Popular Fashion in the Antebellum Period

Dolores'south interest in style history dates from her teenage years when vintage apparel was widely available in austerity stores.

The American Civil War was responsible for changes in women'due south style in the mid-1800s.

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The habiliment worn during the American Civil War (1861—1845) is a pop costume for Halloween and for Civil War reenactors. In full general, the fashions worn before and during the Civil War are Victorian styles, merely the clothing worn by women in the Confederate States take on a slightly unlike consideration.

Cotton wool was produced in the American South, only the textile mills that manufactured fabric were located in the northern states. The few southern mills worked to produce fabric for the military machine. The occludent of southern ports by northern forces prevented the importation of European likewise as American fabrics. Though occludent runners managed to move some goods through, those imports were few and far between. Black market appurtenances were very expensive, then the South had to make practise without new fabric for the elapsing of the war.

What little cloth was bachelor was needed for uniforms for the military. Even then, southern uniforms were not uniform and many versions existed, including lite gray, dark grayness, light bluish, and butternut brown.

Southern women learned to make do with less and the famous scene in Gone With the Wind, when Scarlett uses drapes to make a clothes had some basis in fact. Clothing was mended or remade. Homespun became a popular, fifty-fifty patriotic substitute for manufactured cloth during the war.

Hoop Skirts

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Earlier the War—Style in The Antebellum Due south

Nosotros like to visualize women of the Antebellum south in traditional Victorian hoop skirts, grandly embellished with ribbons and bows. Of course, like all style periods, the yard, elegant styles of the period were express to the wealthier classes. Simpler versions of hoop skirts were worn by women of less means.

The aristocracy women of the Antebellum Southward enjoyed French and English fashions. They visited Europe and brought domicile new styles, fabrics, and designs from Paris and London to exist created for them by seamstresses.

• Evening attire featured drop shoulder sleeves, low necklines, and voluminous skirts, held out past layers of petticoats, crinolines, or hoops. Hoops, horizontal circles of thin steel, were held in place by vertical strips of cloth. Short capped sleeves exposed women's arms during warmer months and for evening wear.

• Bodices were somewhat lower than the bodily waistline, only rose later the state of war. Bodices were lined for back up and closed in front end with buttons or hooks and eyes. Bodice and skirt fabrics commonly matched.

• Day-wear dresses were high necked. Information technology was unseemly for a adult female to show skin before belatedly afternoon. As pale skin was the mode, necks and shoulders had to be covered to avoid the sun. Outdoors, during the day, women carried parasols to avert sunlight.

• Sleeves were full, widest at the elbow, erupting from a gathered shoulder seam. The Bishop sleeve featured the gathered shoulder, wide elbow, and narrowed at the wrist.

• Layered sleeves with the under-sleeve showing was popular for a time. Sleeves were oftentimes trimmed with ribbon or braid.1 type sleeve called a negative sleeve showed the lining when the long sleeve was caught up on the outer side, leaving the portion of the sleeve at the back of the arm hanging.

I interesting attribute of women'south skirts was the hem. Today, a hem is turned nether and stitched. During Victorian times, and in the American Civil State of war era, hems were bound past a strip of textile. This fabric could exist removed and replaced when the hem showed wear.

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Fabrics for Southern Well-to-Do

The elite women of the southward wore fabrics in silk, velvet for colder conditions; fine lawn, linen, and muslin in warm weather.

White was a popular color in warm weather condition for women with status. Blackness, worn for mourning, was often worn due to the high expiry rate, and during the war as women lost loved ones who perished in boxing.

Large prints were difficult to match and restricted to the wealthy equally the voluminous skirts were made of upward to 5 yards of fabric, and using a print, stripe or plaid increased the need for even more fabric.

Centre part with pilus looped at the side

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Hair and Accessories

• Pilus: The ideal women of the pre-Civil War South had stake peel and a rounded face. Hair was parted downward the center and drawn dorsum, with soft loops on each side of the face up that accentuated a circular face. These loops could be puffed out with a 'rat,' a pocket-size net stuffed with hair gathered during brushing.

  For clothes, the side hair hung in loose ringlets from a central function.

• Jewelry: Jewelry was small sized and a rosy gold was the preference in delicate, dangle earrings and oval horizontal or vertical brooches. A brooch was worn at the neckline, at the superlative of the neckband during the day.

  Matching chunky bracelets were worn on each wrist.

• Fans: Fans were a popular accessory of the American Due south, a region of hot, humid summers. Unproblematic paddle fans fabricated of palmetto leaves were round and small sized. Half-dozen to ten inch folding fans could be painted with pretty designs.
• A nosegay, or small bunch of aromatic flowers and herbs was a popular accessory in an era without deodorant.
• Small purses, or drawstring bags held a lady'southward necessities.
• Aprons, ofttimes worn for cooking or doing chores protected dresses.
• Lace was non widely used, except for collars and cuffs
• Collar and cuffs were removable for laundering or a stylish change. These removable collars and cuffs were usually white.
• Parasol: A fabric umbrella carried on a sunny mean solar day to protect a adult female'southward complexion from the sun, and offered a kind of portable shade

Civil State of war era woman wearing lace cuffs and collar

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Woman With a Parasol

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Underwear of the Civl War South

Victorian women of the Civil War period wore many layers of undergarments. While layered undergarments were necessary in many areas for warmth, the custom likewise followed rules of etiquette and propriety.

The start layer was a soft cotton or linen chemise worn with drawstring drawers trimmed in lace or ribbon, ending only below the articulatio genus.

Whalebone corsets laced at the back to accentuate a small waist. The modern concept that women of the day were obsessed with crushing themselves into the tiniest waist possible is not truthful - that beliefs was limited to a small subset.

During the mid 1800s, many petticoats, a crinoline, or crinoline cage hoop skirt created the huge, bell shaped brim that typified the era. The hoop skirt was impractical, generally worn for dressy occasion.

A Immature Adult female Shows That You Tin can Sit While Wearing a Crinoline Cage (Hoop Skirt)

Clothing of Lower Class Women in the Ceremonious War South

Lower class women did not wear wide hoop skirts, though less expensive crinoline cages (with fewer hoops) were bachelor for those who could afford the style. The lower classes wore coarser fabrics.

Coarser Fabrics Worn past Lower Classes

• Osnaburg—a fibroid, inexpensive linen
• Fustian—a cotton and linen blend
• Linsey-woolsey—a coarse linen, and wool blend, later cotton and wool.
• Calico—a inexpensive cotton fabric printed with a design featuring tiny flowers

Most women of the day wore solid fabrics. Stripes and plaids were limited to the wealthy every bit matching pieces of cloth use more than material. Small prints, like calico, were easier to friction match and mend. Calico prints were normally dark to hibernate stains. Black was a common colour for all classes and worn for mourning dress. Many photographs of the time depict women dressed in blackness, as many suffered the loss of loved ones, so dressed in mourning attire.

Homespun material was not oft used before the Civil War, but became somewhat popular during the war due to fabric shortages. Reverse to popular conceptions, enslaved women did not wear homespun as the work involved in the cosmos of that fabric was labor intensive and not seen as an economic use of a a worker's fourth dimension. Slaves usually wore inexpensive manufactured fabrics. However, big plantations oftentimes employed spinners, weavers, seamstresses, and tailors in gild to clothe the many people who worked there.

Enslaved people were issued a few sets of vesture each year. Poor people, laborers, the lower class, and enslaved people by and large wore article of clothing fabricated of tough, durable fabric. Their clothing was less tailored and embellished than the garments of the elite. Enslaved women who worked inside the home dressed in more up-to-date, more tailored and embellished garments than those who worked outdoors.

A wrapper was a loose, i piece apparel that was gathered and pleated from neck to hem and belted for shape often with an frock. Low, broad shoulders with wide sleeves gathered at the wrist. Wrappers were worn by working women, lower grade women, rural women, and for household chores. A women of moderate substance wore a wrapper fabricated of a better fabric.

Enslaved woman wearing bonnet, greatcoat, and apron

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Ceremonious War Era woman in print apparel with white collar and side curls

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Civil War era woman wearing bonnet with a big bow

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Women's Hats of the Civil State of war Era

Hats were ordinarily worn during Victorian times and were a necessity for women of the south. Wide brimmed hats protected the face, neck, and optics from the sun. Wearing a hat was seen as a respectable practise and worn for proprietary equally well as for looks and fashion.

Wide brimmed garden hats were popular in warmer months. Often made of straw, garden hats were tied nether the chin and often featured some ornament at the base of the crown.

Bonnets were worn in winter and made of heavier materieals than summer bonnets. Sun bonnets ofttimes featured a ruffle or modest curtain of fabric at the back to protect the neck from the sun.

The fabric of bonnets was stiffened into a wide forepart brim and tied under the chin with wide ribbons of fabric. Ornamentation could be changed to refresh the look of a bonnet. Faux flowers were a popular bonnet decoration. Feathers did not become popular until much later.

Spoon bonnets featured a alpine, uplifted front skirt. Decorative elements like silk flowers, or ruffles were worn inside the hat, under the brim.

Small caps were oft worn indoors, particularly by older women. These caps worn at the dorsum of the caput could be busy with ruffled edges, braid, or ribbon.

Poor women and slaves wore a kerchief tied behind the head. Some enslaved women wore turbans.

Older adult female wearing a cap

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Tips on Making a Ceremonious War or Antebellum Costume

If you want to create a costume for a woman of the Confederacy during the Civil War, remember that many women wore mended vesture. Faded or muted colors piece of work well every bit new materials were non bachelor during the war. Many fabrics can be artificially aged by soaking in black tea.

Remember that sewing machines were not widely bachelor. Wealthier women could, however afford the services of a seamstress, who might use a sewing car.

Many items of vesture were hand sewn earlier, during, and after the war. For a truly authentic look, mitt sew all visible seams.

Belle Boyd—Confederate Spy

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Civil War Era Seamstress

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For Farther Reading

Costume and Manner Source Books by Karen Taschek; Bailey Publishing Associates

Wear Through American History—The Ceremonious War Through the Gilded Age 1861—1899 past Anita Stamper and Jill Condra

lx Ceremonious War Era Mode Patterns, past Kristina Seleshanko

American Ceremonious War Era Style Plates : Peterson's Magazine 1860—1865, by Mandie Foster and Dannielle Perry

Who Wore What Women's Habiliment 1861—1865, by Juanita Leisch

Questions & Answers

Question: Did women wear brand-upwardly during the American Civil State of war?

Answer: The Civil War-era falls into the greater Victorian era, a fourth dimension when women were supposed to expect natural. While women once wore heavy makeup, a modern term, cosmetics were seen as vulgar, worn by actresses and prostitutes. A high-class lady avoided the sunday as tanning and freckles were seen as low grade. An aristocracy adult female had to bear witness that she did non labor in the sun.

However, women used subtle cosmetics to enhance their appearance. Pastes and creams with moisturizing properties could hide blemishes, freckles, and uneven skin tones. Creme Celeste was a concoction fabricated of white wax, spermaceti (a substance from the head of a whale), rose h2o, glycerin, sweet almond oil, and essential oils. Rice and zinc oxide powders could be dusted over the face to create the stake complexion and then pop at the time.

Lip balms often contained a tinge of color. A very subtle blush or rouge was dusted on the cheeks, though obvious cheek coloring was viewed as inappropriate for a lady. Women plucked their eyebrows.

Dazzler products were purchased at apothecary shops just as in later years, cosmetics have been sold at pharmacies and drug stores.

Question: Tin can you lot even so find hoop skirts in this century?

Answer: Hoop skirts still evidence up in wide-skirted nuptials gowns. They can be found online for reenactment, period, or theatrical costumes. In the 1950s, very wide skirts were popular. Strong petticoats usually provided support only there were some instances of hoop inserts in petticoats. Hoop-La was one product I just found on Etsy. But hoops are hard to deal with especially when trying to sit down down. Some petticoats of the 1950s provided one or two hoops.

Question: May I use this article for my school project?

Respond: If you desire to use this commodity as a resource for a school projection, you should contact your instructor. There are sites that educators prefer, and those may include scholastic journals or museum references. Your instructor may adopt that you use books for enquiry.

When referencing an online site for school projects, the way you cite the information depends, once more, on your instructor'due south preference.

Question: Who was the seamstress for the hoop-skirt?

Answer: A seamstress sewed article of clothing but did non really make the cage crinoline for hoop skirts.

Hoops were worn under skirts and replaced hot, itchy crinolines. The actual cage crinoline was mass produced in factories. Sparse pieces of cut steel were covered with cotton. The circles of a hoop brim were smaller at the elevation and large at the hem. They were held together with fabric tape.

A skirt made with many yards of fabric was worn over elevation the cage.

© 2011 Dolores Monet

Dolores Monet (author) from East Declension, United States on Jan 14, 2020:

Are you certain that the clothing actually dates to the 1860s? Confront it, few garments stand the test of fourth dimension, in this instance 160 years. Clothing can exist damaged past wearable, perspiration, insects, dampness, dry out rot, and temperature extremes. Take a proficient long look at the garments to encounter if they are really old. Expect for clues in fasteners, style, and materials.

You may want to check out the Vintage Style Guild and the Costume Society of America. You can also contact a local college that has a costume or textile section for help in agreement what you have.

To sell antiquarian clothing, look online to see who is selling information technology. If it's a company, they are buying. If you see antique garments on a site similar eBay or etsy, you can get that road. Check online prices to determine how much to charge. What you earn volition depend on the condition of the garments.

Tina C on January thirteen, 2020:

I have a majority of vintage clothing from my collection of vintage clothing during this era for sale. Where is a good place to sell it?

Dolores Monet (author) from East Coast, United States on October 08, 2019:

Hi Erin - up to six or seven petticoats were worn with a crinoline. More than petticoats were worn for dressy occasions. The elite wore more petticoats than center class or working form women.

The cumbersome nature of and then many petticoats and the weight of those combined with the crinoline made the newer hoop skirts much more comfortable. Also, hoop skirts were mass produced to were more than affordable for the lower classes. The more money you had to spend, the more hoops were encased in the crinoline cage.

Erin on Oct 03, 2019:

How many petticoats were worn over the crinoline?

Dolores Monet (author) from E Coast, United States on April 05, 2019:

With all the complicated layers and lacings, it would accept been a bit of a task to dress and undress. And with garments laced or fastened at the back, assist would be required.

alex martel on Apr 04, 2019:

did it take long to take it off the dress in the 1800s

Dolores Monet (author) from East Coast, United States on December 12, 2018:

Women in the North were able to live and dress better than those of the S. The textile mills of the North produced clothing but blockades prevented the importation of fabric to the Confederacy. Also, about of the battles were fought in the South. Virtually 250,000 people were forced to go out their homes due to the fighting. Refugees left near of their belongings at home and this included vesture.

Due to the absence of men off fighting, southern women performed tasks usually left to men. The South was more than agrarian than the North. As men went off to fight, women were left to do men's work on the subcontract. Their clothing would have reflected that.

Enslaved women of the South faced greater deprivations and their article of clothing would reflect that position.

Though the Civil State of war effected changes in the lives of women of both the North and the South, women of the N were able to maintain a somewhat improve wardrobe.

makayla on December 12, 2018:

is in that location any northward?

Dolores Monet (author) from E Coast, Us on Oct 10, 2016:

Renee - I am sure information technology was difficult. For near of history including the mid 19th century, women'south undergarments were open at the top of the thigh. This fabricated it easier to employ a sleeping accommodation pot. I don't remember someone dressed up would be using an outhouse.

Renee on October 06, 2016:

How and where did they go to the bathroom? I have asked this question and usually become a vague answer. I want detail, delight. I don't sympathize how they managed all that fabric, especially the hoop skirts. They didn't have plumbing, couldn't have fit into an outhouse and how did they manage a chamber pot? Where did they and men go to salvage themselves, say at a ballet, theater or church? How almost a ball on a plantation? I would capeesh a descriptive respond. I've always been fascinated with the civil war era, and this has ever puzzled me.

Dolores Monet (author) from Due east Coast, U.s.a. on January 04, 2015:

H - those gigantic hoops and the tight corsets sure made for some cute gowns only they must accept been and so uncomfortable! Not to mention the expense of then many yards of fabric. I love the concept of Farby. It must be very difficult to achieve exact historical costume and I do admire those with the patience and ambition to adhere to the standards of the day. Cheers for pointing this out. I actually wanted to illustrate how hard it was to bargain with this stuff.

H on January 01, 2015:

The girl in your video is wearing a farby hoop, even for a ball-gown the hoop she is wearing is a circus tent!

Dolores Monet (author) from East Declension, United States on April 05, 2011:

Sally - you lot must have been a good niggling daughter. I know some fiddling girls who would 'accidentally' break that thing! Not me, of course, haha! I remember those itchy crinolines, only not the bodily hoops. Sheesh. What were they thinking? I imagine that apparel did non get a lot of vesture!

Sherri from Southeastern Pennsylvania on April 04, 2011:

LOL, those crinolines did crawling! Simply the brim I was talking about had no crinoline underneath. It was shaped by an underskirt that had a frame to make the clothes "hoop out" at the bottom in a perfect circle. Perhaps "reinforced buckram" was non the right description...this underskirt had, at the bottom, sewn into its hem, something like the ribbing nosotros might find in corsets. When it broke, information technology broke!

Dolores Monet (author) from East Declension, Us on April 04, 2011:

How-do-you-do, Sally - cheers and so much for sharing a wonderful story and making such a lovely comment. A material like buckram would take been called a crinoline and I remember them back in the 1950's. I hated them. They itched! Funny how styles come back.

The actual hoops in a hoop skirt, the frames that held out the skirt are like to the Elizabethan farthingale, a bicycle-similar contraption that made those skirts stand way out, like y'all see in pictures of Queen Elizabeth I.

Sherri from Southeastern Pennsylvania on Apr 03, 2011:

Marvelous Hub! I learned so much...never knew that the sleeve with the poof and narrowed wrist was called Bishop, and more.

In the early 1950s, my mother fabricated flower-girl dresses for her brother'southward wedding. The dresses had hoop skirts, the hoop frames being made of a kind of reinforced buckram. My blossom girl dress hoop brim cracked its buckram, and pictures of me show a quite pointy dress at the hem. Sad!

But the indicate...my mother learned much of her dressmaking skill from her mother in law, who learned from her mother, who lived through the Civil War in Ohio.

What a super Hub that, for me, so much connects the far past with my childhood.

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