Undressing the Colonial and Victorian Woman and Man Makes the Dresses!

Last night at the Historical Society of Delaware, we were entertained by a program which showed how women in the 18th Century achieved their high fashion looks. Betsy Martino, of New Castle, Delaware, who has made a career out of supplying 18th C. clothing for men and women, explained the whys and wherefores of the upper class woman's dress.(See her website at http://commongoodes.com/). She explained how, to catch the male eye, women padded their hips and/or derrieres underneath their voluminous skirts. Betsy herself represented a servant helping her mistress get dressed.

The second half of the program was presented by Thomas Tier, also of New Castle, Delaware, who presented 3 models who showed how late 19th C ladies dressed. Striped stockings were in style, along with high buttoned shoes, and in a nod to the hoop skirts, pantaloons were introduced (crotchless to permit the call of nature without undressing). As in earlier times, women did not have buttons to fasten their clothes, just hooks and eyes. Here you can see Thomas helping a model with her hooks and before they could straighten the hem of her dress which was caught on her petticoat made of rings of wire covered by fabric. The green dress was just for around the house. For calling on friends, a more elaborate dress taking up many many more yards of fabric and trim was worn. When Mr. Tier was asked about the diagonal pattern of the blue dress, he said he cut the fabric on the bias when he made it (thus needing 3 more yards of fabric than a straight across cut). Did I catch that right? He made all the dresses! Remarkable. He also made his waistcoat and embroidered it with thistles in honor of his Scottish heritage. So I guess that thing about being Scotch= stingy does not hold true!

The model in blue shows her petticoat before the skirt is added, then we see her with shawl and bonnet and parasol, waiting for her carriage.