In Humanities we are each studying a colonial research topic, mine is clothing, to research these topics we are using Noodletools. For each of the note cards we had to fine a evidence, from a database, book or interview. Once we found a good piece of evidence we would copy and paste some of it into Noodletools. This was one of the last note cards that I did, for me it was harder to find evidence because I had used most of it and I didn’t want to be repetitive. Next we had to put the quote into our own words. This was a little hard because it couldn’t be similar to the quote while saying the same thing. Lastly, We had to write an analysis, this for me was the hardest. Sometimes it was all questions and other times I would just restate the quote. I think in this note card I found a good balance between the two, while also adding my own thoughts. I think that I did a good job on this note card and since I worked on it so much I got a four!

Ruby Wexler

Notecards

notecard #9

Fashion Shows Identity

Source:

Hall, Jill M. ““Clothing and Fashion in the 17th Century.”.” Facts On File , 2014, online.infobase.com/hrc/search/details/358077?q=colonial clothing.

Quote:

“The details of appearance conveyed identity. Contemporaries recognized a person of wealth and privilege by his or her fine clothes, rich ornaments, and elegant bearing, and responded with an appropriate level of deference. Clothing also represented actual value. A person’s wardrobe represented a significant investment. Clothes were worn, repaired, remade, handed down, and sometimes sold or pawned for cash.

European writers revealed their discomfort with the relative undress of Native people, describing them as “naked” even while enumerating their garments (breechcloths, leggings, moccasins, mantles, and so on). Colonial narratives record gifts to the Native leaders, gifts that usually included at least some items of European clothing. A key element of many colonial ventures was to “civilize” American Indians, and an essential part of European civilization was proper—that is, European—clothing. In this instance clothing served both as a gift of value, costly and—in the colonial context—rare, and a gift of identity, which would bring the Native leader and eventually the community closer to the European ideal of appearance.

Native peoples adapted European cloth and clothing, incorporating them into their dress. They used thick “duffel” cloth for cloaks or mantles that had traditionally been made of furs. But as the growing colonial population eroded the traditional Native ways of life, Native peoples were increasingly pushed to adopt European ways, especially European clothing.”

Paraphrase:

• A person’s wealth was distinguished by their clothing and decoration.
• One’s clothing was one of the main things that they spent their money on.
• Clothes were used, sold, given to younger relatives and reused.
• The Natives were first viewed to be naked because they wore little clothing.
• The English gave gifts to the Natives lots of the gifts had English clothing in them.
• Some of the European settlers wanted to “civilize” of the Natives, one of they ways they tried to make them more proper was to give them English clothing.
• Eventually the Natives used some of the English clothing as well as their own.
• The Natives used a cloth called duffel cloth to make cloaks, though their cloaks were usually made out of furs.
• As time went on and the colony grew, more and more Natives started to the English ways and use more and more of their clothing.

My Ideas:

Clothing was one of the main points that lead the depletion of the Native Americans. The English settlers gave them gifts that often included clothing, the Natives started to take the new clothes into their own culture. This seemed harmless at the beginning, but later it became clear that the English want to take over the Natives. I think that they tried to make the Natives respectable by making them look more like the English. One of the examples of this is Pocahontas, she was the daughter of the great chief Powhatan, then she married John Ralph. She was given a new name was taken into the English traditions and ways of dress. In a way this is a less brutal version of bringing Africans and making them work under terrible conditions. The enslaved Africans started to adopt the English clothing while still keeping their own culture’s clothes. Though like the Natives they were eventually forced into the European ways of dress. The English showed their wealth and rank through their clothing, enslaved people were automatically judged by their clothing and race. The Natives also had their own hierarchy that was also shown by clothing. I think that eventually the Natives were showed their rank through the amount of English clothing they had showed their rank because if you could have traded moe clothing that means you have things to trade and you are wealthy. Clothing could also have been very helpful or unhelpful in the drama of society. If you were someone looking to get married you would want to have nice clothing to look wealthy, to look well keep and maybe just to show off. If you wore odd or different clothes you might be though as odd or different. The English settlers spent a good amount of their money on their clothing, the Natives and enslaved people weren’t this particular though they were still showing their rank through their clothing. 

History:

Created: 11/02/2016 12:44 PM