RyanAK
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Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on May 9, 2022 7:55:18 GMT -7
I’ll certainly eventually make a pair of leather breeches, but linen it shall be for this first go ‘round.
I’m now down the rabbit hole on prevalence of garment color among the middle class in the 1750s. Coat, waistcoat, breeches.
Appreciate the continued support. This stuff is fun, eh?
R
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Post by Black Hand on May 9, 2022 11:42:30 GMT -7
Can't go wrong with black, brown and blue. Some green and red, especially for native trade.
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RyanAK
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Once scalped…
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Post by RyanAK on May 9, 2022 12:23:01 GMT -7
That’s what I’m gathering from period accounts and paintings. Browns, blues, black. I’m trying to transition from my 21st century pallet of colors to the mid-18th century pallet. My day to day modern wardrobe is comprised almost entirety of greens and grays with some tans/browns. Just mindset switch I’m working through. I realize most colors were available, but I want to stay common to period and social class.
Period paintings are typically upper-class subjects and runaway accounts are of the lower sort. I’m trying to determine materials and colors for a middle class fella recently arrived on the frontier and mostly still in ‘civilized’ clothing… only just beginning to become rusticated. I get the sense wool broadcloth was prevalent, and ‘suits’ of matching coat, breeches and waistcoat were popular. As were matched pairs: coat-waistcoat, coat-breeches, waistcoat-breeches. I’m having a good time trying to figure things out.
This is a new challenge for me, and I’m serious when I say I’m enjoying myself. My previous impressions were ACW military. Some research needed on the federal side and LOTS for confederate… but photographs and military records really made it pretty straightforward. Everything was uniform among the unit. So now… Who cared to note what the local innkeeper happened to be wearing in 1750, let alone paint an image of him!!
I have some good images saved from over the years I’d love to share, but don’t have a hosting account since I got throttled by the photobucket debacle a number of years ago. As I said, most are British and Colonial upperclass subjects, but they give a good sense of the color pallets available at the time, and we can guess these trends were likely similar for the common people as well. Maybe I’ll do an analysis of the images. They are mostly of the subjects in ‘undress’ clothing.
Hmmm…
Spreadsheet time.
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Post by brokennock on May 9, 2022 16:43:50 GMT -7
Also, while the most common at the time, they are often complained about in period texts. Often by town folks who signed on to some expedition or militia company that took them into the woods. (The John Joseph Henry book comes 1st to mind) Usually for the same reason as buckskin leggings and moccasins. Cold and nasty feeling when wet in colder weather, nasty feeling when wet in warmer weather. Even dry, cold feeling against the skin in winter and hat in summer. I'm surprised to hear you say that. I've seen several items saying buckskin hunting shirts are uncomfortable in the wet and cold, but never collected one about breeches. I'm amazed how often leather breeches show up in the literature of the time, and also that they were so commonly worn by lower class men, servants, convicts. Runaway ads are full of them. Spence I think I was mostly think of the John Joseph Henry account and maybe applying the comments on buckskin shorts to the breaches as well. Sometimes I mix up accounts on my head when I don't have them immediately at hand. It would stand to reason though that of any other article of leather clothing is uncomfortable when wet and/or cold,,, breaches will also be, and maybe more so. I certainly don't relish the thought of cold wet deerskin against my nether regions. Lol.
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RyanAK
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Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on May 9, 2022 17:43:50 GMT -7
Does anyone want a data dump? Because it’s enlightening. But… there’s a lot to digest. 59 images with 93 subjects. If’n ye say ‘aye’… Yuv been warned.
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Post by Black Hand on May 9, 2022 19:20:07 GMT -7
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Post by brokennock on May 10, 2022 1:14:27 GMT -7
We do tend to like pictures.
Doesn't need to be all at once. Might be good to put a few out at a time for discussion both so things don't get missed or glossed over and to keep some discussion going here.
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RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on May 10, 2022 6:53:11 GMT -7
Ok, then. Friends… I like data. I like organized and compilable data. So, with my current question dealing with costume colors for the middle class colonial man, I turned to a bucket of images I had collected over the years. I edited my sample set with the following in mind: Era - I eliminated images that were either too early or too late in the century for my 1750s interest. Some out-of-era images were kept in the sample if, based on my judgement, they conformed to 1750s norms of textile color. Class - Images of working and middle class subjects have been difficult for me to locate. I tagged my images as ‘Common’, ‘Middle’, ‘Military’, ‘Merchant’, and ‘Upper’. Military images were edited to exclude ‘regular’ uniformed individuals. Merchant class I defined as upper-middle-class or well-to-do, and the Upper class as the truly wealthy or the aristocracy. In cases of the Merchant and Upper class images, I chose those that showed these men in ‘undress’ clothing, not their finery. The Merchant class dominates the images. My belief is that the fashion trends of the times in Brittan and British North America for the middle class closely mirrored the trends of the upper classes. Description - I included a short descriptive note of what the image depicts. This is mostly for convenience for myself as I analyze the data. Terms such as ‘Traveller at Tavern’ and ‘At Lathe’ will mean little to anyone without the folder of images before them, but it’s a interesting point for me. Most of these images have a description of ‘Country Setting’ or ‘Sporting’, implying a casual or everyday costume in the image. Finally, almost all of my French images were eliminated because the fashion trends were widely different than those of the British and British colonies. Somewhere I have a quote from and Englishman going on his Grand Tour of the continent where he’s ranting on how French fashion is an affront to the British Constitution. I took data points for 93 subjects in 59 separate images. The data points are: Hat Color - I simply state the color of the person’s hat if it is included in the image. Coat Color - This is the overall generic color of the coat - ‘Blue’ or ‘Brown’ Coat Specific Color - Here I tried to put a more specific color to the coat - ‘Medium Green’ or ‘Madder’. Waistcoat Color - as above. Waistcoat Specific Color - as above. Breeches Color - as above. Breeches Specific Color - as above. Stocking Color - as above. Stocking Specific Color - as above. Suit - Here I noted if all three costume components were of matching material and color. Pair - Here I noted if two components matched for material and color and how they matched - Coat-Breeches, Coat-Waistcoat, or Waistcoat-Breeches. I’ll start giving data and analysis in the next post, but a few things I wanted to mention here so we don’t need to touch on them again. 1. Hats were black in all but two instances where hats were visible in the image. 2. Stockings were overwhelmingly white where they were visible. Gaiters were brown, tan or black. 3. The vast majority of coats and waistcoats have cloth covered buttons. Metal buttons were a rare occurance in the images. And… since I can do this now… here’s a sample image.
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RyanAK
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Once scalped…
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Post by RyanAK on May 10, 2022 10:23:47 GMT -7
Analysis of the Data
Coats - Of the 93 subjects for which data was collected, coats were visible in all cases. The color groups were as follows: Gray - A shade of Gray occurred in 32 instances and was the most common by a margin of 10 over then next most prevalent color. Within ‘Gray’, a ‘Medium Gray’ was significantly ahead of all other shades/tones with 15 occurrences. Tones ranged from a very light ‘Dove’ to ‘Charcoal’. Brown - Brown coats were present on subjects in 22 cases with ‘Chestnut’, ‘Dark Taupe’ and ‘Medium Brown’ making up 14 of the 22 instances. Blue - Blue occurred 16 times with ‘Navy’ and ‘Dark Blue’ accounting for the majority of Blue coats. Others - Coats of Green (9), Red (6), Tan (5) and White (3) encompass the remaining sample set of coats. There were no Black coats in the sample set.
Coat buttons were almost always covered in the coating fabric. The images also show the coat predominantly being worn unbuttoned, showing the waistcoat underneath. Occasionally a coat will have a collar of a contrasting color. Cuffs range from none to mid-forearm in length.
Waistcoats - Of the 93 subjects studied, waistcoats were visible in 77 instances. The color groups were as follows: Gray - While there is more color variation within the waistcoats than with coats, Gray waistcoats predominate, occurring in 20 instances. Again, tones range from light to dark, with ‘Medium Gray’ and ‘Charcoal’ making up half of the Grays in waistcoats. Red - Red waistcoats were present on 16 subjects. ‘Madder’ was most common, occurring 7 times. ‘Scarlet’ and shades of ‘Rose’ were also present. White - White waistcoats occurred as often as Red, being worn by 16 subjects in the sample set. Others - Tan (8), Green (6), Blue (5) and Brown (4) make up the majority of the remaining color tones of waistcoats, with Purple and Yellow appearing a single time each.
Waistcoats are almost always worn fully buttoned, the exceptions being when a full cravat or ruffled shirt is worn. There are several examples of double-breasted waistcoats in the sample set. Again, buttons are overwhelmingly covered in the fabric of the waistcoat.
Breeches - Of 93 subjects, breeches were visible in 79 instances. The color groups were as follows: Tan - Tan breeches were worn by 24 subjects. ‘Buckskin’ (8) and ‘Light Buckskin’ (7) were most predominant, but it should be noted that this does not indicate that the material is necessarily leather. The remaining tones fall within “natural” tones of linen and wool. Gray - Gray was the next most prevalent, occurring 18 times with the same distribution of of tones as with the coats and waistcoats. Black - Black breeches occurred in 13 cases. Others - The majority of the remaining breeches were comprised of shades of Red (9), Brown (8), and Blue (5). White and Green were each present a single instance.
Suits and Pairs - There were 71 subjects where all three pieces of their costume was visible for analysis. A full suit, where all three garments match as to material and color, occurred in 13 instances, or 18% of subjects. Suited pairs, where two pieces of the costume match as to material and color, was extremely common, occurring with 29 subjects, or 41% of the time. The most common suited pair is the Coat-Breeches pair, which was worn by 20% of the 71 subjects. Coat-Waistcoat and Waistcoat-Breeches each accounted for approximately 10.5% of the subject costumes. Combined, 59% of the subjects who’s complete costume was viewable wore either a full suit or a suited pair.
Other Observations - Shoes were most common among the subjects with a good representation of high boots. Knee-height gaiters were occasionally shown, but even the earlier images showed the lower ‘splatterdashes’ as being common. Stockings are overwhelmingly white. Hats were black, predominantly cocked (but a good variety of shapes present) and occasionally showed decoration. No cockades were present on civilian hats. Buttons, as stated above, were overwhelmingly cloth-covered in the images. Waist belts were only worn by 4 subjects and of these, there is only a single instance where it is worn outside of the coat.
Summary Hats are black and stockings are white. Gray is predominant and most likely at least two garments will match in material and color.
I think it’s important to remember that the men in these paintings could essentially afford to have clothes of any material and color that they wished. And still, we have an overwhelming number of grays and browns. Also, for those of us portraying frontier or woods life, we shall do well to remember that unless we’re living or traveling truly in the depths of wilderness, life did not occur in a commercial void. Trade was vigorous, and ‘English’ clothing items were available on or near the frontier. Class is likely more important than location.
If anyone has specific questions about the data or wants to see specific images, just let me know. If you want the spreadsheet, send me a PM. If you have images to share, please do… as I plan to keep adding to the data.
Sample images with commentary will be posted below.
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Post by paranger on May 10, 2022 10:35:47 GMT -7
Superb compilation and analysis, Ryan! This is the kind of research and analysis that informs a quality, accurate impression. Well done.
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RyanAK
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Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on May 10, 2022 11:05:58 GMT -7
Thanks, JJ! This is enlightening and hopefully others are finding value from this kind of deep dive. It likely gives even established living historians something to think about as far as fine tuning. Do you need a matching waistcoat or to cover your shiny buttons? That sort of thing. Let’s start with this fella, as this is one of the few ‘working class’ subjects I was able to find. I believe this to be a Dutch painting and subject. Click for a larger image. Our man appears to be sharpening a pair of scissors at the wheel. He wears a chestnut brown coat with a matching waistcoat that is mostly hidden behind his apron. The very many buttons on his coat are cloth covered and the sleeves are without cuffs. The coat appears collarless. Light colored breeches. He wears high gaiters even though he has an indoor trade. His hat is (or was…) black. I’m charmed by this painting. I’ve long ago lost my notes on this collection of images, so I don’t know the artist or any other information. I wish I could locate more of these life-studies of the working class. I’ve started with this image because, other than the amount of wear and tear, his costume is substantially the same as those worn by some of the Merchant or Upper class subjects form the study set. For example… Ben is a colonial British subject, and certainly higher in status than our Dutch tool sharpener. However, both are wearing matching coats and waistcoats of a chestnut brown hue and Franklin’s coat appears to be of a similar cut and material as the Dutch sharpener. Franklin’s coat is collarless and appears to have a similar number of cloth covered buttons. His cuffs are not visible, but the point should be made that the garments of the working class aren’t that different from the costuming of the Merchant and Upper class in ‘undress’. More to come.
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RyanAK
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Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on May 10, 2022 11:33:21 GMT -7
Here’s a fine, sporting gent. Our man appears to be on a hunt in Brittan. He has himself armed with a fowling piece and is at the ready while the spaniel works to flush the game. His long chestnut coat has broad cuffs and a wide collar and is open to reveal a double-breasted waistcoat. Coat and waistcoat buttons are cloth-covered. His hat is black, and cocked on one side only… a style I usually associate with colonial rural fashion. His breeches are of a tan color. Buckskin? White stockings and either low boots or short gaiters in black. Note that no shooting accoutrements are present. Artistic license or is he using all those glorious pockets? The absence of accoutrements isn’t unknown in my sporting image set, but it isn’t common. Which brings me to this thought: stop using giant ‘possibles bags’ to carry all your crap! Equip yourself with a PC small shot pouch to carry loose balls, a small shot flask, and some tow/wadding/patching. Especially if you’re hunting with round ball. 1. How many deer are you going to shoot? You’re on a hunt, not an expedition. 2. Put the other stuff in your big pockets. There are four of them!
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RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on May 10, 2022 12:45:13 GMT -7
Greens. I like green, and my modern clothing has a lot of greens within. Especially for outer garments. While not predominant, various shades of green were represented in my image set, in a variety of hues. These ranged from ‘Olive’ to ‘Turquoise’. We likely all think of Rangers wearing green… I always wondered if that was truly for concealment. In the Eastern Woodlands, the greens vary widely from season to season. More consistent than the color of the foliage are the colors of the trunks and branches and leaf litter… shades of brown and gray. Regardless, green was present in my sample set. This seems to be an ‘Emerald’ green. No cuffs, cloth-covered buttons. We have a suited pair of garments in the ‘Light Buckskin’ colored waistcoat and breeches. Gray stockings and either laced boots or low gaiters. Note the half-stock fowling piece. A full suit of glorious ‘Forest Green’. Black hat cocked over the right side. High boots. Cloth-covered buttons on coat and waistcoat. The coat is collared and has cuffs that remain close to the forearm. A muted ‘Olive’ double-breasted coat. Note the striped stockings and either boots or low gaiters. Black cocked hat.
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Post by paranger on May 10, 2022 12:49:41 GMT -7
Interesting that all three images were in a hunting / sporting context.
In 1757, Pennsylvania Provincial Major Burd recommended that the troops should be dressed entirely in a green shirt, jacket, blanket, and cap. His recommendation may have led to the adoption of the short green coat, waistcoat, and breeches issued to the "New Levies" enlisted for the 1758 Forbes Expedition. This uniform was essentially identical to the famous Rogers' Rangers' one issued about the same time. There is no doubt from the context of the discussions that the principle idea was camoflage suitable for "woods fighting."
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RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on May 10, 2022 13:00:33 GMT -7
Interesting that all three images were in a hunting / sporting context. I added more information while you were posting, friend. But yeah… it is interesting. A lot of my images are in a hunting context as those images show considerably less finery with regards to clothing than ‘formal’ portraits do. That may just be my image set skewing the data. This is the only image I have that shows a Green garment (other than ‘Turquoise’) in a non-sporting scene. While he carries a sword, if he is military it seems his clothing is private purchase and non-standard pattern. This chap is quite fancy.
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