Mid 18th Century Scots Women
A Mid-18th Century Picture Gallery of Women’s Clothing(
Caveat: Please be aware of the moral messages the painter is trying to convey in these pictures. Often, painters would show someone wearing items a certain way — for instance, stays unlaced or no stays to indicate a ‘loose’ woman — to make a point.)
The Paris Street Cries by Bouchardon; 1737-1742 (Figs 178-221). This is a large series that is spread out in different collections. I have some of the images posted here.
Broken Eggs by Jean Baptiste Greuze (1756)– look at the kertch-like item worn by the old woman; interesting parallel to the Scottish kertch.
Le Geste Napolitain by Jean Baptiste Greuze (1757)
Greuze: The Spoiled Child (1765)
Chardin: Grace before the meal (1761)
Chardin: Girl Peeling Vegetables
Chardin: The Attentive Nurse (1738)
Chardin: The Laundress (1730s)
Chardin: The Return from Market (1739)
Greuze: The Laundress
Fragonard: The Stolen Kiss
Liotard: The Chocolate-Girl (1743-1745) — Swiss
Later time period, but informative:
Plucking the Turkey by Henry Walton (1776) — wearing bedgown, checked apron
A Woman doing Laundry by Henry Robert Morland
Appin's Regiment Guidelines
This list is intended as a guide to assembling a reasonably accurate kit for a Highland woman circa the year 1745. It is not the last word on the subject – there are probably sources for patterns or ready-made items that are not listed. Please see the Suppliers List for other sources.
We recognize that few, if any, people will ever achieve the “Most Accurate” level in all areas of their kit. This page is designed to provide a “Good, Better, Best” structure so that you will have an idea of what will get you in the door with a reasonably good outfit, as well as goals to strive for as you seek to improve your impression. Every effort should be made to have acceptable kit within your first year. We have loaner gear and you can borrow clothing while you are putting together your kit. We would rather that you get something that is right than waste money on items you can’t use!
First Things First:
Your basic items of clothing are: Shift, Petticoats (2), stays, jacket or shortgown, neckerchief, kertch or cap. Next, get your shoes, stockings, apron, pockets, and arisaid.
Hints and Tips:
— DO wear more than one petticoat (which, in this context, means a skirt, not an undergarment). This gives the roper 18th c. silhouette, which makes the waist look narrow by contrasting it with the fullness of the skirts. (Yes, this does work!)
— DO wear jumps or stays, unless you’re a nursing mother or wetnurse, elderly and poor, an invalid, or a slattern. Most other women, even working-class women like dairy maids, seem to have worn stays; otherwise they would have given the impression of being “loose” (which is where the term comes from — there was a strong connection in this period between neat dress and good behavior). No,we don’t know for certain that Scottish women wore jumps or stays; however, nobody says they didn’t, and most European women were wearing them by this period.
– PLEASE cover your hair, unless you are a single young woman. There’s nothing that ruins a period impression faster than a modern hairdo. Even if you are tucking all your hair into a cap and putting a straw hat on top, that’s much better than ruining your impression with a modern haircut.
– PLEASE wear period glasses or contacts. Yes, reproduction glasses frames can be expensive, but that’s often another area where reenactors fall short. If you can’t, get thin metal or frameless glasses, which are fairly inobtrusive.
— PLEASE borrow, buy or make period footwear — pampooties are cheap to make, and more accurate than Ren-Faire shoes.
— Lastly, DO look at pictures that date from Europe in the middle of the 18th century — look at what women were wearing, and how, to get a feel for what an accurate costume would look like. Though there are very few such pictures of Scottish women, we do have some of English and French country women, and those can serve as a guide, with a little inch of salt to account for context and the difference between those countries and Scotland. Scotland was NOT completely isolated from fashion trends — they just took a little longer to get there.
To be avoided
– PLEASE do not wear modern makeup. Sunscreen is encouraged, but eyeliner, mascara and lipstick are obviously modern and should be omitted.
– “Circle” mob caps (i.e., mob caps made from a gathered circle of fabric with a drawstring) are NOT correct. They are not based on any 18th c. historical object.
– The “English Bodice” or “French Bodice” as worn by many reenactors are not based on any historical garment.
There was a waistcoat-like jacket that was worn in the bedroom, or around the house by invalids or nursing mothers. Unless you are in your bedroom, or your house in one of these states, don’t wear one. Also to be avoided: Ren-Faire bodices in tapestry or cut under the breast; they’re not accurate either in materials or cut.
– Stay away from prints unless you are very confident that they’re period. Most of the calico prints available in commercial fabric stores are inaccurate and are more appropriate for Victorian day-dresses than 18th c. clothing.
– Penannular brooches should not be worn; nor should you be wearing the big, silver Victorian brooches with the stones on them. There are no existing penannular brooches dating from later than about 1100 AD. Unfortunately, there are few jewelers making any accurate annular brooches for women (a few people making moderately acceptable annular brooches are listed below). If you don’t have an annular brooch, a straight iron, wood or bone pin would be a better choice; you use it to pin on your arisaid like one would use a straight pin. Just be careful not to stick yourself with the pointy end; if you tuck the sharp end into a fold of cloth after using it to pin the arisaid, that helps.
– Modern jewelry should be omitted
– Iron Age Celtic jewelry such as torcs should be omitted