Clothing and Its Importance in Colonial America

2016

Ruby Wexler

People are judged all the time, though in Colonial America what others thought of you was very important. Even though all three cultures were very different, judgment based on clothing and general appearance was something they had in common. Although clothing was very important for warmth, it also had a huge impact on people’s social lives. A woman could get a better marriage if she wore fancier clothes. People would command more respect if they were well dressed. Clothes had this impact in all three cultures. These days, clothes are mainly just for protection, coverage, and fashion. But in the Colonial Era it was so much more. People don’t realize just how important clothes really were and still are today. But even to this day, people actually discriminate based on clothes. People still are highly judged on their clothing. However, first impressions aren’t everything. You can’t judge people until you know them. This is one of the problems with colonial society that we still have now.

Clothing in Colonial America

Olivia Propp

2016

In Colonial America a dress had many parts to it and there was a complicated process to putting one on. Wearing one required effort. Women had less freedom than men, and so did the conditions for clothing. It was uncomfortable, and tight, and it showed your ranking. For example: there were three parts to a dress: the skirt, the bum roll, and the stomacher. In addition, there were six different undergarments that women had to wear. “Being fashionable involved more than just wearing the latest clothing. Women had to be dressed properly underneath their gowns too! Colonial women wore several undergarments including a shift, stays, stockings, petticoats, pockets, and hoops,” (The Milliner, pg. 20). What you wore indicated your social class and you could be judged by what you wore. So if a woman wore a less decorative and fancy dress they may have been looked down on. Wealthier women used better fabrics than the lower class women. But most women wore undergarments. A lot of the undergarments were used to make the dress have volume like the hoops and the petticoats. Stays helped women keep a better posture and the shift soaked up all the sweat. The bum roll which was part of the dress also gave the dress volume. The process of getting dressed was to put the undergarments on, then put the pieces of the dress on. Putting a dress on was a very complicated process and took up a lot of time. If you weren’t wealthy and needed to work to earn money, the poor might have had to wear a more simple dress to save time. This would make people look down on you, but would save time. If you were rich and wore fancy dresses it would show that you would have the time to put on a dress, and you wouldn’t be looked down on. Clothing for English children, particularly those in the gentry class, were similarly complex.

Clothing in the Colonial Era

Annabelle H.

2015

There were many things that were deeply impacted by clothing in the Colonial Era such as, classes and cultures. There were many different styles of clothing, and many materials that were shown in separate cultures. Milliners and tailors would get a lot of business because of how popular and important their clothing was to their society. The African slaves didn’t have many clothing rights because of how they were treated and looked at. The Native Americans didn’t have much knowledge for clothing or materials. Religious beliefs were also shown with clothing because of superstitions. Women wanted to show perfection, and status. While men wanted to show strength, and class.  But there were also many people who couldn’t afford fancy things, or weren’t allowed to even own nice things. There were many different fabrics and tools for making clothing. Dyes, and spinning wheels were important to use for the process of making clothing. Each process for the separate cultures was different when getting clothing. Classes and social rankings were shown by the style and fashion of clothing a person wore. Clothing was very important and has always had different styles, and clothing plays an important role in the survival each society.        

Cate W.
2015

Clothing in Colonial America

In the colonial era, clothing was extremely relevant. Clothing helped show who was important. The Europeans, Natives and Africans all used different resources to assemble their clothing. Many of them had different traditions when it came to clothing. Their clothing traditions and styles weren’t completely different. In fact, one thing that they had in common was that they all wanted their apparel to be strong and solid. Clothing had a big impact on society. Everyone wanted the most delightful clothing they could possibly get. Many people couldn’t get nice clothing because they didn’t have enough money or they didn’t have many rights. Without clothing, people wouldn’t be able to define each other’s classes. Many people needed the lower class, middling class and gentry class because it helped show who was wealthy and who wasn’t. Without certain types of clothing, classes wouldn’t be the same, but are classes really a good thing? Do they help our world become a better society? If we didn’t have classes perhaps we would all live like the Natives. The Natives didn’t have classes. People in their society were very similar to each other. They ate, dressed and lived in a similar way. Would we end up like the Natives if we all dressed the same way. Would our society be more equal instead of hierarchical?