Questions about shirts.

[PrivateBrooke]

I see an awful lot of plaid and check pattern shirts in the ranks(no hate, I'm guilty of wearing them often), especially Confederate ranks. I have read in Liberty Rifles impression guidelines that these are over represented, is that true?

I know stripes, calico, and some other prints are seen in photos, as well as plain, of course, and there WERE Confederate issue shirts of varying pattern and material. Any good place to get a non plaid pattern shirt? It seems that and plain are what's sold everywhere, including the high end sutlers.

I might be willing to try sewing together a shirt myself, so that's an option if need be, I know where to get patterns and proper fabric. I also know where to get good CS issue shirts when I decide to buy one. Were issue shirts more common than home made or private purchase?

 

[captaindrew]

South Union Mills has a nice selection of shirts https://www.southunionmills.com/shirts/ Wambaugh and White makes them but not to order. https://wwandcompany.com/confederate-issue-shirt/ They make a handful when time allows and puts them up for sale and they go quick. You have to watch their Facebook page closely. Honestly I really wouldn't worry about it unless you plan on doing a LR event and even at that I've been to a few of their events and I've never personally seen anybody picked at if they had something not quite to guidelines.

 

[PrivateBrooke]

South Union Mills has a nice selection of shirts https://www.southunionmills.com/shirts/ Wambaugh and White makes them but not to order. https://wwandcompany.com/confederate-issue-shirt/ They make a handful when time allows and puts them up for sale and they go quick. You have to watch their Facebook page closely. Honestly I really wouldn't worry about it unless you plan on doing a LR event and even at that I've been to a few of their events and I've never personally seen anybody picked at if they had something not quite to guidelines.

I try to avoid the white/off-white because my sports bra/binder shows through if I don't have a jacket on and I don't like that, that's why my white one almost never gets worn. South Union Mills only has garden variety plaid available, I wanted something different just to change it up a bit. Just because I want something besides plaid, not looking to do LR events (for reasons I already mentioned elsewhere here) but I do still try to use their guidelines for my own impression.

My current favorite red/cream plaid actually came from etsy but that seller has ended her run of men's shirts(she does women's period wear normally). I see a lot of interesting ones on there, though not sure of the correctness of the cloth used....

 

[FedericoFCavada]

I get the Townsends Osnaburg shirts when these are on sale. These would be a "cheat" as a Federal shirt, although the pattern is mighty close, they are not made of scratchy Domet wool felt. For those of us who do earlier periods, we wear a lot of the check shirts of an earlier pattern, although some intrepid souls sew their own linen and pillow/mattress ticking shirts themselves using historic patterns.

The U.S. army shirt before the 1850s apparently had a three-button placket and a collar, while the 1850s-through-the-Civil War reverted to the single button at the top of the collar.

I'd think some of the more early pattern shirts used by Cowboy Action shooters might be useful as civilian shirts. Wambaugh's shirting materials are interesting:

Cotton Shirtings

Wambaugh, White & Company produces high-quality, museum-grade reproduction Civil War uniforms and clothing.

wwandcompany.com

They made the lining of my custom civilian roundabout in their Wrangler check, which might look nice visible as a civilian shirt too.
Some of these might work, no?

James Country Mercantile Sutler, Liberty, Missouri

I do wear a couple shield-front or bib-front shirts when weather and time-period permit. I've got a red one based on a historic example, that has a dummy/false bib, that buttons on one side only. It's handy because it leaves a large front pocket. The other one I have is a nice wine red color. I joke that it is the perfect wine tasting shirt, because if I ever spill, it won't leave a stain...
The bib or shield front shirt might not be suitable for your climate, but no one is going to see anything through it like a light cotton white or off-white shirt, if that's a concern.

For my period, Jacksonian America, we should all really be wearing far more linen than we do... For reasons of economy, comfort, and laundering, etc. people mostly get by with all cotton, which would have been a rather expensive material at that time, unlike just a few decades later, when cotton textiles were by far the cheapest.

You might check to see if you can find an authentic pattern from a historic shirt in one or another collection, and consider making that yourself, if you've got the time and requisite skills and patience to do so. I'm more of a "ready to wear" type myself, unfortunately. Certainly South Union Mills has some good stuff, but I've had issues with them in the past, so be careful with that. I do believe that more Civil War-era stuff is actually in stock there, however.

 

[FedericoFCavada]

I think that soldiers' letters home indicate they often were very thankful to receive clothing from home. Other's requested such items. I think that a civilian shirt or an issue shirt would do equally well for making an impression. At that point it becomes a question of what do you want to wear, what are you interested in portraying, and what would you need to pull off the impression? Someone just paroled and returned to a regiment would probably have been divested of most possessions and/or become quite ragged in appearance, and therefore might be more likely to have an "issue" garment. A poorer sort of person might have an issue garment, perhaps mended and patched. A person with family connections, or a community actively participating in supplying their local soldiers might have more homemade items of various kinds.

 

[PrivateBrooke]

That Barnett Stripe cloth is one I was considering, but like you, I'm more of an off the rack and ready to wear type. My sewing skills are almost non-existent, but I would like to learn, and was figuring a shirt might be a good starting piece for a beginner.

Those James County shirts are overshirts btw.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Just an aside, but I´ve come to loathe that word ¨over-represented.¨ Methinks it doth protest too much.

 

[FedericoFCavada]

Just an aside, but I´ve come to loathe that word ¨over-represented.¨ Methinks it doth protest too much.

Certainly in certain time-periods there were things that were practically ubiquitous, no? I mean some things were "over-represented" during the time periods in question! For example, in the 1920s in Havana, Cuba, literally every single man is wearing a straw boater. I mean, literally. Every. Single. Man. Beggars? Yep. Wealthy? Yep. Every man. It is as if there was no other hat.

Similarly, today if men wear hats at all, they are invariably baseball caps of one sort or another, a variation on a theme as it were.

Or running shoes/ tennis shoes/ sneakers. Or cargo shorts in summer.

So in the mid-19th century, literally everyone wore a hat. The simple felt "slouch hat" was the baseball cap of its day. A lot of things did become super-common and nigh ubiquitous such that bemoaning "over-representation" can, as you say, become a rather trite or meaningless "criticism," I'd agree.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Certainly in certain time-periods there were things that were practically ubiquitous, no? I mean some things were "over-represented" during the time periods in question! For example, in the 1920s in Havana, Cuba, literally every single man is wearing a straw boater. I mean, literally. Every. Single. Man. Beggars? Yep. Wealthy? Yep. Every man. It is as if there was no other hat.

Similarly, today if men wear hats at all, they are invariably baseball caps of one sort or another, a variation on a theme as it were.

Or running shoes/ tennis shoes/ sneakers. Or cargo shorts in summer.

So in the mid-19th century, literally everyone wore a hat. The simple felt "slouch hat" was the baseball cap of its day. A lot of things did become super-common and nigh ubiquitous such that bemoaning "over-representation" can, as you say, become a rather trite or meaningless "criticism," I'd agree.

I think sometimes ¨over-represented¨ means ¨you didn´t pay enough money for it to be special so I don´t like it.¨

 

[PrivateBrooke]

Also back then shirts were literally considered underwear....I doubt many men were worried too much about what color or pattern they had. I feel reenactors put a lot more thought into how our underwear looks than most of the soldiers back then would have..and I bet not a single spectator even notices what kind of shirt we're wearing.

I have a feeling this is simply one of those times where me striving to improve my impression has caused me to overthink things. Although in the interest of being different, if I happen to come across a nice striped or other pattern shirt that I like, I'll grab it. Otherwise I'll probably just stick with the four I already have.

 

[7thWisconsin]

If you wear a distinctive shirt it´s easier to locate yourself in event photos. Not that any reenactor would be that vain...

 

[PrivateBrooke]

If you wear a distinctive shirt it´s easier to locate yourself in event photos. Not that any reenactor would be that vain...

Not me, never. lol

 

[7thWisconsin]

Not me, never. lol

I used to pull the collar of my shirt over the collar of my 4 button...

 

[PrivateBrooke]

I used to pull the collar of my shirt over the collar of my 4 button...

I usually don't have trouble, as I'm one of too few wearing an NC sack coat at anything set Sharpsburg or earlier(or no specified setting).

 

[DoctorKingSchultz]

Also back then shirts were literally considered underwear....I doubt many men were worried too much about what color or pattern they had. I feel reenactors put a lot more thought into how our underwear looks than most of the soldiers back then would have..and I bet not a single spectator even notices what kind of shirt we're wearing.

I have a feeling this is simply one of those times where me striving to improve my impression has caused me to overthink things. Although in the interest of being different, if I happen to come across a nice striped or other pattern shirt that I like, I'll grab it. Otherwise I'll probably just stick with the four I already have.

I dunno. You put detachable collars and cuffs on underwear? It was definitely seen as less unmentionable than previous decades. That's how all those colorful shirts appeared to begin with!

 

[FedericoFCavada]

I dunno. You put detachable collars and cuffs on underwear? It was definitely seen as less unmentionable than previous decades. That's how all those colorful shirts appeared to begin with!

I do wear a pair of dress shirts with detachable collars. I need to get extra collars! It's pretty handy: paper collars were disposed of, cloth collars were laundered with hot water and bleach, while the rest of the shirt hid grime and odor a bit better and would only need laundering every now and then. Like when you took your bath in May or whatever...

 

[RetiredCanuck]

The other reason for detachable cuffs and collars was that they were not just the likeliest areas to get soiled. They were the first parts to fray or wear out. You could keep the body and refresh the rest as needed to maximize the life of the garment.