About the Clothing of the Southern Colonies

The clothing of the Southern colonies said a lot about the status of the people who wore them. A glance would tell an onlooker whether someone was prosperous and belonged to the upper class, or if he was a less prosperous farmer or tradesman. Some luxuries, such as silk fabrics and lace, had to be imported and were too expensive for the average person. Wool from sheep was more plentiful and could be used for many clothing items, including shirts and mittens.

Types

The type of clothing worn in the Southern colonies depended on a variety of factors, including a family's economic circumstance, where they lived and dress choices for certain events. Well-to-do families who lived in houses that resembled those they left in England still dressed by the dictates of London's fashions. On the other hand, less prosperous people who lived in the backcountry wore plainer clothing. Their clothes were more for function than fashion, including dresses of homespun cloth and breeches of buckskin.

Features

If women today had to give up the comfort of jeans and dress themselves as Southern colonists did, they would probably feel terribly confined, not to mention weighed down. Women sometimes wore as many as five to eight petticoats, a hoop on each hip under their gowns that made their hips look more pronounced, and stays to make their waists appear smaller. That permitted nothing less than correct posture. Under it all they wore a linen shift, sort of like a modern slip, and at bedtime it became their nightgown. Men wore a linen shirt, a vest called a waistcoat and breeches. The breeches are similar to today's pants or trousers but extended to the knees only.

Expert Insight

Fancy and plain clothing of the Southern colonies were described as "dress" and "undress," according to historical clothing expert Linda Baumgarten in an essay for Colonial Williamsburg. She said dress clothing meant formal clothing with a different set of conventions and accessories from undress, or informal clothing. She also explained the importance of studying the clothing from this period, saying people today "might better understand the routine, human aspects of their daily lives, which are so seldom revealed in the written records they left."

Time Frame

Parents dressed their boys and girls alike. Boys wore the same slip-like gown as girls during their early years. The oldest age when they would trade it in for breeches was 7, but sometimes they would start wearing breeches when they were as young as 4. Girls could remain in the childhood gown until they reached their early teens, when they would begin dressing as their mothers did. When children shed the clothing of their youth for other garments, their families might have marked the milestone with a celebration.

Geography

The Southern colonies consist of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. They are bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Appalachian Mountains to the west. The location gave Southern colonists warmer weather than their neighbors, who lived immediately north of the region in the Middle Colonies, and their summers were humid. The warm summers and fertile land provided good conditions for tobacco growers. South Carolina added plants from which an indigo clothing dye was made.

Resources

• 18th Century Clothing