Material Evidence

Material Evidence:

18th and 19th Century Fabrics

       The fabrics used in America between 1640--1780 were simple and plain; colonists were largely unskilled in fabric making, so textiles were primarily imported. By 1656, Americans were recognizing that their lack of knowledge was making them all-too reliant on England; they began to desperately try to import textile makers from Europe.
       In 1766 (in Providence, Rhode Island), the "Daughters of Liberty" was formed by a group of upper-middle class young women. They spent their days spinning to free America from its reliance on Europe for textiles--which actually did help the colonists when the Revolutionary war was launched. Many colonists found it economically necessary to create their own basic fabrics and clothing, anyway; but the finer cloths--the brocades and damasks, for example--were purchased from Europe.
       Colonists with lingering European taste insisted upon British wools, in particular. American sheep were coarse wool types, and couldn't produce the more fine, soft wools of English sheep. Yet, in the 1630s, the colonial legislative body passed several laws forbidding the purchase or wearing of such fine fabrics--because, they said, colonists were becoming far too worldly.
       Although widely available in colonial America, COTTON was not expertly created by the colonists; it was very coarse when made in the colonies. American SILKS were generally of poor quality, also. Most cotton was imported from England (and originated in India), and heavy silks from England and France were bought in small quantities.

       LINEN was another popular fabric; it was typically woven in a simple fashion and was found in both coarse and fine qualities. It was common to bleach this fabric, rather than dye or print it.
       CALICO (now a small flower print in cotton or cotton/polyester) was actually a plain weave cotton that looked much like the linens of the time. It was often white, and sometimes colored. MUSLIN was a variety of calico, and CHINTZ was traditionally considered a type of calico by the British, although colonists in the 18th century usually referred to it as a type of fabric made in India by a new technique called "resist-dying."
WOOL FLANNEL was common for men's clothing and underwear, and women's petticoats; colonists preferred to make it at home. OSNABURG (a staple cotton today) was usually an unfinished linen in early America, but could also refer to wool or cotton; this was popular for men's clothing. BROADCLOTH (now a cotton or cotton blend) was a common wool; CASHMERE was also a soft woolen. Some wool fabrics were even finished to imitate fine silk taffetas and moires for women's gowns and men's jackets.
        Many LAWNS were imported, and could be broad, fine, extra-fine, or printed. SERGE was a worsted twill cotton and when (in 1780) it was made in black and blue, it was called DENIM. DIMITY (now a sheer cotton) was a heavy, sometimes twilled cloth in colonial times.
        Most colors could be achieved by the professional, and colonial women usually grew their own plants for creating dyes, and brought them to their dye-maker. The basics (black, brown, green, red, etc.) were all available, and indigo blue was a much sought-after shade.
       By 1840, many of America's textiles were coming, once again, from England. No commercial dyes were made in the U.S.A., with the exception of indigo, which was made in South Carolina.
       There were several religious groups that were noted for their fabrics during this epoch; among these were the Shakers, who grew their own flax, and raised sheep and some silk worms. These textiles were often dubbed, appropriately, "Shaker Goods." Mormons were also regarded as fine fabric makers, especially when it came to silks. Mormon women raised silk worms in their backyards, and while other American women could typically only managed to raise enough silk for a pair of stockings or gloves, the Mormons were well known for weaving fine dresses from their silk.
       Since 1800, sheer MUSLIN (a very fine, transparent cotton) from India was popular, as was VELVET (made from silk), TAFFETA (also a type of silk), MOIRE (typically silk, also), POPLIN (made from silk and wool combined), CREPE (a type of coarse silk), and PERCALE (either a glazed linen or fine cotton.) Plain cotton was the rule for working clothes, and GINGHAM (cotton with threads in two different colors, woven to make checks) was also sometimes used. DAMASK (usually a figured fabric of silk or linen), NANKEEN (a yellow-tinted cotton), BROADCLOTH, and FLANNEL were all staples. The lower classes relied heavily on the soft cotton burlap-type fabric of flour sacks for nightgowns, underwear, and sometimes trousers; these sacks were either bleached, unbeached, left plain, dyed, or printed.
       Since the 1880s, attempts had been made to create synthetic fibers, but none were successful; in 1912, the first RAYON stockings were introduced. Rayon was anything but a hit, however; it wasn't until the 1920s that rayon stockings were all the rage (chiefly because they were less expensive and more durable than silk stockings), and it was then that the great movement toward synthetic fabrics began.

To learn more about historical fabrics, try the following:

* English Women's Clothing In the 19th Century by C.W. Cunnington. A great overview of what women wore, including a comprehensive glossary of Victorian fabric names.

* A History Of Textiles by Kax Wilson. A good basic reference on fabrics of all historical time periods.

* A Dictionary of Textile Terms by Dan River. A small booklet packed with definitions for nearly all the modern textile terms you could imagine.

04/21/2006

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