1860s Black Silk Bodice with Six Darts (Extant Analysis)

Video Description

Other 1850s/1860s black silk bodices/dresses I have shared so far: https://youtube.com/shorts/Ei2UDJbchI0?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/H8-fQ3fGv9U?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/H_YxZQJRqeU?feature=share Note that didn't make it into the video: In addition to homespun dresses, I have found a very small sample of original 1860s cotton darted dresses that were clearly made to be working clothes-not to be seen in public wearing. And by small sample, I mean that out of hundreds of originals, we're talking like 2. Darting cotton was common earlier in the 19th century (early 1850s and earlier) and also later in the 19th century (post 1865), but there's this little spot in history where cottons were very, very rarely darted and the ones that are, weren't meant to be seen in. And before you go and say "well, you could have had an early 1850s darted cotton and still be wearing it in the 1860s" please stop. If you only have 5-12 dresses at a given time and they are all made of natural fibers and dyed with natural dyes, cotton dresses aren't lasting longer than a year or two at most if they're being worn often in hard working situations. The sheer amount of labor involved in the 19th century wears out clothing much quicker than our labor today. And "well, if a person was older and had always done it this way and liked it, she would have continued to do it" doesn't really work, either. That was a very rare occurrence. Social acceptance was a Really Big Deal in the mid 19th century and most people didn't just get to do what they wanted without social repercussions. Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prairie.flower.historical/ #livinghistory, #fashion, #historicalfashion, #1860s #civilwar #americancivilwar #hoopskirt #hoops #crinoline #cagecrinoline #antiqueclothes #antiqueclothing #antiquegarment #extantanalysis #antique #1860s #1860 #silk #littleblackdress