Period Correct Clothing to Fit Your Style… 

These gowns are a product of where I started on the sewing adventure… I went to work at a nature center and they had a farm that needed a lot of work to get ahead of the Holly-Hobby ie Calico nightgowns with aprons tied over worn with tennis shoes. Over the years I was part of moving the farm toward an interpretive plan, costuming plan and narrowing the scope of the farm to 1870, 5 years after the war and well into reconstruction. With the goal of doing 1st and 3rd person living history I started learning to sew and learning all manner of traditional handicrafts that eventually led me to other reenacting groups and time periods to learn more. I don’t have detailed photos of these dresses and my daughter’s has long since been outgrown and donated to another living history site but these are what we wore for many Saturdays in 1870. This is where the journey and addiction to real life dress up began…

Photos by Gary Paul

• Women’s day dress of cotton with cotton lining, bodice and skirt attach with hooks and eyes
• Fitted bodice with coat sleeves, pleated skirt
• Girl’s day dress of cotton, one piece dress with gathered bodice, growth tucks, button closures
• Machine sewn inner seams
• Hand finished (hems, edging, buttonholes, and hooks and eyes)