The Dickinson press., 1888-12-01
CONFEDERATE DRESS
HOW THE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH
CLOTHED THEMSELVES.

Interesting "Reminiscences of the Days of
ti:e Civil War-Tcminine Ingenuity i'll
it#shioniug Garments from Crude Nate
rails Spinning, Dycing, Weaving.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy"
WIS a uaXim of necessity in the hard times;
~ tl."re was no raimcnt the subject of bar
ier o. sale which was inexpensive. Spora lie
i;>;t"ces taken at random prove the general
,u.c. In August, 1864, Il private citizens
vuAt and vest. made OF five yards of coarse
ho:nc sl,ua cloth, cost $3.50 exclusive of the
price paid for the making. The trimmings
consisted of old c~ravats; and for the cutting
and putting together, a country tailor
charged $50. 1t is safe TO say that the private
citizen looked Il veritable guy in his row
sui. in spite OF its heavy drain upon his
rusketbook.
In January, 1865, the material for a lady's
dress which before the wal would have cost
so could not be bought for less than $500.
r,ic masculine mind is unequal TO the task of
guessing how great Il sum might have been
had for boMiiets brought through the lines;'
fer in spite of patient self sacrifice and ui-
lettering devotion at the bedsides of tho
wounded in the hospital. or in ministcring to
the needs of relatives and dependents at
home, the southern women Of those days arc
credited with as keen an interest in the fash
ions as women everywhere in civilized lands
are apt To be in times of peace. 1t was nat
Gral that they should be so interested, even
though that interest could in the main not
reach beyond theory. Without it they often
would have had Il charm the less and q pans
the more. ANY clminine garment in tho
shape of cloak or bonnet or dress which
Glanced to come from the north was readily
awarded its need of praise, and reproduced
10y sharp eyed observers, so far rs the scarcity
of materials would admit.
But fashions rules We're necessarily much
relaxed in the southern Confedcracy so far
rs practice went when even such articles as
pins brought through the blockade sold for
ST. Il paper, and needles for $40, with not
enough OF either.
The superstition expressed in the couplet,
Sec a lin, and pick it up,
An the day you'll have good luck,
gained its converts by tho score; more, low
Yer, rs can he readily imagined, for the sako
+ the pin itself, which it was Il stroke of
happy fortune to find and seize, than of any
,lhel good luck that was to accompany tho
finding. The broken needle of Confederate
times did not go into the fire or out of the
window, but was carefully laid aside until
he red scaling a Of the ransackcl desks
and secretaries lent it q head whcrewith to
appear as a handsome and useful pin. To
,btall the bare materials out of which to
fashion garments for the family and for tho
servants soon became Il serious question. Tho
souSc carpenter and the blacksmith wero
.allcd into service to this end, and cotton
,,,rt, mara brrnn,a l.ipn t,Gl1rb pf N rrnot1y-
Unfinished sovereignty. Carling combs of
. rough pattern were constructed for tho
purpose of converting the raw cotton into
batting, and thence into rolls of uniform
lcnglh and size for spinning. The hum of
he spindle and the clank of the loom treadle
were the martial music with which tho
women at homc met the fierce attacks of the
lrsions of cold and nakednesS.
Spinning wheels, reels, bobbins, looms, and
Ill the aplurtenanccs for the weaving of
10th We're made and used at home; and the
oilers in the cotton fields and the %spinners in
lie loom shed worked on contentcdly, with q
seemingly sublime Indifference TO the mighty
,truggle that was convulsing Il continent for
heir sal;cs. OF this dusEy people it may
acre le said that, no matter what phiianthro-
1istS, politicians, or philosophers nave said
II them in the past OF shall ~prophcsY Of
hem in the future, they We're true to every
rust reposel in them; and with u most tire
mnlldous power for dircst evil in their pos
session, the negroes of the south in the days
If the civil war did naught but good. If
Inc "colored troops of the Union army
"fou hit nobly,' the slaves of the southern
plantation so bore Themselves in those stirring
times as to merit no smaller need of praise.
Cotton and wooden fabrics of firm and sui
stuntial texture We're woven, cut and fash
toned into garments for whites and blacks.
Plentiful crops of flax rc-enforccd the array
IF wool and cotton and many Il little flax
wheel which in the days of peace has since
moved north to adorn in its newly gilded and
Ueribboncd state tho boudoir of some usthc-
tic girl might tell pathetic tales of its former
place of residence if tho tongue of its tiny
spindle had but speech.
The dyes of the forest wood barks, of the
suluac, of the Carolina indigo and Of the cop
pe.as from the numerous coppcras wells wert
utilized to color the cloth thus woven. w,
read i'll tho current newspapers that "a hand
some brown dye is made by Il combination
Of rcd oak bark and blue stone in boiling
water; and that "a brilliant yellow may b.
obtained by pouring boiling water upol
other component parts of 'sassafras
swamp bay and butterfly root" The sam
authorities tell us that vivid puppies
reds and green's We're produced from
composition of coal oil and sorghum, tinte
with the appropriate tree bark; though {
coal oil for other purposes there was all to
little. If a great similarity of quality M
texture existed in the homespun cloth, I'll
enumeration of the foregoing means of dyein
clearly demonstrates that there was at lea:
opportunity for us great diversity Of color
distinguished the famous coat of Joscpl
though the readcrof today is aptto look wi
some suspicion OIL the conspicuous forwar
ness of the adjectives vivid" "brilliant
'!splendid, y which always accompanied the
talismanic recipes.
Strong threadf for sewing was evolved fro
the little flax wheels. For any unusual
handsome work, if by any odd chance Sill
work should happen to he demanded, sewil
silk was procured in on emergency by raw
ing the fringes of old silk shawls or picki
to pieces silk scraps which had surviv
times touch, and carding, combing, n
twisting them into fine threads. These lit
silken "hanks'' were sometimes SO prett
colored by means of the dyes that have be
described, as to become i'll tho eyes of
womankind of that generation almost
beautiful as the many shaded, dainty tilosel
of the present are to the women of today
G. Gordon in The Century.