Several folks who follow my blog had commented on the shortage of women in many of my picture posts. So I decided to remedy that this year. All of these folks were asked before they were photographed and are aware they might be posted here.
Two Friends
These ladies could be the wives of tradesmen or prosperous farmers. And yes, tinted glasses were both available and very popular in the 18th century.
Two Trader’s Staff
These ladies would be of a somewhat lower social class than the previous 2 ladies. Their clothing is plainer and may well have been bought 2nd hand.
3 Ladies at the Chandler’s Stand
The 2 ladies in the center are dressed in fashions that were more common in towns rather than on the frontier. The lady on the right has a wool pull over hunting shirt on, a more frontier style of attire.
A German Frau in Her Camp
This lady is working on some mending. Note her wooden shoes to keep her feet dry. The British colonies had a great many German speaking residents and the Pennsylvania border is only a day’s travel from Ft. Frederick.
Missy Clark
Missy is also keeping her feet dry in wooden shoes. Klompen, sabot – it’s all the same really, with minor shape differences depending on the local tradition. Missy has also drawn up her petticoat hem to keep it dry and is wearing several layers of clothing to ward off the chill.
Chantal
Chantal is also wearing wooden shoes, you can see the sheepskin that are used to keep the shoe from rubbing the top of the foot raw. Wooden shoes are fitted noticeably loose on one’s bare foot. You then wear thick socks and sheepskin pads to get a good fit. (Chantal is holding Missy’s new trade sign, which she made.) Chantal is younger than Missy and wears her petticoats shorter. Thus she hasn’t drawn them up.
2 More Country Ladies
Cloaks were the common serious weather garment for women. And everyone wore a head covering when out in public.
A Trader in a Capped Greatcoat
In Europe it would have been very rare indeed for a woman to wear a man’s outer garment. Here traveling trades women sometimes adopted men’s outer garments for their practicality. Just try driving a wagon team wearing a cape! It was also safer on the uncertain frontier to appear as a man at a distance.
A Native American Wife
This lady’s pucker toe moccasins and French print trade shirt identify her as from the Great Lakes area of New France.
Susan
Another warmly attired lady of the middling classes.
OK So It’s Not a Lady . . .
This is a trader’s display of a woman’s basic attire.
2 Couples
The man on the far left and the lady on the near right are Iroquois. The man on the near left is a frontier trader. The woman on the far right is his Native American wife.
A Iroquois Couple
(This is a better photo of the Iroquois Couple)
A Man and His Wife from the Frontier
This couple is wearing an open front hunting shirt as their outer garment. The capes help shed water and add a second layer to the garment over the shoulders and upper chest. These also break the wind nicely.
A Gentleman & a Working Woman
No, not that kind of working woman. A street vendor, in this case she vends shoe polishing. Shoes are expensive and streets are rarely paved. Frequent polishing extends the like of the leather. He is dressed as a prosperous townsman and she is dressed as a respectable woman plying her trade.
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