For reservations to experience “nkwiluntàmën: I long for it; I am lonesome for it (such as the sound of a drum)” by Indigenous artist Nathan Young, please go to https://nkwiluntamen.com/
Throughout the year we’ve been celebrating the unique clothing of the various people living and visiting Pennsbury Manor in the late 17th Century. After featuring the Laborers and the Servants/Tradespeople, we can highlight the Community Leaders!
Continue reading “Confessions of a Costumier: Dressing the Community Leaders”
Following our 17th-century Fashion Show last spring, I posted an article highlighting the Laborers and their clothing – next up are the Servants & Tradespeople!
These men and women did not have to break their backs in the fields or peddling wares on the streets, but they still lived a humble life. Perhaps they performed a trade, like turning table legs in a Joyner’s Shop, or worked as a housemaid on a large estate like Pennsbury Manor. Perhaps after saving their wages, they would have enough to purchase a small farm or open their own shop. They had enough to live on, but their modest clothing reflected their lower station in society.
Pennsbury volunteers Valerie and Joseph Long are pictured here modeling appropriate ensembles. Valerie is wearing the latest in 17th-century gowns: the Mantua (featured in a previous post). Her gown is a modest cut and color, and the fine wool fabric would last a long time. Her serviceable coif may not have been the latest style in caps, but it kept the hair off her face while she worked.
Just like his wife, Joe’s simple linen waistcoat and justacorps (also featured previously) was fashionable yet serviceable. Linen is a hard-wearing fabric that would last, which is important when every piece of clothing you buy is an investment. Tradesmen like Joe would dress informally when working in their workshops – shops were for manufacturing, not selling; that would happen at a store or at least a separate room at the front of the building. But when walking through town, he would still want to look like a man of business and stature.
A person’s outward image was a reflection of their status in society and served as a walking advertisement to others on how to treat you. Earlier in the 17th century, English law actually restricted what people could wear based on their social class. But as the gentry class increasingly sold their clothes to secondhand shops in order to fund their new, more fashionable wardrobes, the lower classes began to buy those high-quality garments. In wearing these gently-used pieces, just a fraction of the price for new clothes, they started looking just as nice as their employers. The gentry were NOT HAPPY and wrote in their letters and journals how frustrating it was when the maid looked just like the mistress!
Written by Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator & Costumier
**You might be wondering why our models don’t have any shoes on in these pictures? That’s because we haven’t been able to afford any. We are fundraising to purchase reproduction shoes, since a costumed interpreter in sneakers ruins the whole atmosphere… To help out, you can visit our official website www.pennsburymanor.org and click the “Donate Now” button at the bottom.**
As the summer heat drags on, we turn our focus to an important crop we’ve been growing in the Kitchen Garden: flax. This reed-like plant has been used for thousands of years to create a light-weight, durable fabric called linen, which was a staple textile for common folk and aristocrats alike.
Linen production in the Delaware River Valley began primarily in Swedish settlements as farmers began cultivating flax. By the time William Penn held the proprietorship of the colony, local leaders were urging settlers to increase growth of this fiber crop.
The harvest of the flax begins in late July. Farmers would pull the crop from the ground and tie them into small bundles in which they would be laid out to dry for several days. Next step would be to pull the fibers apart with a tool referred to as a “ripple comb.” During this stage, the seeds would be removed and could either be used for planting or sent to an oil mill for pressing.
Following this, the separated fibers would be wetted and laid out to soften. After separating them again, they would begin a process known as “hackling” or “hatchling.” Workers would draw fibers through a board with fixed steel teeth, providing fibers for grades of linen varying from rough working clothes to finer table clothes and sheets.
Flax was not initially a popular crop because of its need for fertile soil and the time-consuming, strenuous process of harvesting. However, flax became more profitable up into the mid-1700s as a major export of the region. Soon, with the rise of cotton in the 1800’s, linen production would nearly cease to exist.
On an estate such as Pennsbury Manor, linens of all kinds would be common, from the roughest weave to the finest bleached linen. Visitors can see evidence of it’s colonial role all around, from the tools of flax harvest found in the kitchen house to the linen press kept in Penn’s Great Hall to store his expensive investment. Linen was one of the key fabics of its time, and continues its popularity today!
By Ray Tarasiewicz, Intern
About a month has passed since our 17th-Century Fashion Show, and we had such an amazing time! A HUGE thank-you goes out to our lovely volunteer models (L-R) Mike Thomforde, Maggie Brosz, Joe Long, Valerie Long, Steve Ringel, Melissa Dill, Ron Matlack, and Judith Kirby. Don’t they look great??
I finally have some time to begin sharing what was discussed during the program. We covered so much about the evolution of clothes in the 17th century, but what I want to highlight most is the diversity in society. I previously posted a teaser of these various styles, and it’s an important step in the evolution of our living history programs. Fashions changed not just for the aristocracy, but all the lower classes as well. A colorful range of people would have lived and worked in colonial Pennsylvania, and we strongly believe all those people should be represented at Pennsbury Manor. This includes showing the variations in their wardrobe!
So today we begin with the lower class of residents at Pennsbury: the Laborers. Whether you were plowing the field, tending the kitchen garden, or churning butter in the dairy, your clothes needed to be practical. Below you see Mike and Maggie modeling appropriate ensembles. Compare them with the 17th-century drawings by Marcellus Laroon, which depict the poor street cryers in late 17th-century London.
Outdoor laborers would have needed to dress for the weather and conditions required of their jobs. While they might have a better set of clothes for Sundays or special occasions, out in the fields their attire had to be sturdy and comfortable. Mike is modeling a shirt, coat, and breeches which are all linen and obviously too big to be made for him specifically. He could have received hand-me-downs or bought clothes secondhand from a street cryer or ready-made from a store. His monmouth cap was a universal style worn by land laborers and sailors alike for centuries. If performing a dirtier job, he would don an apron like the one seen below on the vinegar-seller.
Just like Mike, Maggie is dressed to tackle the hard jobs all laboring women would face depending on the season. She might spend her days washing clothes, tending the Kitchen Garden and animals, brewing beer, or preparing meals at the hearth. The older style of short gown, rather than the more recent mantua style (seen in a previous post), would have been safer for working around fires and less cumbersome when laboring in the garden or stable. Her apron is made of a spare piece of rough linen and kerchief tucked into her bodice and out of the way. The only sign of fashion is the striped linen petticoat.
**You might be wondering why our models don’t have any shoes on in these pictures? That’s because we haven’t been able to afford any. We are fundraising to purchase reproduction shoes, because an interpreter in sneakers ruins the whole atmosphere created by historical dress, am I right? To help out, you can visit our official website www.pennsburymanor.org and click the “Donate Now” button at the bottom.**
Written by Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator
In less than 3 weeks, we will have a very exciting event for all members of The Pennsbury Society: a 17th-Century Fashion Show!
One of the benefits of membership in The Pennsbury Society is access to exclusive programs here at Pennsbury Manor. On Sunday, April 22nd at 2:00pm, our second program of 2012 will take a look at 17th-Century Fashions in England and the Colonies. Staff member and residential costume historian, Hannah Howard, will be sharing all her knowledge on the styles of William Penn’s time, including original artifacts, paintings, and drawings of the era. The program will finish with a Fashion Show of Pennsbury’s clothing collection and discussion of how fashion changed depending on someone’s role in society, with outfits modeled by our very own volunteers!
Pennsbury Manor is a state historic site, but we owe a lot of our program funding to our not-for profit support group, The Pennsbury Society. The funds they raise go to support our educational and specialty programs, including our wonderful Period Clothing Collection! If you haven’t yet become a member of the Pennsbury Society, consider joining and taking advantage of our unique events and opportunities. For more information, please stop by the Visitor Center or see our website: https://www.pennsburymanor.org/support/membership-opportunities/
I wanted to share an article I just read on another popular blog site called Two Nerdy History Girls. Every so often, they post something related to late 17th-century culture. Their most recent article, More Fashions for the Gentlemen: 1700 vs. 1800, compares how men dressed and behaved fashionably in two different centuries.
The article, which you can visit at the link above, includes a wonderful engraving comparing men’s fashion trends in 1700 and 1800! In today’s culture, there is a widespread idea that fashion is inherently feminine, and that men generally do not want to follow or practice fashion (although this is completely untrue, as guys follow trends just as much as the ladies). This image illustrates several important fashion differences – the article discusses how their behavior, posture, attention to detail, and accessories change based on what was considered fashionable!
Click on the image to enlarge, and see if you can pick out what’s different! Feel free to share your observations in the comments. Thanks to the Two Nerdy History Girls and their interesting articles!
Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator & Costumier
Last weekend, during our annual spring Interpreter training, I shared an amazing BBC mini-series on 17th-century farm life, and I wanted to make sure everyone else got to hear about it too!
(I’ve actually already shared it a couple of times on this blog, including a recent article about stuffing straw mattresses. But this is a tv series any history buff should not miss, so I couldn’t resist re-posting a link!!)
The series, called Tales From the Green Valley, follows 5 historians and archaeologists as they live on a real 17th-century Welsh farm and perform the daily activities required to survive. Unfortunately the series is not available on DVD in US-format, but luckily all 12 episodes are available onDaily Motion:*
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqprv1_e1-tales-from-the-green-valley_lifestyle
These 12 episodes, one for every month of the year, offers a marvelous inside look at the daily lives of Stuart-era English farmers. They follow the agricultural year and show how much life was influenced by the seasons, in ways that modern society hardly notices anymore.
Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing more posts on seasonal activities, so stay tuned!
Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator
*No copyright infringement intended, used for purely educational purposes
Our Ladies’ Dressing Guide post back in September has been the most viewed featurette on this blog -wow!! I am really excited to finally be able to offer a follow-up for the guys… our clothing collection for the male interpreters is starting to grow, and I encourage our volunteers start using some of the new pieces this spring! Keep in mind that people’s jobs and station in life would change how they dressed (see our post on Clothing Diversity), but this will give a good idea of a basic outfit.
Continue reading “Confessions of a Costumier: Men’s Dressing Guide!”
It is so easy to get caught up in creating the ULTIMATE historical ensemble. We worry about perfecting every detail, down to the smallest buttons and buckles. When costumiers get so caught up in recreating one outfit, it’s easy to forget just how diverse the clothing options actually were! We can’t just recreate one look (as we have done here) and think it will work for all people of all levels in society. Think about the modern world – we can tell a lot about a person’s job or life based on their clothing. Business men and women dress differently than artists or plumbers or teachers or politicians or… well, you get the picture.
So it’s our job as historians to research how those same clothing differences played out 300 years ago. We are developing job-specific costumes for the staff and volunteer interpreters recreating circa 1700 Pennsbury Manor, and working to increase our clothing collection with enough sizes to outfit everyone in the garments they need. Over the next few months, I’ll be posting in-depth tutorials for the different ensembles, but in the meantime I wanted to give you a sneak peak at our work…. enjoy!!
by Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator
Many of you may not realize how much time and research goes into crafting the historical outfits worn by our Pennsbury Manor Interpreters. These reproductions are all based on original artifacts, paintings, and sketches in order to honor the people whose stories we tell. It’s a constant evolution, but we are working very hard to make sure each item (down to your pins and socks!) are as close as we can get to 17th-century originals. In many cases, we try to copy the same styles and silhouettes as real 17th-century people, as we have done here with this 1687 London strawberry seller:
Continue reading “Confessions of a Costumier: Ladies’ Dressing Guide!”