Ladies Dress Buckles

Tom Hughes

Sergeant Major
Joined
May 27, 2019
Location
Mississippi
I have dug 3 of these brass frame buckles over the years. Always thought they were just generic "sash" buckles.
That is, until I started looking at more women in 19th century photos.
I'm convinced that these are women's dress buckles.
I pulled a photo of a woman in a dress posing for a photograph and posted with this thread. It sure looks like it to me.
I found these buckles at battle/camp sites associated with the Vicksburg campaign.
I'm open to any opinion on these buckles. Is my theory correct or are these buckles usage something entirely different?

bkls.JPG


woman.JPG
 
Last edited:
I too have found many of these in CS camps and my theory is that these were used by CS officer as sash buckles and were more of a Keepsake or "Remember Me" items that was given to them by a wife or girlfriend. Below is one I found last year in the CS camp I'm digging. There is no house site and the only items I have found in or around this camp is CW Confederate items. That is my theory.
sash buckle.jpg
 
Waists seem awfully small. Any idea what their sizes are?
Hard to tell, maybe in the 20-22" range...…..some were laced up real tight back then with corsets............Ava Gardner had one of best natural waistlines in Hollywood, she was a North Carolina girl, born and raised on a rural country farm.....she had to take lots of speech lessons to get rid of her heavy NC accent once she signed with the various studios. I think she had like a 20 or 21" waistline........Julie Newmar also had a nice waistline as did Lynda Carter, that's how I compare waistlines.......Newmar of course was in "Lil Abner," the short lived TV series "My Living Doll" with Bob Cummings and later starred as the original "Catwoman" in the Batman TV series. Lynda Carter of course appeared as "Wonder Woman" for three seasons on network TV back in the 70's.......

Sorry to detract from the original topic concerning belt buckles
 
I too have found many of these in CS camps and my theory is that these were used by CS officer as sash buckles and were more of a Keepsake or "Remember Me" items that was given to them by a wife or girlfriend. Below is one I found last year in the CS camp I'm digging. There is no house site and the only items I have found in or around this camp is CW Confederate items. That is my theory.
View attachment 323470
I like that theory.
 
Back
Top