Dress length for a young lady

[historian101]

My daughter and I are baby green beginers to the re-enacting. So please forgive any ignorance that I may portray as I ask my questions.

My mom, who is an amazing seamstress, has made a dress for me and my daughter. In her research it said that younger girls wore dresses that were shorter. She made my daughters dress (she is 14) that comes mid shin instead of ankle length. Is this acceptable? It also has a zipper but we didnt know any better, but we dont really have time to make another dress this year but we really want to get involved.

I do believe the dress she made for me is correct. It has knife pleats and the bodice is basted to the skirt and no zippers but hooks and eyes with buttons on the bodice for decoration. She also made a matching "purse" and I have a straw hat that ties under the chin and she made a matching tie for it. Did women match everything? From what I have seen they didnt, although pictures are in B&W. Would I look silly if I were to carry the purse and wear the hat that matched? Or should I change out the hat tie and use a ribbon instead? I do have proper footware and the only thing I lack as far as underpinnings is drawers and a corded petticoat. And from what I have read so far, women use the corded petticoat with a 90in circ when working around the farm or cooking.

I want to thank all of you in advance for your help and understanding as I start this wonderful hobby.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Dress length for a young lady

Hi Susan--you'll find a wealth of information here on the AC forum, along with sites that will be suggested by myself and others.

As a matter of housekeeping, I've moved your post from the military section to the Citizen's Discussion area. You'll find this section a very helpful one--using the search function, or just reading back through the many pages of previous discussions, you'll get just a taste of what's possible for citizen living history, material culture, etc.

For your daughter, at 14, mid-calf length is indeed an appropriate length. She is still in her girlhood, and is not quite old enough for a transition to adult-length skirts. As she moves through 14, 15, and 16, her skirts will slowly get longer, and will likely be within just a few inches of her ankle bones by about 16 or 17 years old; she'll be into fully adult lengths at 18, 19, and 20.

The zipper is not appropriate. If the whole dress otherwise conforms to historic shapes and techniques, then replace the zipper with hooks and eyes, or buttons and buttonholes (handstitched), and the dress may be usable. As an encouragement, a dress made with an accurate historic pattern and all historic techniques will take about 6 hours to sew, using a mix of hand and machine sewing. Investing less than one work day in a wholly accurate dress is worthwhile.

She'll also need chemises, multiple petticoats, drawers, and likely a corset or corded corset for torso and bust support, plus pinafores, a slat bonnet for sun protection, and likely a nice wool fabric shawl for cool evenings.

If you'd like to email pictures of yourself and daughter in your anticipated clothing to me at elizabethstewartclark@hotmail.com, I'd be happy to give you a constructive critique on what alterations and items may be necessary to bring you to the "authentic" level of material culture and wardrobe to participate in history-heavy events.

Matching cloth purses are, unfortunately, a "reenactorism"--something some hobbyists use, but without a strong correlation to actual historic items. I'm afraid the straw hat and cloth tie is also not going to be useful to you in the history-heavy end of the hobby--a slatted sunbonnet is very cheap and easy to make, and will be a much better example of mid-century headwear.

Your instinct on avoiding "matches" is correct--overall harmony in dress is a period aesthetic, rather than exact pattern and shade matches throughout the wardrobe.

Corded petticoats for the 1860s are very over-used, compared to what may have been used mid-century; if you're in a non-hoop working or cooking situation, simply hem all your dresses and petticoats to 'active' length (at or just slightly above the ankle bones) and you'll find that a dress layer plus 2-3 petticoat layers gives a nice full silhouette and does not have the fire danger of even a small hoop.

Please feel free to scan back through previous discussions for some great information about citizens and their work and wardrobes!

[cwar1864]

Re: Dress length for a young lady

I'm glad another women has stepped up to this challenging hobby. I too still feel new to this hobby-even after 8 years. Asking questions is the only way to learn what is correct or not. So please never feel that any question is stupid, cause it's not. You may find that your not the only one thinking of it, but others are to afraid to ask. Lord knows I was and still am some times. No one wants to appear stupid after all!! :)
Take Elizabeth up on her offer, she's one of the best out there and will point you in the right direction. You also might want to get your hands on few books. Might I suggest "Who wore what?" by Jaunita Leish, and the special edition August 2006 of the The Citizens Companion Back to Basics. Both will give you a great foundation to start from. I know I refer back to them all the time. Contact information for The Citizens Companion is as follows: Connie Payne, Editor 18006240281 or email at cwcadmin@lcs.net
As for finding "Who wore what?" try your local book store. It's ISBN# 0-939631-81-4.
I wish you luck and great happiness as you pursue your new hobby. If you have any questions or just wish to talk, feel free to private message me and I'll give you my email.
Samantha Smith, ILL.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Dress length for a young lady

Good suggestions, Samantha!

With all the many good books out there, sometimes it can be a bit intimidating to the budget... but don't overlook a great local resource, in your local library. Most libraries belong to a lending network, and can bring books in from other libraries to your own, for you to check out for a few weeks. Often, this service is entirely free, or costs only a few dollars per book to cover shipping. It's very worthwhile--you can order in all sorts of books, read them at home, and decide if they need to be permanent in your own collection, without spending a lot of money. :)

[cw_girl83]

Re: Dress length for a young lady

Susan,

I have been reenacting since I was two years old so I can tell you that my "fashions" have certainly changed with age. I would have to say that up until I was about 12 years old, all of my dresses hit right at the knee. Between the ages of about 13-18, they came to about mid shin length and then once I reached age 18 they then went all the way to the ground. I have not done too much research on this but as I can recall when asking my mom about why my dress had to be a certain length, she explained to me that it had to do with a woman's "marrying age". If the dress was not all the way to the floor then she was not of marrying age and should wear her dresses at shin or knee level. Like I said I am not sure how accurate that is, just what I was told when I was a teen myself. The best thing that my mom did for me was to make my dresses with layers, such as an underskirt that could be added to the dresses as I got older. This keeps from outgrowing them so quickly. The books mentioned above are also great resources to see what women really wore back then. This forum is also a wonderful source as there are some very wise women who really know thier stuff. I hope that you can find all that you need in order to better your impression for yourself and your daughter!! Good luck!

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Dress length for a young lady

Kristen, thanks for the perspective from a "lifer." :)

One of the most common things I've seen in original girl's clothing is the use of growth tucks. Because many girls may shoot up six inches or more during their growth, but may change very little in circumference of waist and chest, growth tucks solve the skirt length problem very neatly. The skirts are measured "long" and the excess taken up in stitched tucks. As the legs grow, a tuck can be let out--and letting out a 1" deep finished tuck will gain 2" of overall skirt length. (Petticoats can be handled the same way.)

Too, many teen dresses show signs of having been remade, and made purposely with features that allow remaking, such as additional bodice length hidden inside the faced waistband of a dress. When the girl grows taller than her bodice, the skirt and bodice are separated, the excess length in the waistband let out, and the pieces resewn, to make a dress that's at least a whole year larger.

Girl's skirt lengths show a lot of variation in photographs of original girls; in general, the rule of "shorter skirts until adult" is quite constant. Shorter skirts also offer greater freedom of movement.

[Chessa]

Re: Dress length for a young lady

Oh, do make her skirts shorter! If she anything like me, she likes a lot of freedom and shorter skirts give that to her. I was very sad when I had to let a tuck out bringing my skirts to a little above ankle length.

Welcome to the hobby! I've been reenacting for about a year now. Its an interesting hobbie that offers a lot of things to do, not just dances and tea parties ;)