Costume

How did working class women dress in the 1700's?

At this time the whole of Ireland was under British rule. The British did not have the ragged poor of Europe. It had not had a peasant class since medieval times and this was reflected in the appearance of its people. You could tell a person’s social class by the clothes that they wore. The richer you were; the better-fitted, brighter-coloured clothes you had. Some servants received clothes as presents. They would have been cast off clothes from a master or mistress, to be worn or sold on. The poorer in society wore second hand clothing.

Clothes tended to be very well looked after. The were patched and darned until they could no longer be repaired and then it was taken apart for a new use. The clothing of the poor is difficult to trace as there are currently no surviving garments and few artists recorded what these people wore. However, some artists had painted lower-class individuals. The only thing to consider is that the artist may lie to flatter or make the painting more aesthetically pleasing. Stitching may not be painted in, colour may have been added and also oils used in the painting may have caused the painting to become worn over time.

Some garments from the 17^th century exist today and they would have been expensive or valuable to the people that owned them. Original garments give construction details. The clothes of the working class are expected to have been made in similar manner of cut and tailors would have used less expensive fabric.

Fabrics: Linen was always worn next to the skin. The working class women would more than likely have been unable to keep their linen white and would have dressed in cream, grey or beige. Wool and wool mixtures were the typical material for skirts, stays and bodices. Lace was expensive and so although it was made by the poor, it was worn by the rich so we are avoiding using it in our costume.

Colours: Only natural dyes were available but they would have been able to produce a wide range of strong colours. However, the working class would have been limited in the colours that they could buy as they would not have had enough money to by clothes of a variety of colours. The dyes faded more easily then chemical dyes. Washed out muted colurs look better than harsh, strong, bright colours. People working outdoors and sleeping rough would have caused their   clothes to wear faster.

Headgear: Women tended to cover their heads unless they had enough money to have their hair dressed in a fashionable style. Many rich women wore coifs when they did not have time to fix their hair. Some others would have worn white bonnets. This was particularly common with servants helping out for the more wealthy in society. Covering one’s head was a social convention. No hat and no hairstyle was not seen as indicating an immoral individual however, it did indicate pure laziness.

Here is a photo of a young women who is dressed in the typical clothing of a working class women in the 1700's. We can see that she is wearing clothes with noticeable colour however they are still very dull. She is also wearing hat that was typical of working class women at the time. She is carrying a bag over her shoulder that would have been used by the working class women to carry their belongings.