slide into the day- you changed from nightgown to a dress-bathrobe hybrid, with hoops. How funny, thinking somewhere your alarm went off. Morning-Day-Walking-Carriage, if you rode, a riding habit, then Dinner Dress or Evening Dress ( not to be mistaken for Ball Gown ). Being wealthy must have been exhausting.

Hang on, something called a House Dress, from Godey's. That may make sense too. Those hoops are as big as a house.
View attachment 201938

I remember my mother having house dresses, which she wore for everyday to clean and cook in. They were usually cotton and very durable and washable, and NEVER worn outside of the house.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

I remember my mother having house dresses, which she wore for everyday to clean and cook in. They were usually cotton and very durable and washable, and NEVER worn outside of the house.

I seem to remember women wearing something called a ' house dress ', when I was a kid? Had forgotten that until you mentioned it, thank you! Have a vague idea these were not quite what your mother wore- always seemed to me to be more like a nightgown. Funny, how clothing ( and a lot of other things ) morphs through time!

 

[Hannah]

Simplicity patterns have released some versions that are pretty close to the photographs here.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Simplicity patterns have released some versions that are pretty close to the photographs here.

Have they? Trust Simplicity. Never sewed but Mom did and she relied on those because you could always find exactly what you were looking for.

 

[Hannah]

Have they? Trust Simplicity. Never sewed but Mom did and she relied on those because you could always find exactly what you were looking for.

They had their designer Andrea Shewe make some of them. I've heard mixed reviews about the patterns but got them anyway. I can always use them as a jumping off point.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

They had their designer Andrea Shewe make some of them. I've heard mixed reviews about the patterns but got them anyway. I can always use them as a jumping off point.

I know not enough about reenacting, sounds as if they try to be as accurate to the period as possible? The thing is, unless someone's character is a woman of high fashion, wouldn't there be a good amount of ' give ' on styles? Women sewed their own, frequently, sometimes taking apart an old dress and using a bodice, etc. on the new one. You'd have to guess we wore a pretty good mix of styles and some entirely original dresses.

 

[Hannah]

I mostly use photographs from the time period and try to recreate those.

 

[Shalom Hobbitess]

"Grenadine dress, one of the most elegant designs of the season, has a white ground powdered with pansies of the natural colors and light leaves. The bordering at the edge of the skirt is a deep sea-green, headed by bands of black resembling velvet. The corsage is in the Pompadour style, with rich muslin guimpe and sleeves." Godey's 1863

illus http://archive.org/stream/godeysladysbook67phil#page/n9/mode/2up

I picked up a version of this Godey's drawing off the internet somewhere, without the description, that's been "colorized" with the flowers and skirt border in pink! Which is rather pretty, actually, but I think I'd like their version, too.

"This one piece dress is entirely hand sewn from a fabulous calico print in warm reds, oranges and browns; see close-up photos for details. ..."

http://www.oslhp.net/museum/Virtual Museum/Clothing, Victorian and Civil War/Calico Work Dress, 1860s/index.html

I drool over the patterned cloth in some of these old dresses!

'm a huge fan of ' color' but feel manufacturers interpret ' color' to exist in either garish spectrums or monotone or muted. 150 years ago they really knew how to delight us, didn't they?

So agree! Most modern material seems to be either garish or bland; very hard to find subtle but interesting and colorful material like the red, orange and brown calico print mentioned above. Somewhat easier to find in pre-made clothes, but even that can be a challenge.

In a say, 16 hour day how many would be spent changing?

One of the disadvantages of being rich, I always thought. Later in the century, more the Gibson Girl era, insanely wealthy women could change ten times a day or more. A more average day was still something like five or six, including night clothes. Off the top of my head, it was night clothes to morning/house clothes to afternoon/receiving clothes to evening dress, back to night clothes. Add in any outside activity -- walking, riding, tennis -- and that's another change of clothes, ditto a party or a ball (although there were dinner dresses where you only had to change the bodice to make it a ball gown, which would speed things up at tad).

You'd also have to re-do your hair with some clothes changes, although I'm guessing not as often. They'd change clothes for dinner, for example, but I don't know that they'd change a hair style then, especially if it was just family at dinner.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

I picked up a version of this Godey's drawing off the internet somewhere, without the description, that's been "colorized" with the flowers and skirt border in pink! Which is rather pretty, actually, but I think I'd like their version, too.



I drool over the patterned cloth in some of these old dresses!



So agree! Most modern material seems to be either garish or bland; very hard to find subtle but interesting and colorful material like the red, orange and brown calico print mentioned above. Somewhat easier to find in pre-made clothes, but even that can be a challenge.



One of the disadvantages of being rich, I always thought. Later in the century, more the Gibson Girl era, insanely wealthy women could change ten times a day or more. A more average day was still something like five or six, including night clothes. Off the top of my head, it was night clothes to morning/house clothes to afternoon/receiving clothes to evening dress, back to night clothes. Add in any outside activity -- walking, riding, tennis -- and that's another change of clothes, ditto a party or a ball (although there were dinner dresses where you only had to change the bodice to make it a ball gown, which would speed things up at tad).

You'd also have to re-do your hair with some clothes changes, although I'm guessing not as often. They'd change clothes for dinner, for example, but I don't know that they'd change a hair style then, especially if it was just family at dinner.

That's crazy,10 times a day? Happy to be un-rich! I knew people changed for dinner, exhausting enough, did not know they committed multiple re-do's.

Here's what seems bizarre on fabric - all those simple cottons with charming patterns from ' then ' were nicely inexpensive, too. Now? Pure cotton is insanely expensive, worse when some ' vintage ' ( the word gets used in on-line auctions for items from last week, seemingly, I mean vintage as in era ) pattern is replicated. So funny albeit a little annoying- love cotton! The person who threw polyester into the mix has a lot to answer for.

 

[MaryDee]

Watch for sales and closeouts, especially online!