National Park Service

Vicksburg
U.S. Department of the Interior

Vicksburg National Military Park

Fashion Sense – Or
Sensible Fashion?
Clothing in the 19th Century

A Study in Fashion of the 19th century is a study in contradictions and

Contradictions transformation. Fashion historians have come to call the change of
men’s fashions from the 18th to the 19th century “the great masculine
renunciation.” The lines of the clothing became simple and stark, and
the ease of wearing these suits made it an example of “modern”
fashion, compared with the backwardness of women’s clothing, still
mired in the constrictions of ruffles, corsets, bustles, and lace.

Women’s Fashions Women’s reform of the mid-19th century also provided her an outstanding
raised many controversial issues, and one of opportunity for muted competition
the most contentious was fashion. To be a with other women.
lady of fashion was socially enviable, but
nonetheless wholly reviled by the morals of Women’s clothes at the beginning of the
prevailing culture. Fashion, therefore, Civil War were generally based on
represented a serious temptation toward English, French, and New York
impropriety. Still, women remained fashions. Fabrics were spun in the
fascinated with fashion trends, and tried to Northern cotton mills or imported from
find an appropriate compromise between the English fabric makers. Godey’s
the evil of becoming consumed by Lady’s Book was as familiar to the
prevailing fashions and the grace of Southern lady of fashion as to her
dressing in a style reflecting position and Northern relatives, and many women
wealth. dressed to conform with a cultural
ideal.
Fashion articulated class position;
extravagance defied it. A lady had to know Less concerned about overall
the difference, manifesting a restrained slenderness, clothing was designed to
elegance that would simultaneously project help a woman look narrow at the waist
internalized self-control and solid male and wide at the face, hips, and
protection. Within those limits, fashion shoulders. This was often
accomplished with foundation
garments which added width to a lady’s
silhouette. Nearly all lines of the
garment served to emphasize the
narrowness of the waist, and
consequently directed attention to the
center front of the waist. Day dresses
had long sleeves and high necks, while
evening dresses were typically sleeveless
with low-cut bodices.
An 18-inch Waist Expensive gowns were often made of rule, with measurements of 17-21
fabrics with large prints, as the waste in inches sought after. Tight-lacing of
matching such prints indicated corsets was considered virtuous - a
affluence. Fabrics included poplins, loose corset was a sign of a loose
wools, linens, taffetas, rich silks, velvets woman. To keep her innocence and
and satins. Colors were brilliant and virtue, a woman needed to protect
sharp, such as purple, blues, hunter herself from lustful men (and her
green, burgundy, and mustard. own morality) by wearing heavily
Although black or dark colors were reinforced layers of clothing and
The “Wasp” Waist
generally worn by women over 40, tight corsets, thus making getting
almost every lady had a black dress. And dressed and undressed a long and
during the war, black, lavender, and grey difficult task. The higher a lady was
became the colors used for mourning. in society, the more confining her
clothes.
Underclothing consisted of several
articles, starting with the chemise – However, in a society where health
similar to a low neck, short sleeve, white critics and the church voiced
cotton nightie, and falling just below the concern over damage to a woman’s
knees. It could be easily tucked into reproductive organs, there was
pantaloons, which came “in” around the severe opposition to tight-lacing of
mid-1860s. Before then, underpants had the long-waisted corsets. In time,
not yet been invented. Pantaloons were wider skirts and low-cut dress
split from the front waistband to the necklines became the fashion, and
back, and loose-fitting, making them corsets could be cut lower at the top
fairly comfortable. (as they did not need to control the
bust), as well as the bottom,
Considered fashionable to have a becoming shorter and somewhat
"wasp" waist, corsets became the more comfortable.

The Wire The ever-increasing width of women's Donning the hoopskirt was rather
skirts was first achieved by several layers complex. First, a chemise made of
Manufacturer’s Dream of petticoats. Prior to the Civil War, a cotton or lawn (light cotton or linen)
woman of means wore five or six was put on over a pair of pantaloons.
petticoats under her dress to achieve a A whale-boned corset was laced to
nice bell shape. Each petticoat would the point of breathlessness, over
contain approximately five to seven which went one or two petticoats.
yards of fabric, as did the skirt. To The crinoline was added and tied at
support all this weight, the skirt was the waist, creating a billowing skirt
attached to the blouse by hooks and that could be six feet across,
eyes, shifting the weight to the woman’s although four feet was nearer the
shoulders. All this added to the average. The nation's largest wire
perception of women being “weak” as manufacturer estimated that "…the
they actually struggled to carry the annual consumption of three thousand
oppressive weight of their clothing. tons of steel is required to expand and
give prominence to the ladies' dresses
By the late 1850s, “well-fitting gowns” in this country."
had crinolines (hoop skirts), steel-boned
structures that replaced the multitude of
petticoats and caused women's dresses
to billow out even further. Considered a
godsend at first, crinolines were
lightweight, and women needed only
one petticoat over the hoops to hide the
rigid bones. Increased airflow around
the legs kept the individual cool in the
summer, while quilted petticoats worn
over crinolines in the winter provided
warmth. Hoop size varied - smaller ones
averaged 100 inches around, while the
largest could be 150 inches in
circumference.
 “Tilters” Skirts were so long that writers of tendency to rise up in the back.
etiquette books, such as Emily Indeed, some male humorists
Thornwell's The Lady's Guide to Perfect accused women of exploiting this
Gentility had to provide instructions of feature. Nonetheless, for all their
how to lift it in a graceful and decorous coquettish possibilities, crinolines
Frontispiece from "The way when climbing stairs or walking on eventually became impractical.
Lady's Guide to Perfect
Gentility" a muddy street. Navigating in such Because of the size of these
attire was not simple. Due to the “contraptions,” men often
crinoline, the wearer tried to adopt a complained that they could hardly
gliding walk, with perfect balance to enter a room beyond the door when
prevent the skirts from swinging or three or four women wearing
bouncing. Bouncing crinolines were said crinolines occupied the room. The
to be extremely seductive to men, as hoopskirt’s physical dangers were
they got to peek under the skirts. Young also very real, as many wearers were
women who wore hoopskirts were often burnt to death by inadvertently
known as “tilters” because of the skirt’s approaching too near a fire.

The War-Time As war took over the country, however, change. Some campaigned against the
women began to dress in conformance corset on grounds that it imperiled their
Economy with the economy. When husbands, health. Others complained of the
fathers, and brothers marched off to the difficulty of keeping their long skirts
fight, women took over the work on the clean - one popular writer stated that
home front. Many donned sunbonnets women should be paid by New York
and simple dresses to do field or factory City for sweeping its streets every time
work. Often their fashionable finery was they took a walk. Still others saw
turned into bandages for use in the many women's dress as the implements, as
hospitals created out of the necessity of well as the symbols, of their subjection
war. The new look became a simple to men. As early as the 1840s, southern
cotton or muslin dress, as Southern periodicals reflected the medical
opulence and Northern high society wisdom of the dress reform campaign,
fashions basically ceased to exist. even if the 1860s woman did not. An
1842 article in Magnolia chastised:
Fabric was conserved by piecing “Nothing can be more absurd – nothing
together smaller sections of matching more detrimental to health and beauty
prints, and using the pieced bits in than the system of tightlacing.” Even so,
inconspicuous places. Work clothes dress reform was a dangerous topic and
used reversible, solid fabrics or fabrics any change in a woman's appearance
with woven prints with no “up” or was sure to provoke ridicule. Indeed,
“down,” so that the panels (especially in discussion of women's dress was
the skirt) could be turned upside down effectively banned from the first
and inside out for re-use when a national Women's Rights Convention
garment became faded. Prints were held in Worcester, Massachusetts in
usually used for work dresses as they hid 1850. So, despite the impracticality and
the dirt better. Dress fronts were discomfort, women continued to heed
generally fastened with hooks and eyes, the dictates of fashion rather than
straight, or safety pins; buttons, if used, practicality in matters of dress.
were covered with
the same fabric as
the dress. Metal and
jet buttons were
saved for use on
outer clothing, while
wooden ones were
sewn on underwear.
Ladies’ fashion of
the mid-1800s never
claimed to be
comfortable or
practical, and soon
many women sought
Gentlemen’s Attire Martine's Handbook of Etiquette (1866) The business uniform of the day
described men’s attire thus: became the sober black suit, white
“The dress of a gentleman should be such linen shirt, black scarf tie (cravat), tall
as not to excite any special observation, silk hat, and boots or gaiters. Formal
unless it be for neatness and propriety. evening wear changed hardly at all
The utmost care should be exercised to from around 1860 until the 1920s, and
avoid even the appearance of desiring to often consisted of a woolen black tail
attract attention….His dress should be coat with a satin insert at the lapel.
studiously neat, leaving no other Vests were of black or white satin,
impression than that of a well dressed accentuated by a silk cravat or white
gentleman.” bow tie. Trousers were usually black
and the white shirt was heavily
While women’s fashions were often starched. White gloves were an
flamboyant, men’s clothing took on a essential accessory, especially when
conservative look, as successful dancing, as touching a lady with bare
businessmen sought the loftier, more hands was not only a bit crude, but
distinguished appearance of statesmen. one's sweat could soil her gown.

The Essential Men’s dress shirts pulled over the head 19th century, only those doing hard
and had three small bone buttons, with manual labor ever dispensed with the
Men’s Wardrobe cuffs that closed with cufflinks. Made of vest – and even these fellows would
white cotton and cut very long, they sport one on occasion. Coats and
came down to the wearer's knees, but trousers of the same color and fabric
were not as full as shirts of the 1700s. were called “ditto” suits, and the outfit
Shirts were tucked, with pre-tied ties was completed with the addition of the
and one of any number of available new “bowler,” a hat often worn with the
collars. Collars were detachable, crown pushed in to form a bowl.
attached, starched, soft, or hardly there
at all. One style was stiffly pointed, and Boots were knee-high and worn under
often called the “Patricide,” based on a the trouser leg, although another
story of a young man returning from innovation during this period was the
university wearing this new (in the 1850s) lace-up shoe, first appearing in the 1850s.
style of starched collar. When his father By the second half of the 19th century,
embraced him, the points on the collar black patent leather became fashionable
allegedly cut his father's throat. to wear with men’s clothing.
Although fictitious, the story was
enough to name the collar. Detachable
collars and cuffs were convenient for
travelers who could now freshen these
items without having to change shirts.
Stiff collars could be washed and
starched apart from the shirt, and
thrown away when they became worn,
while the shirt could remain in service
for years to come. Initially made of
linen, the collars were later created of
cheap paper and celluloid.

Daily wear for businessmen might be a

wool frock coat, loosely cut trousers,
and a silk brocaded vest. Winter saw
men dressed in wool hammertail frock
coats which were double-breasted, with
a wide notched shawl collar. Vests were
usually made of the same material as the
jacket and trousers, however, some
sported garish colors, often of patterned
Chinese silk. Considered an essential
part of a gentleman’s wardrobe in the
Formal vs. Informal The sack suit, or business suit, was the knee, and distinguished by a squared
leisure wear for men who might wear a shape at the bottom front. Morning
frock coat, but often considered the coats were single-breasted, with a
Sack Suit
“best clothes” of the vast majority of rounded, swallow-tail shape. Both were
American men. A banker would wear a referred to as “morning” dress,
sack suit to a picnic, while a cowboy or distinguishing them from evening wear,
farmer would wear it to church. It first and worn with contrasting pants and top
came into fashion in the 1850s as a very or broad-brimmed, low-crowned hats.
large, baggy garment, becoming more
fitted in the 1860s and beyond, In the 1880s, a compromise was made
eventually evolving into the modern between the rigid formality of the frock
three-piece suit. Common colors were suit and the casual informality of the
black or gray, and the pieces usually, but sack suit, resulting in the “morning suit.”
not always, matched. Colors were not Retaining the gray, striped trousers,
restricted to these two choices, however, black vest and black coat of the frock
and plaid was particularly popular. suit, the cut was softened a bit by
Typically, the coat had four buttons, rounding the bottom hem of the coat
with the top one generally buttoned and and shrinking the lapels. And, unlike the
the rest left undone. Buttons on sack frock suit for which a top hat was
suits were usually not covered, and essential, the morning suit allowed a
made of wood, bone, or gutta-percha certain amount of latitude in headgear -
(galvanized rubber), in contrast to the top hats for business and formal calls, a
buttons covered in silk or other fabric tall crowned bowler for less dressy
used on frock or morning coats. The occasions. Although the morning suit
Morning Suit sack suit’s popularity was assured by the was considered acceptable attire for
fact it could be purchased, ready-made, business, the frock coat still reigned
at prices working men could afford. supreme with the management in the
office. The sack or morning suit was
Frock coats were single- or double- considered more appropriate for junior
breasted, usually black, hemmed above staff and clerks.

Men’s Accessories Men had considerable choice of necktie Confederacy, but for its union of top and
styles, although many working class bottom into a one-piece garment),
types did without them entirely. By far was also worn. Socks were of
the most common was the small, black, homespun wool, and when the foot
tidy bow tie, made from black silk portion wore out, the tops were carefully
ribbon about an inch wide and a yard unwoven, the thread twisted on a
long. Various forms of cravat, from the spinning wheel,then knit into a new pair.
Windsor to the Ascot, also found their Cotton socks were also available, but
way under men’s chins. Usually of wore out more quickly, and were held in
patterned silk, Windsors became the disdain by most men of the era.
common neckwear with the morning
suit, rather than the more formal bow Work shirts were wool flannel, linen, or
tie, allowing this garment to be worn at cotton pullovers, with a double-breasted
weddings, funerals, and other daytime front closure for warmth. Red, blue, or
formal occasions. Colorful cravats were checked material was popular. Wool,
often seen with frock coats in the 1860s, corduroy, or denim trousers were worn
but by the 1870s were again replaced by farmers, laborers, ranchers, and
mostly by small black bow ties. factory workers, and held up by
suspenders, though this accessory was
Most men’s work clothes and unpopular with men who had to
underwear were homemade. Under- frequently bend and stoop. Trousers did
clothing included woolen undershirts not commonly have belt loops until the
th
and drawers, with knitted cuffs. 20 century. Most men’s clothes of this
Drawers were held up by thin, era, were worn looser than in previous
lightweight suspenders that buttoned on decades, with many individuals seeming
the garment. The “union suit” (so-called to take pride in their “rumpled” look.
not for the Union as opposed to the
Dawn of the By the end of the 1850s, most women’s the more numerous firms of traditional
clothing, men’s work clothes, children’s custom tailors, who had devised a
Ready-Made garments, and underwear were still proportional sizing system to cut and
Clothing Industry homemade. But ready-made men’s sew for the “average” man during slack
business and formal attire was a seasons when individual orders were few.
booming industry - even before the
arrival of the first sewing machines in But not until the Civil War were
the mid-1800s. While wealthy women commercial possibilities for ready-made
traveled to Europe, New York or Boston clothing realized, as the Union Army,
to find the latest styles, and have copies desperate for uniforms, conceived a set of
of the latest English or French gowns standard sizes for soldiers and began
made, over 4,000 men’s clothing sending orders to clothing manufacturers.
manufacturers did business in the As the practice of making standardized
United States by 1850. Ready-made outfits caught on, ready-made clothing
clothing establishments competed with became a major industry.

Army Uniforms Gray vs. Blue - Early in the war this rule uniforms. One Louisiana unit, fighting at
didn't apply. Many Federal units went Shiloh, took off their blue coats and
to war wearing the bluish-grey uniform turned them inside out, to prevent taking
of the pre-war militia cadet, and many friendly fire from their own forces.
Confederate units wore dark blue

Union The Northern clothing industry benefited the indispensable grey flannel underclothing
Forage Cap enormously from the boost given to new and accessories – grey wool socks,
technology by the Civil War. The number suspenders, etc. – and leather army shoes
of sewing machines almost doubled called brogans, among the first mass-
between 1860 and 1865, and clothing produced footwear which distinguished
manufacture became a mammoth industry. between the right and left foot. It was also
Woolen mills, galvanized into activity by during the Civil War that soles of boots were
the disappearance of Southern cotton, first sewn to leggings. But bad quality shoes
enjoyed a boom under the stimulus of during the war’s first years seriously plagued
contracts for uniforms. Wool production the Union infantrymen.
more than doubled, and a number of
manufacturers amassed profits so The original 1858 forage caps had a narrow
stupendous that they were able to reward leather visor and high crown with a round,
their stockholders with annual dividends of usually flat top flopping forward at a sharp
between 10 and 40 per cent. angle. The kepi was a French style forage
Kepi cap with a lower crown and a top tilting at a
Uniforms of the Northern army were fairly much smaller angle. Where the top of a
consistent, with the exception of widely forage cap was flat, a kepi usually had a
varying headgear. And indeed, hats and raised roll around the outside of the round
caps were usually the first item of clothing top. Except for some rare and important
to disappear in the heat of battle. exceptions, the forage cap became the
Traditionally, blue was the distinctive color headgear of choice.
for the infantry, yellow for the cavalry, and
red for the artillery. Insignia worn by the Initially, extraneous accessories often
infantryman was the bugle, crossed swords weighed down the campaigning soldier, and
for cavalry, and crossed cannon barrels for quickly joined other useless accoutrements
artillery. These could be found on uniform in roadside ditches. But after 1862, the
buttons or fastened to headgear. Uniforms different parts making up the army uniform
scarcely changed over the course of the were of excellent quality. The care put into
war, with the army-issued outfit principally the uniform’s manufacture, the industrial
consisting of the Hardee hat, fatigue/forage technology used, the quality of the materials,
cap (kepi), a blue woolen tunic with one and the know-how of the textile workers,
row of nine copper uniform buttons, a among others, contributed to the Union
short flannel coat, a blue jacket with a collar army having one of the best equipped
th
and pockets, a grey cotton or civilian-style infantries of the late 19 century. Practical
“hickory” checkered shirt, sky-blue uniforms and often-lightened equipment
trousers for soldiers, dark blue for officers, contributed in the same way as armament to
a sky-blue overcoat with a detachable cape, the modern aspect of the conflict.
Confederate Due to its diverse richness (or lack of included army-issued cotton or homespun
industrial means, depending on one’s wool socks and suspenders made of
view), Confederate troops displayed a cotton, linen, canvas, or leather if
panorama of uniforms. Early in the war, available.
each unit had its own distinctive design,
and Southern troops arrived on the Hats provided warmth in winter, shade in
battlefield wearing uniforms of varying summer, some protection from rain, and
colors and cuts. Unfortunately, most served as handy bags to carry foraged
uniforms issued by the army were very ill- supplies. Favored headgear of Southern
fitting, and many soldiers had to hastily troops was the slouch hat, often with a
learn to sew in order to make them beehive-style crown. The white linen
wearable. The basic parts of the uniform havelock was initially introduced to be
were identical to those produced and worn on the head to protect from
used by the North, and any rare sunstroke, and sewn in quantity by
differences can be attributed, in part, to Southern women to send to the troops. It
industrial factors and hazards of the soon became a nuisance, and a dislike for
Northern blockade. the accessory became readily apparent:
“…as it was made sufficiently large to cover
One reason Southern industry was less the neck and shoulders, the effect, when
successful at clothing the Confederate properly adjusted, was to deprive the
troops, was the inadequacy of the wearer of any air he might otherwise
Quartermaster Department, soon enjoy.” Havelocks quickly became
overwhelmed by the difficulties in dishcloths and coffee strainers.
providing supplies. A glaring example
involved the establishment of a large Leather brogans were issued, but keeping
factory in Richmond in 1861, responsible the Confederate soldier shod in good
for cutting the cloth for uniforms but not footwear proved a problem for the army
for producing the finished product. The throughout the war. Raw leather was in
Slouch Hat assembly was entrusted to local women, short supply, as the region had been
doing the work in their homes. Soon accustomed to buying its shoes and
there were 2,000 women stitching saddles from the North. Expectations to
uniforms in Richmond, another 3,000 in get needed leather from the cattle and
Atlanta, and thousands more throughout horse farms, and tanneries of Tennessee
the South. This decentralized cottage were thwarted when the source was cut off
industry was highly dependent on by the Northern invasion in 1862, leaving
transport, and the South’s fragile railroad the South with a chronic shortage of the
system was never equal to the task. As a material. In coping with wartime
result, military uniforms remained in shortages, independent entrepreneurs
short supply. often showed more flexibility than did
government bureaucracy or military
Compounding the problems of poor agencies, experimenting with the skins of
planning and implementation was the fact squirrels and alligators, and selling as
that individual states often reserved most many wooden clogs as they could make.
of the cotton and wool produced within
their borders for men of their own The necessity of using war booty,
militias. This practice left little cloth for especially in the South, often caused the
the overall Confederate troops. At the Confederate troops to claim they were
end of 1864, North Carolina was fighting so as to get a pair of boots off the
consuming the entire production of her bodies of dead Union soldiers.
40 textile mills - fully half of the mills still
remaining in the South.

Confederate soldiers usually wore hand-

sewn shirts, and drawers made of cotton
Havelock sheeting with drawstring closures on the
ankle cuffs. Trousers were of gray wool
cloth, as were jackets which had brass
buttons and blue edging on the shoulder
straps. Essential items of any uniform
A Myriad of Colors Initially, uniforms were made of un-dyed adopted during 1863 - not as a
wool. Although grey was officially chosen substitute or actual conscious choice,
by the Confederacy as the color to but rather as the result of
distinguish its army from that of the North, circumstances and adapting to the
over the course of the war, several different trials of the moment. Originally a
colors were used for uniform jackets. brown/tan/khaki color appearing as
Confederate States (CS) gray, a steel blue early as 1862, it was in extensive use by
color, was the "ideal" gray ordered used 1863, and worn almost exclusively by
by the government. However, it soon the Confederate army by late 1864.
Steel Gray
became the color used only by officers and One theory of the color’s origin was
those in Richmond, and for one reason or use of a different gray dye which
another, very few fighting men were ever changed colors after getting wet.
issued coats of this hue. Other gray colors Although not noticeable when slightly
included: Tuscaloosa gray, lighter than CS damp, it could change hue in one heavy
Gray with a slight tan pigment; Richmond downpour. Another explanation was
Richmond Gray gray, a very dark gray looking almost black the supposed use of leaves, bark, and
in some lights; Cadet gray, a gray unripe fruit of the North American
containing a heavy sea blue pigment and a butternut tree to make a chocolate-
cross-section of white thread (this gray was brown dye, thus creating the distinctive
mainly used for the boys in southern butternut color. At times, the dye color
military schools), and gray jean wool, the would become darker as it endured
most correct color of gray, which was a more rain and weather. Neither a very
Gray Jean Wool mixture of gray and white wool, and dark nor light brown, butternut had no
sometimes referred to as “salt and pepper hint of gray in its makeup.
gray.” Brown jean wool was of the same
concept as the gray jean, but the color was Most of these colors were also used for
a mixture of brown with a touch of gray, trousers, the only additional hue being
resulting in a light brown/dark tan shade sky blue, the same color used by the
Brown Jean Wool mixed with gray and white stitches. Federal infantry. Sadly, however, and
particularly during the last months of
The butternut color, so commonly the war, the Southern soldier ended up
associated with the Confederacy, was with little better than rags to wear.

Butternut

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