What does it mean to be dressed for work in the mid-19th century? We have heard them called camp dresses, wash dresses, or work dresses, and while these specific terms are *non* period, they basically mean the same thing in our modern times: a practical outfit for getting down and dirty with the chores. Unfortunately, a lot of women throw a thrift store blouse and a elastic band skirt together and call it good, but that is not the way the lovely ladies of the Victorian era did things (elastic was not used for holding up any sort of skirt) . In fact, the white body or bodice (not blouse; that was a term generally used for men's clothing, not women's) and (silk or wool) skirt was a highly fashionable ensemble that would more than unusual in the barn or field. Unless, of course, Nellie from Little House on the Prairie showed up. Both garments were set onto waistbands.
*note* There are images of young ladies wearing bodices in a print different from the skirt. This seems to be mostly popular in the young woman department (early 20s and younger) and whether it was a fad or a practical choice for a growing lady (needing to replace a bodice that no longer fits and not having the matching fabric to do so), we don't know. The drape of the fabric in these images does look very much like wool, however, so if you are a young lady wishing to portray this option, I recommend not using cotton. *end note*
Did work attire mean the lady was slovenly dressed in a poorly fitted garment, with her hair down and scraggly? No way! Did work attire mean that only scruffy, solid cottons were used because it was cheap and easy to acquire? Hardly. In fact, nothing is more durable and safe around open fires than pure, lightweight, smooth-weave wool (oh, yum!). Also, how a lady dressed for work really depended on her station in life. If she was planning to be out in the fields, tending to the animals, washing clothes, or any other hard labor in between, sturdy printed cottons (any sort of solid cotton, except for white, is poorly documented...cottons do not fade evenly and solid cottons only enhance that flaw) or wool might be her best option. Rigorous wear would also mean there might be a need to be mend/replace the garment more often, so the dress is not likely to be insanely out-of-date. A lady who did light house work and maybe a little gardening might not need to dress as sturdy and an upper class lady who sat around doing needle work might wear a nice, simple silk dress. Women dressed to their station. It was important not to dress below ones station because image was very important. So no showing up at Walmart in pjs, okay? Oh wait, that is only in the 21st century...
So, first things first: figure out your station in life and what sorts of jobs you will be doing. Don't underdress or overdress. Get into a period mind set and be aware of your options. Don't jump right in with a modern mind set of running to the dress-up box. Now, if you are comparing the one-piece dress with jeans, that would actually work. One-piece dresses ARE the staple garment of the mid-19th century. They could be worn plain and practical, or dressed up to look quite nice (like a pair of jeans). They didn't gape at the waist, didn't have to be tucked in constantly, and were sturdy. Practical.
Next: don't run out and buy any sort of fabric and make it up in any sort of style. Do your research. You are portraying a period in history and it is important to be as accurate as possible. You are the window to the past. Look at paintings from the time period (take them with a grain of salt, artists are, well, artistic and that shows up in their paintings). Peruse photographs, particularly looking at ones that depict women in working clothing.
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| Quilting Party - note the two one-piece dresses with aprons. |
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| The Speculator - 1852 |
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| Woman with a Washing Machine in Watkins, N.Y. - 1860s |
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Circa 1865 - one-piece dress tucked into an apron or belt, revealing a balmoral petticoat
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| Simple Wool Dress |
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Piped armcye (arm hole) - note how tiny that piping is. This is what you should be looking for...self-fabric piping is *very* common. Contrasting piping is generally only seen in children's clothing. |
Elements of a work dress bodice:
1. Gathered (very common in cottons), darted (cottons were generally *not* darted in the mid-19th century) or pleated bodice. Look at common styles for fiber content. Please don't make a silk or wool style up in cotton. Cottons are generally (or used to be) cheaper and let me tell you, it looks cheaper. There are very fine cottons out there that can be done in specific styles for the kind of cotton, but cotton does not do much crossing over to the wool/silk side. There is a reason these styles were made up in the fabric they were: they were fancier than your average cotton. If you are going to be working fires, wool is naturally fire retardant, cottons are naturally fire starters. Please make a wool dress, or at the least, a wool apron to go over your cotton dress if you are going to be dancing around the flames. Death by fire was not the #1 (or 2nd, or 3rd, for that matter) cause of death for women of the 19th century, but it may be for you if you are wearing cotton.
2. Full lining or a half-high lining is fine for semi-sheers and sheers. I am unsure of their use in an opaque bodice. The bodice would be flat lined (treated as one with the fashion fabric) in the side, shoulder seams, and darts. If the bodice is gathered, the lining would be darted. The insides of period dresses were not pretty, so don't fear perfection. Perfection is just not necessary. Avoid the zigzag stitch on your machines. It did not exist. If you feel your seams *must* be finished, simply overcast them with a whipstitch.
3. Pipe your armcyes, neckline (or bias bind) and waist. Piping is such a useful element, especially in work attire. It really stabilizes the armcye, preventing it from ripping during activity (the armcyes were cut higher than modern arm holes, so this stabilization is a must. It was not done that way to be uncomfortable, but to prevent the dress from shifting up when the lady lifted her arms). At the waist, it makes it easy to whip stitch the gauged or pleated skirt right into the ditch of the piping. The waist can simply be finished with the piping or have a piped waistband. The skirt *can* be enclosed in the waistband, but it is so much simpler and neater to just pipe the bottom and whip stitch away.
4. There are so many variations of sleeves. I would tend to avoid wide sleeves like pagodas. Overly full bishops can also get in the way. Also remember, open sleeves are not usually seen on cottons unless they are sheers or an open coat sleeve. Bishops, slim, and coat sleeves are more common in cotton.
5. The finishing touches can be a collar and cuffs, both to protect the edges of your dress that comes in contact with the most grime. If you are planning on rolling your sleeves up, skip the cuffs. Also, a diamond shaped neckerchief is nice to tuck inside of the collar or pin on the outside to protect the shoulders. Use hook and eyes or washable buttons (e.i. glass, china, shell, NOT wood) to close your bodice
Elements of a work dress skirt:
1. Big ole rectangles are used for making the skirts of the mid-19th century, so no pattern needed. Just measure the length you need and sew the panels together. Skirts tends to be 160"-180" in circumference. You can use an offset opening to avoid gaping (some call it a dog-leg opening, this terminology does not appear to show up in period writings) where the skirt is sewn onto a scrap waistband and shifted so that it opens to the side rather than straight down the front. If your opening is in a seam, this moves the seams from the front also. Hook and eyes are useful for keeping everything in place.
2. Put a big pocket in one of the seams that can be easily reached. This is a great place to hide your modern necessities and one reason the ladies did not need to carry purses as often as we do. A cotton tape can be sewn to the bottom of the pocket and attached somewhere near the waist to help support excessive weight. Separate pockets that can be reached through the skirt opening fell out of use so they would be *really* old-fashioned for the 50s and 60s.
3. The most common hem is the faced hem, where another fabric is sewn directly to the unfinished hem of the skirt and turned inward. This fabric takes the most abuse where your shoes will hit and can be replaced when it wears out, thus prolonging the life of the garment. Turned hems are common in sheers but far less common in other types of dresses.
4. A wool hem braid would *likely* be attached at the hem and can be sandwiched between the outer fabric and the facing, wrapped around, or sewn to the inside so that a little edges peeks beyond the edge of the skirt. This is also meant to prolong the life of the dress, protecting the very bottom of the skirt that brushes against the ground. It is much easier to replace braid that make a whole new dress.
3. Pipe your armcyes, neckline (or bias bind) and waist. Piping is such a useful element, especially in work attire. It really stabilizes the armcye, preventing it from ripping during activity (the armcyes were cut higher than modern arm holes, so this stabilization is a must. It was not done that way to be uncomfortable, but to prevent the dress from shifting up when the lady lifted her arms). At the waist, it makes it easy to whip stitch the gauged or pleated skirt right into the ditch of the piping. The waist can simply be finished with the piping or have a piped waistband. The skirt *can* be enclosed in the waistband, but it is so much simpler and neater to just pipe the bottom and whip stitch away.
4. There are so many variations of sleeves. I would tend to avoid wide sleeves like pagodas. Overly full bishops can also get in the way. Also remember, open sleeves are not usually seen on cottons unless they are sheers or an open coat sleeve. Bishops, slim, and coat sleeves are more common in cotton.
5. The finishing touches can be a collar and cuffs, both to protect the edges of your dress that comes in contact with the most grime. If you are planning on rolling your sleeves up, skip the cuffs. Also, a diamond shaped neckerchief is nice to tuck inside of the collar or pin on the outside to protect the shoulders. Use hook and eyes or washable buttons (e.i. glass, china, shell, NOT wood) to close your bodice
Elements of a work dress skirt:
1. Big ole rectangles are used for making the skirts of the mid-19th century, so no pattern needed. Just measure the length you need and sew the panels together. Skirts tends to be 160"-180" in circumference. You can use an offset opening to avoid gaping (some call it a dog-leg opening, this terminology does not appear to show up in period writings) where the skirt is sewn onto a scrap waistband and shifted so that it opens to the side rather than straight down the front. If your opening is in a seam, this moves the seams from the front also. Hook and eyes are useful for keeping everything in place.
2. Put a big pocket in one of the seams that can be easily reached. This is a great place to hide your modern necessities and one reason the ladies did not need to carry purses as often as we do. A cotton tape can be sewn to the bottom of the pocket and attached somewhere near the waist to help support excessive weight. Separate pockets that can be reached through the skirt opening fell out of use so they would be *really* old-fashioned for the 50s and 60s.
3. The most common hem is the faced hem, where another fabric is sewn directly to the unfinished hem of the skirt and turned inward. This fabric takes the most abuse where your shoes will hit and can be replaced when it wears out, thus prolonging the life of the garment. Turned hems are common in sheers but far less common in other types of dresses.
4. A wool hem braid would *likely* be attached at the hem and can be sandwiched between the outer fabric and the facing, wrapped around, or sewn to the inside so that a little edges peeks beyond the edge of the skirt. This is also meant to prolong the life of the dress, protecting the very bottom of the skirt that brushes against the ground. It is much easier to replace braid that make a whole new dress.
