Women's Clothing Guidelines

How to use this document:

The first section gives a description of the basics of dress and general appearance. The second section describes how to construct the various pieces of clothing and sources for purchasing what you can't make yourself. Additional reading and research is recommended; our understanding of eastern woodland Indian material culture is by no means complete.

SECTION I

1. Wool wrap skirt - color should be red, blue, green, or black - the preferred colors for wool were red and blue. Red should be fairly bright; blue is more of a navy blue than a cobalt. Look for a light- to medium-weight wool, and if you can find one with a "hard" texture, so much the better. Wool broadcloth is usually readily available and is reasonably close to the appropriate weight for stroud wool. The skirt should be no more than knee length; and you'll want it to overlap by a body width. Tie it around your waist with a cord or leather thong. This may be decorated with edge beading or one or more rows of silk ribbon, worsted tape, ferreting, or similar material around the bottom edge. Silk ribbon turns up more frequently on trade and gift lists than wool ferreting, although the ferreting can certainly be found.

2. Wool side-seam leggings - same selection of colors for wool as the wrap skirt; legging color does not need to match the skirt. Leggings should reach to mid-thigh and be tailored close to your leg; allow at least a three-inch flap on the sides. We don't know how they were held up in period, so feel free to experiment. One method is to make men's style leggings, with a strap on the side where the flap is to be tied to a cord or strap around the waist. Another method is to add a tie around the top of the legging and tie it tightly around the thigh. You may find another method that works better for you - as far as we can tell there is no "right" or "wrong" way, as long as they stay up. These may be decorated with silk ribbon or beading if you like; decoration runs the length of the flaps and around the bottom of opening. Leggings aren't totally necessary in hot weather; however, they do provide protection when working over a fire or when walking through brush.

3. Leg ties - should be fingerwoven strips about 1.5 to 2 inches wide. Beadwork or quilled ties are also appropriate; a length of worsted tape or a wool strip or leather thong will also do. The most common weave throughout the period was the oblique weave, although patterns such as chevrons, arrowheads, and lightnings begin to appear in the later Revolutionary War period.

4. Center seam moccasins - don't get pre-made moccasins of the "bedroom slipper" style; these have the wrong construction.

5. Men's style shirt - white linen, plain or with neck and/or wrist ruffles, is preferred. In period, a little over half of the described shirts are white linen; of the remainder, about half are various solid colors and the rest prints or checks. So a colored shirt isn't wrong, but is less common than white. Cotton was also available by the late war period, but again, was less common than white linen. So get the linen - you'll be more comfortable anyway.

6. Matchcoat or blanket - can be decorated with ribbon or left plain.

7. Hair - The problem here is that we're dealing with a genotype. The common hair color was dark - black or very dark brown. If your hair is any lighter than a medium brown, you should color it. The most commonly documented hairstyle is parted in the center front, with the hair pulled back and clubbed; the club then wrapped with ribbon or tape, sometimes decorated with silver or other trinkets. Brass thimbles, bells, or wampum strands may all be used for this. The hair should also be smoothed with bear grease - this keeps the shorter strands from flying into your face and also helps to keep the bugs away. It's a good hair conditioner, too!

1. Hide leggings - Hide clothing, usually leggings, still turns up in accounts from this period, though much less frequently than clothing made of the ubiquitous red and blue wool. Descriptions of clothing made from trade cloth outnumber those of clothing made from hide, however.

2. Painted shirt - There are mentions in captivity narratives of trade shirts that were painted on the shoulders and worn until they disintegrated. Painted (or paint-smeared) shirts turn up in the record, though many of the accounts predate our period.

3. Jacket or bedgown - these are articles of European women's dress; worn by native women as an outer layer. Jackets are more tailored in style than bedgowns; either may be a solid color, woven stripe, or (more often as a later-period garment) a print. Prints are tricky; do your research first to verify that what you're getting is period-correct - if you have any doubts or questions, it's best to get something else. These need not be worn all the time, but are nice for another layer.

4. Shift - this should be white linen. Another article of European women's dress; may be worn instead of the shirt.

1. Jewelry - Basics include silver ball-and-cone earrings, ear twists, brass or silver bracelets, wampum bracelets and necklaces, trade bead necklaces, wound-glass pony bead necklaces, finger rings, and silver ring brooches. Silver hair plates and bells are nice for more "dress-up" occasions. Don't go too far overboard, unless you're going out "on the town" - too much jewelry can get in the way while you're working.

2. Paint - Use red ochre or vermilion powder, mixed with bear grease or something similar. Paint should be applied only to the part of the hair, circles on the cheeks (in front of the ears), the top of the ears, and/or the top of the forehead. This is something best used for "dress-up."

3. Stockings - Worsted stockings may be used in place of leggings, but should be less common than leggings in the camp.

4. Shoes - Shoes were worn by natives in the 18th century, but should be less common than moccasins in the camp.

1. Bags and pack baskets - Unfortunately, the documentation we have available at the moment indicates that in the northeast during the 18th century, native women carried things in their hands or in a "bundle" on their back. The exception being babies on a cradleboard, of course. We have yet to find anything solidly documenting pack baskets, shoulder or waist pouches, or any other means of carrying small things around. A large twined bag or blanket roll is acceptable as the carrying "bundle," but you should avoid visible small carrying bags and pouches. One way to get around this is to make yourself a flat bag that can be worn under your shirt or shift; this provides a way to carry your wallet to the sutler's without anyone the wiser. And if you can find us some documentation for bags and/or pack baskets, we'll all be forever in your debt!

2. Feathers - Men get to wear feathers, women don't. We have one piece of documentation stating that women's hair was dressed "with wampum and feathers" - it's from the Ohio country and is unique. Otherwise there seems to be nothing stating or showing that women wore feathers.

3. Neck knives - another "guy" thing. By all means you should have a knife available to you, but you shouldn't wear it.

4. Sashes - again, these are not documented to women. You'll be cooler without it anyway.

5. Nail polish, long fingernails - Nail polish is a modern invention and long fingernails break. Enough said.

6. Modern makeup - no eye shadow, mascara, blusher, etc. should be worn in camp. An exception to this rule is waterproof foundation used to darken a lighter skin tone - this is optional, of course. But a "made-up" look is out of period and inappropriate.

7. Nose rings - Don't seem to have been common for women. There are some illustrations showing women wearing nose rings; none of these seem to be Iroquois, however. And there is one description of Oneida, stating that the men wore nose rings but not the women.

SECTION II

1. Wrap skirt - Just a rectangle of wool. Cut it wide enough so that the inside edge wraps securely around one hip and the outside edge reaches to the other. Cut it long enough so that it's about knee-length, with a few inches to spare at the top edge so that it can be folded over the waist strap. You'll want a four- to five-inch overlap, most likely. The skirt can wrap either to the left or the right. If you like, decorate the bottom edge with two or several strips of tape or ribbon. Ribbon or tape may also be used to cover the raw edges at the sides. A few ring brooches may also be added. You'll also need a waist tie to hold it up - wool tape or other fabric is best. A leather thong may also be used, but the skirt will tend to slip out from underneath it so you'll need to keep checking the overlap at the top.

2. Leggings - One way to construct these is to cut two rectangles the length of your ankle to the middle of your thigh and wide enough to go around your thigh with enough extra for the flap allowance. Pin it around your leg and mark where your leg is inside the rectangle. That'll be the stitching line. Unpin it, measure and mark the flap dimensions, pin it on again to check that you got it right, then cut. Add any decorative elements before stitching the side seam; then add whatever ties or straps you'll need. Like the wrap skirt, leggings do not absolutely need to be decorated.
   One style of legging support has a single suspension strap stitched onto the legging just to the inside (legging side, not flap side) of the stitching line for the flap. The side with the tie is worn towards the front. Another style of strap is the "Y" strap - the suspension strip on the side front of the legging splits into a Y shape, with one branch of the Y attached to the front and one to the back. The Y shape keeps the legging in place better than a single strap, and seems to be a typical Iroquois rendition.

3. Leg ties - If you want fingerwoven ties, you can learn to make them yourself or ask someone else about making them for you. Good resources for learning fingerweaving are Alta Turner's book Fingerweaving: Indian Braiding which is carried by many of the sutlers, Fingerweaving Basics by Gerald Findley which is available from Crazy Crow, and the Book of Buckskinning: Volume VI which has a good article on fingerweaving, including instructions for the oblique weave. A warning about the Buckskinning article - the directions are very hard to follow unless you already know something about what you're doing and how you want it to come out.

4. Center seam moccasins - a basic pattern for construction may be found here.

5. Shirt - Good patterns to use are the ones from Kannik's Korner (watch out; their patterns run small) or J.P. Ryan. Alternatively, check the sutlers for white linen shirts. Make sure your shirt is at least mid-thigh length and that it's linen and not some horrible abomination like cotton-poly blend. Your primary shirt should be white. If you want a print as a secondary or dress-up shirt, look for a block print. Do your research before you buy ANY prints! And remember - white linen should be your first choice.

6. Bedgown - Kannik's Korner makes a good bedgown (manteau de lit) pattern, as does Janice Ryan; a recommended sutler for bedgowns (and women's clothing in general) is Silly Sisters. If you're interested in a printed material, look for a block print on linen. You should avoid most bedspread and curtain materials as they are generally the wrong fibers and the wrong weight. Again, do your research before you buy ANY prints! If you have any doubts, choose a plain color or woven stripe.

7. Shift - Kannik's Korner makes a good shift pattern - be warned, though, it runs small. Get a size (or even two) larger than you usually take. The completed garment should come down to your knees or a little below, and if properly made has a VERY low neckline.

8. Matchcoat - Get a piece of thicker wool: white, darkish royal blue, red are best. Duffel and half-thick are two of the wools frequently mentioned in connection with blankets and matchcoats. Stroud is nice if you can get it; one source for stroud is Crazy Crow. The matchcoat should measure roughly 2 yards by 1 - 1.5 yards. Matchcoats can be decorated with rows of silk ribbon, but like wrap skirts and leggings, they don't need to be.

9. Ribbon and worsted tape - available at The Wooded Hamlet.

10. Jewelry - Beads and necklaces can be purchased from several sutlers.

11. Shoes and stockings - available at many sutlers.