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Victorian
women were very conscious that the way she dressed her family reflected directly
on her good taste and skill as a needlewoman. Would she send the love of her
life, the father of her children, the center of the family structure out into
the world in a shirt made up like a patchwork quilt? Not very likely! So why
this new trend among the reenacting male to wear these crazy quilt shirts?
Five samples of this were seen at the Butte College event and each one of them was historically incorrect. I asked one young man wearing such a shirt "Why?" He replied that he bought it at one of the sutlers, that "it was made up from left over bits because cloth was scarce." Not too likely a story because he was a Union solider. No blockade in the North, lots of mothers, wives and daughters sewing up shirts for the men. More believable on a Southron? Not really. A shirt of homespun would have been made up first. But should a woman have been reduced to making a shirt from different pieces, the shirt would have gone into the dye pot before it ever went on to her man’s back. A dye pot on the home lot was quite normal. Many of the everyday items of clothing would be re-dyed each year when the color started to fade. Indigo blue, walnut brown, madder red are some of the most common colors.
Common
clothing construction in the Victorian home, when speaking of shirts, started
at the top. The head of the household got his made first. The family would often
purchase a full bolt of fabric and everyone got a shirt made from the same.
You often see photographic evidence showing the males all in the same print
shirt and the mother and girls in different style dresses, dictated by age,
but all the same print. Even more common are all the children and the mother
in the same cloth but the father in a white shirt. Dad always got the best.
As reenactors it is our job to teach history by example and it is important that we have our facts straight. Men and women both need to do the research before spending hard earned money on gear. Know what you buy is historically correct.
If you have one of these shirts, spend your winter season dying it. Rit dye is inexpensive and easy to use if you follow the directions carefully. Tracy Shapiro, an expert in historic fabrics, suggests using a dark brown. Or if your patchwork is predominately blue or red use an indigo blue (think Levis) or a brick red. Then your story of lack of cloth will make better sense. The subtle difference in pattern will be the only giveaway to your family’s dire poverty.
This
article was penned by Miss Bridget
Carson, aka Miss Vera Biggins. Bridget is a veteran reenactor, co-author
of this website, the RACW newsletter editor and former Civilian Representative
to the RACW Board of Directors.
