How to Dress like Abraham Lincoln

"Would I might rouse the Lincoln in you all." These words by Vachel Lindsay, a poet born in Springfield, Illinois years after Abraham Lincoln's untimely death, are the slogan of the Association of Lincoln Presenters. These Lincoln enthusiasts help keep his message of freedom, hope and unity alive by portraying our 16th president in schools, at parades, and other special events. Here is how to dress like Abraham Lincoln.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• stovepipe hat
• long black frock coat
• tailored black trousers
• beard--your own or false
• white dress shirt
• black wool vest with cloth covered buttons
• flat bow tie
• black shoes, highly polished

Big Shoes to Fill

1. First, don a white long-sleeved dress shirt and tailored black pants.
2. Next, put on a flat black bow tie, hand-knit black wool socks, and a pair of men's black dress shoes, polished to a mirror shine.
3. Add a vest with cloth-covered buttons. Attach a gold pocket watch on a long chain to one of your buttons, and slip the watch into your vest pocket.
4. Pull on a men's black wool suit jacket, almost knee length.
5. Top your outfit with a stovepipe hat made from felt, silk, or beaver.
6. Don't forget to grow your beard. Men in Lincoln's day wore beards without mustaches, or simply wore mutton chops, a type of sideburn meeting in the center of the chin.

Tips & Warnings

• Lincoln was known to keep important papers in his hat.
• Lincoln's hat once saved his life in 1864.