Women's Clothing of the South in the American Civil War
The clothing worn during the American Civil War is a popular costume for Halloween and for Civil War reenactors. In general, the fashions worn before and during the Civil War are Victorian styles, but the clothing worn by women in the Confederate States take on a slightly different consideration.
Cotton was produced in the American South, but the textile mills that manufactured fabric were located in the northern states. The blockade of southern ports by northern forces prevented the importation of European as well as American fabrics. Though blockade runners managed to move some goods through, those imports were few and far between. Black market goods were very expensive, so the South had to make do without new fabric for the duration of the war.
What little fabric was available was needed for uniforms for the military. Even then, southern uniforms were not uniform and many versions existed, including light gray, dark gray, light blue, and butternut brown.
Southern women learned to make do with less and the famous scene in Gone With the Wind, when Scarlett uses drapes to make a dress had some basis in fact. Clothing was mended or remade. Homespun became a popular, even patriotic substitute for manufactured fabric during the war.
Hoop Skirts
Before the War - Fashion in The Antebellum South
We like to visualize women of the Antebellum south in traditional Victorian hoop skirts, grandly embellished with ribbons and bows. Of course, like all fashion periods, the grand, elegant styles of the period were limited to the wealthier classes.
The elite women of the Antebellum South enjoyed French and English fashions. They visited Europe and brought home new styles, fabrics, and designs from Paris and London to be created for them by seamstresses.
- Evening attire featured drop shoulder sleeves, low necklines, and voluminous skirts, held out by layers of petticoats, crinolines, or hoops. Hoops, horizontal circles of thin steel, were held in place by vertical strips of fabric. Short capped sleeves exposed women's arms during warmer months and for evening wear.
- Bodices were somewhat lower than the actual waistline, but rose after the war. Bodices were lined for support and closed in front with buttons or hooks and eyes. Bodice and skirt fabrics usually matched.
- Day-wear dresses were high necked. It was unseemly for a woman to show skin before late afternoon. As pale skin was the style, necks and shoulders had to be covered to avoid the sun. Outdoors, during the day, women carried parasols to avoid sunlight.
- Sleeves were full, widest at the elbow, erupting from a gathered shoulder seam. The Bishop sleeve featured the gathered shoulder, wide elbow, and narrowed at the wrist.
- Layered sleeves with the under-sleeve showing was popular for a time. Sleeves were often trimmed with ribbon or braid.One type sleeve called a negative sleeve showed the lining when the long sleeve was caught up on the outer side, leaving the portion of the sleeve at the back of the arm hanging.
One interesting aspect of women's skirts was the hem. Today, a hem is turned under and stitched. During Victorian times, and in the American Civil War era, hems were bound by a strip of fabric. This fabric could be removed and replaced if the hem showed wear.
Fabrics for Southern Well-to-Do
The elite women of the south wore fabrics in silk, velvet for colder weather, fine lawn, and muslin.
White was a popular color in warm weather for women with status. Black, worn for mourning, was often worn due to the high death rate, and during the war as women lost loved ones who perished in battle.
Large prints were difficult to match and restricted to the wealthy as the voluminous skirts were made of up to 5 yards of fabric, and using a print, stripe or plaid increased the need for even more material.
Center Part With Hair Looped at Side (She may be wearing a 'rat')
Civil War Portrait of a Woman With Lace Collar and Cuffs
Woman With a Parasol
Hair and Accesories
Hair
The ideal women of the pre-Civil War South had pale skin and a rounded face. Hair parted down the center and drawn back, with soft loops on each side of the face accentuated a round face. These loops could be puffed out with a 'rat,' a small net stuffed with hair gathered during brushings.
For dress, the side hair hung in loose ringlets from a central part.
Jewelry
Jewelry was small sized and a rosy gold was the preference in delicate, dangle earrings and oval horizontal or vertical brooches. A brooch was worn at the neckline, at the top of the collar during the day.
Matching chunky bracelets were worn on each wrist.
Fans
Fans were a popular accessory of the American South, a region of hot, humid summers. Simple paddle fans made of palmetto leaves were round and small sized. Six to ten inch folding fans could be painted with pretty designs.
A nosegay, or small bunch of aromatic flowers and herbs was a popular accessory in an era without deodorant.
Small purses, or drawstring bags held a lady's necessities.
Aprons, often worn for cooking or doing chores protected dresses.
Lace was not widely used, except for collars and cuffs
Collar and cuffs were removable for laundering or a stylish change. These removable collars and cuffs were usually white.
Parasol - a fabric umbrella carried on a sunny day to protect a woman's complexion from the sun, and offered a kind of portable shade
A Young Woman Shows That You Can Sit Down While Wearing a Crinoline Cage (Hoop Skirt)
Underwear of the Civl War South
Victorian women of the Civil War period wore many layers of undergarments. While layered undergarments were necessary in many areas for warmth, the custom also followed rules of etiquette and propriety.
The first layer was a soft cotton or linen chemise worn with drawstring drawers trimmed in lace or ribbon, ending just below the knee.
Whale bone corsets laced at the back to accentuate a small waist. The modern concept that women of the day were obsessed with crushing themselves into the tiniest waist possible is not true - that behavior was limited to a small subset.
During the mid 1800's, many petticoats, a crinoline, or crinoline cage hoop skirt created the huge, bell shaped skirt that typified the era. The hoop skirt was impractical, generally worn for dressy occasion.
Slave Wearing Bonnet and Apron
Civil War Era Woman in Print Dress With White Collar and Side Curls
Clothing of Lower Class Women in the Civil War South
Lower class women did not wear hoop skirts, though less expensive crinoline cages (with fewer hoops) were available for those who could afford the style.
The lower classes wore coarser fabrics including:
- osnaburg - a coarse, inexpensive linen
- fustian - a cotton and linen blend
- linsey-woolsey - a coarse cotton, linen, and wool blend
- calico - a cheap cotton fabric printed with a design featuring tiny flowers
Most women of the day wore solid fabrics. Stripes and plaids were limited to the wealthy as matching pieces of fabric use more material. Small prints, like calico, were easier to match and mend. Black was a common color for all classes and worn for mourning dress. Many photographs of the time depict women dressed in black, as many suffered the loss of loved ones, so dressed in mourning attire.
Homespun fabric was not frequently used before the Civil War, but became somewhat popular during the war due to fabric shortages. Contrary to popular conceptions, slaves did not wear homespun as the work involved in the creation of that fabric was labor intensive and not seen as an economical use of a slave's time. Slaves usually wore inexpensive manufactured fabrics.
A wrapper was a loose, one piece dress that was gathered and pleated from neck to hem and belted for shape often with an apron. Low, wide shoulders with wide sleeves gathered at the wrist. Wrappers were worn by working women, lower class women, rural women, and for household chores. A women of moderate substance wore a wrapper made of a better fabric.
Civil War Era Bonnet with a Large Bow
Older Woman in Cap
Women's Hats of the Civil War Era
Hats were commonly worn during Victorian times and were a necessity for women of the south. Wide brimmed hats protected the face, neck, and eyes from the sun. Wearing a hat was seen as a respectable practice and worn for proprietary as well as for looks and style.
Wide brimmed garden hats were popular in warmer months. Often made of straw, garden hats were tied under the chin and often featured some decoration at the base of the crown.
Bonnets were worn in winter and made of heavier materieals than summer bonnets. Sun bonnets often featured a ruffle or small curtain of fabric at the back to protect the neck from the sun.
The fabric of bonnets was stiffened into a wide front brim and tied under the chin with wide ribbons of fabric. Decoration could be changed to refresh the look of a bonnet. Faux flowers were a popular bonnet decoration. Feathers did not become popular until much later.
Spoon bonnets featured a tall, uplifted front brim. Decorative elements like silk flowers, or ruffles were worn inside the hat, under the brim.
Small caps were often worn indoors, especially by older women. These caps worn at the back of the head could be decorated with ruffled edges, braid, or ribbon.
Poor women and slaves wore a kerchief tied behind the head. Some slave women wore turbans.
Tips on Making a Civil War or Antebellum Costume
If you want to create a costume for a woman of the Confederacy during the Civil War, remember that many women wore mended clothing. Faded or muted colors work well as new materials were not available during the war. Many fabrics can be artificially aged by soaking in black tea.
Remember that sewing machines were not widely available. Wealthier women could, however afford the services of a seamstress, who might use a sewing machine.
Many items of clothing were hand sewn before, during, and after the war. For a truly authentic look, hand sew all visible seams.
Following the pictures below are some links to patterns for period costumes of the Civil War era.
Belle Boyd - Confederate Spy
Civil War Era Seamstress
Here Are Several Patterns for the Civil War Period
The History of Mourning Dress
- Fashion History - Mourning Dress - Black Clothing Worn During Bereavement
For over 500 years, wearing black signified bereavement. In Europe and America, black was the color of mourning, worn at funerals and for some time after the death of a loved one. Originally a custom for...
Women's Fashions of the Victorian Era
- Women and Fashions of the Victorian Era 1837 - 1900
Despite the prim and proper feminine ideal of the day, fashions of the Victorian period created an often exaggerated, ostentatious look. Tight corsets, gigantic hoop-skirts, and outrageous bustles make today's...
Sources used:
Costume and Fashion Source Books by Karen Taschek; Bailey Publishing Associates
Clothing Through American History - The Civil War Through the Gilded Age 1861 - 1899 by Anita Stamper and Jill Condra
Comments
Really enjoyed this hub...loved all the photos. Priceless hairdos and hats.
Delores, a fine historical lesson on a topic I would never have thought would be of interest. You made it so start to finish, thanks Dusty
A Marvelous hub! The Northern blockade that prevented milled cotton from getting into the South was a fascinating bit of history. You brought things to life so effectively. Nice illustrations!
What a great job, and I really like the old pictures!
Up and awesome!
Another winner, Dolores. Thanks for the great read.
Excellent hub. As always you have written a very interesting and fascinating hub....the best parts are the little pieces of information you put in the hub....I would image a lady of means....would spend all day changing clothes for different events of the day....as well having to have all the layers of clothes on as well....sounds like a full time job....voted up
What a gracious fashion era~~ it makes me want to watch "Gone with the Wind" again ~~ thanks for a lovely AM read! Voted UP & BEAUTIFUL!
juneaukid - Hi, Richard! Yes, an interesting and terrible time for our country. But I always thought it was interesting how the north was industrialized and the south rural; and I always wondered how the south thought they could win a war and run a country with no industry so to speak. Thanks for dropping by.
50 - Hi, Dusty! I bet you thought the history would be interesting but not the clothing. The textile industry and fabrics and the whole magila is a huge part of our past and had a huge impact on economies - and the clothes are so cool! Thank you much!
Hi, Alek - thank you. I love old photographs and spent way too much time searching through them.
Hi, Sunnie - thank you! Now I am thinking of how to age fabric and want to do some fabric aging with coffee and tea to see how it goes. Hmmmm.........
Will - I love to check out the old photos too and can spend tons of time looking at my own old family photos. Thank you!
Susie Cat - hi! Thank you for taking the time to comment! Looks like you've been pretty busy lately on the old HP! And quite popular too! For good reason, of course.
Hi, Cogerson - thank you! Yes, the idle rich made a lot of work for themselves what with all the attention paid to clothing. But ladies of the day were so talented and worked hard creating beautiful needlework and quilts.
marcoujor - thank you very much. So glad you enjoyed. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Very enjoyable hub. Women in the south have always dresses very feminine and still do.
SJ - yes, women of the American south do have a reputation for being quite feminine.
Great hub. If I had lived in that era, I surely wouldn't have been popular! LOL...I don't think a lengthy hoop skirt would look good on a super short girl like me. I like the way they did their hair, though. :)
Interesting Hub and great pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Great piece, Dolores - I of course lean more towards the Carol Burnett look with the drapes and the curtain rod added for good measure. I don't think I'd have lasted 5 seconds in these beautiful clothes as I am such a total Lucille Ball~!
Wow, so the clothing worn on Halloween dates back to the American civil war. Good to know that, otherwise your hub was really informative and good to read.
Om - I often think about wearing historical fashions when I write these hubs. For me, the worse thing would be the corset. Thank you.
Becky - thank you!
akirchner - Hi, Audrey! Haha, thanks for reminding me of that hilarious Carol Burnett sketch - it was so funny. Of course you would have lasted, it was the way they dressed, they never thought of wearing pants or shorts or whatever. You would have been lovely!
speed - no, I was just saying that the fashions of the period are popular costumes! Thanks!
I love something about history. Thanks for share and write about. Beautiful, my friend. Rated up!
Prasetio,
Hi, Prasetio - thank you for dropping in, dear!
I love those big dresses!
I just love those kind of dresses, womens clothing during those time really shows feminineness. Wonder how much would it cost to have a dress like that during their time.
antoinette - it must have cost plenty. While I was writing this, I found some examples of fabric pricing. Perhaps, I should have included some. But during the war, textiles were very expensive and fabric by the yard cost more than it does today. The large hoop skirts used up to 5 yards of cloth! Most women owned very few dresses.
Marvelous Hub! I learned so much...never knew that the sleeve with the poof and narrowed wrist was called Bishop, and more.
In the early 1950s, my mother made flower-girl dresses for her brother's wedding. The dresses had hoop skirts, the hoop frames being made of a kind of reinforced buckram. My flower girl dress hoop skirt cracked its buckram, and pictures of me show a quite pointy dress at the hem. Sad!
But the point...my mother learned much of her dressmaking skill from her mother-in-law, who learned from her mother, who lived through the Civil War in Ohio.
What a super Hub that, for me, so much connects the far past with my childhood.
Hi, Sally - thank you so much for sharing a wonderful story and making such a lovely comment. A material like buckram would have been called a crinoline and I remember them back in the 1950's. I hated them. They itched! Funny how styles come back.
The actual hoops in a hoop skirt, the frames that held out the skirt are similar to the Elizabethan farthingale, a wheel-like contraption that made those skirts stand way out, like you see in pictures of Queen Elizabeth I.
LOL, those crinolines did itch! But the skirt I was talking about had no crinoline underneath. It was shaped by an underskirt that had a frame to make the dress "hoop out" at the bottom in a perfect circle. Perhaps "reinforced buckram" was not the right description...this underskirt had, at the bottom, sewn into its hem, something like the ribbing we might find in corsets. When it broke, it broke!
Sally - you must have been a good little girl. I know some little girls who would 'accidentally' break that thing! Not me, of course, haha! I remember those itchy crinolines, but not the actual hoops. Sheesh. What were they thinking? I imagine that dress did not get a lot of wear!
I enjoyed how thorough this was -- even hair and jewelry. Good job!
deblipp - thank you, glad you liked!
It must have been a real feat of endurance for these ladies to work in the house or look after their children in these clothes. And those tight corsets and layers of underwear cannot have been comfortable in a hot Southern summer! Great hub Dolores with amazing images
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article. It is a topic well-researched, well-written, and well-done,
Thank you for sharing.
This was fabulous. I have never heard of the rat and I never knew about the hem line. Your hub was fascinating, very interesting and enjoyable from start to finish.
CM - thanks! I think that the people who actually did a lot of work wore more comfortable clothing. Those trussed up southern bells with their hoops skirts and corsets were not out choppin' cotton.
apache - thank you!
Mrs. J. B. - thank you! I seem to remember that they used 'rats' in their hair back in the early 60's when they wore boufont hair dos. (I bet I spelled that wrong)
Dolores, thank you so much for this wonderful Hub. I am always looking for old dress patterns and info for the cloth dolls I make. I have the little women dolls and want to make some authentic looking outfits for them. This hub helps me with ideas. Voted Up and Useful. Thank you.
Phyllis - thank you very much. I tired using tea and coffee to age some material and it works very well - gives the fabric an antique look.
You are most welcome, Dolores. I also use a tea bath to age fabrics and it does work quite well. This will make my Little Women dolls look more authentic. Do you make dolls and doll clothes?
Phyliss - oh I love the idea of the Little Women dolls! I am going to look on your hubs to see if you have published one on that subject. I have started on a rag doll and used both tea and coffee to tint the muslin I am going to use for the face. But I've set it aside for now in my pile of unfinished projects, haha. Thanks!
Dolores, I have not written a hub on doll making -- but, what a great idea! I did not make these Little Women dolls (I got them on eBay). They have porcelain head, arms and legs and cloth bodies. I will make their clothes only. I do make Native American type dolls and they are all cloth. Rather than trying to find muslin of the right shade, I dye muslin in the tea bath. The shade is perfect for my little dolls. I will write an article on them also.
Thanks for the idea!
Phyllis - oh I think I like the idea of making the clothes better than making the doll. I look forward to reading your hub on the subject. And making the doll clothes would be a great hub too. Since I kinda want to do this, I'd love it, as most of the stuff I do, I make up as I go along. Things work out so much better when you actually have some guidance.
Dolores, now you really have inspired me to write on the dolls and doll clothes. I will have to pull out my patterns and start taking some pics to enhance the articles with. I once made a rag doll for my daughter when she was about four. I had no patterns and just made it all up. The hair turned out really cute. I will have to see if I can find that doll and take some pics of her, too. You really got me rolling on this!
Phyllis - well I'm excited too. You sure will save me a lot of time and consternation!
WOW! I see that 100 Author Score up there. Impressive! Congratulations.
I can see why you rate so high. Your writing is flawless. Your topics are interesting. Your pictures complement the article wonderfully. Well done!
Hi, James - Actually, I am often at 100 which is a mixed blessing. It may get folks to read my profile and go to my blog, but I feel as if it only attracts plagerism - if only I could spell. Thank you for such a nice comment. I think we've both done well on HP! Those last lines could be about you!
This site did provide accurate information. Thx!
I think this is very useful. I'm using it for my research paper
Hello Dolores, enjoyed your fascinating article on Civil War apparel. I'm wondering if you will like the new revised layout? Looks much more appealing to my untrained eye in my uninformed opinion. Regards, snakeslane
Wow - what a detailed hub about fashion in the Civil War era! I had always wondered what calico fabric was, since it was mentioned in the Little House books.
Hi :)
That was very interesting and educational :)
Voted up and Tweeted. Very interesting.
hgd - thank you very much!
krazy - thank you!
Hi, snakeslane - thank you! Actually I am not too fond of the big mess at the bottom. And several of my hubs display images that have nothing to do with the hub due to the fact that they display an image for a related hub. I did tweak my groups so that the image would be somewhat related. At first a hub about the history of jeans showed a picture of women from the Middle Ages which detracted terribly, making it look like ladies in hennins (those tall pointy hats with veils) had something to do with jeans. Sheesh.
leah - oh I love the Little House books. Calico is a thin cotton printed with a small pattern here in the US, but in the UK, calico referred to a cheap unbleached cotton that was heavier than muslin but lighter than canvas. Thank you!
TrishM - Hi! Thank you!
barryrutherford - thanks for the tweet! (I sometimes forget to tweet and must tweet more).
Hi Delores,
I came here to check out the new hub format but read the entire article because it was so interesting, well researched and illustrated.
You did a great job covering this topic. Can't imagine actually wearing one of these dresses and it's amazing how much fabric was needed to create one.
Voted up across the board except for funny.
What a fascinating hub about styles worn by southern women during the time of the Civil War. When reading this it brought back memories of Scarlett O'Hara making a garment out of the drapes in the movie "Gone With The Wind." Many funny skits have been created through the years using that as subject matter...even one years ago on the Johnny Carson show. Ha! Voted up, interesting and useful.
Hi, happyboomer - I know! It must have been quite expensive. No wonder they owned so few garments. Thank you so much! (Not crazy about the new format. The first image displayed has nothing to do with the content and I fear will chase readers away) Thank you very much!
Hi, Peggy - Sometimes I just think what those poor people went through. Then I think how, for some of the battles, people would pull up on a nearby hillside, all dressed up in their carriages to watch the battle and that seems so horrible. Thanks for dropping in!
Sunnie Day 14 months ago
Good Morning Delores,
What a interesting and informative hub! I really enjoyed learning about the dress of that time period. Thank you for sharing. Great writing for sure!
Sunnie