1880’s Re-enactment Clothing
To go on the Cattle Drive, we’d love it if you would help keep the historical flavor by dressing in 1880s style, however, we realize this isn’t doable for everyone. Traditional Western attire is also acceptable. We will be filming for a video documentary on the Drive, and you have more likelihood of being in the film if you are in historical clothing.
Inspirations:
– Most Western movies give good starting point ideas for men’s clothing, for active women it’s a little bit harder
– TV Show Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman – awesome clothing! Apparently, it is not exactly historically accurate in that separate skirts and blouses were not in vogue until a bit later, but they have lots of ideas you can use for both men’s and women’s articles of clothing
– Netflix series “Godless” – has a lot of well researched accurate clothing
– Series “1883” Curiously not very historically accurate where they show women wearing pants and women cutting off the sleeves of their dresses (also notice that at the same time the women cut off their sleeves (I guess because of the heat), while men are wearing dusters and wool coats??? Everything I could find talks about women trying to stay “proper” (and “marriage-able” if they were the right age) as much as possible even under quite adverse conditions. Shortening their skirts to above their ankles and wearing darker color cloth was often described as a way to “hide the dirt”, but other concessions like to actually bare their arms would have been beyond scandalous!
General clothing NOTES:
– blue jeans were not invented until 1873 in San Fransisco CA, so unlikely they would have been available in Florida in 1880s. Canvas duck was what most work pants were made out of and they were worn with suspenders. (men)
– all photos I can find show flat or floppy brim felt hats (although it sure seems like palm would have been used, but I couldn’t find any drawings nor photos). The current styles of western hats would have been unlikely
– Very good article about era-appropriate hats: https://www.curtrich.com/hats.html
– I could not find a single photo of a Cracker woman riding a horse – did find some fru-fru tourists from up north at some Florida east coast resorts riding horses side-saddle in very formal clothing. Don’t think our Cracker women would have dressed or ridden like that. More than likely they would not get to ride much, delegated to driving the wagon was probably all (if that, unfortunately).
– Reading the very few biographies of Cracker women pioneers I’ve been able to find, it sounded like they wore ankle-length skirts (to keep them out of the dirt (shorter than the proper Victorian style of the time)), the few photos show very dark-colored dresses or all-white (or it could be the calico print did not show up in the photos). Lace-up style boots. Both floppy brim hats and bonnets. Hair up. Having a ribbon for your hair or to tie around your throat was a popular thing. The Victorian era was very big on cameos pins or miniature painting pins of your beloved, or brooches made with human hair of your beloved or parents. References to aprons as you would really want to keep your dress clean since it was such a big deal to do laundry.
– by the 1880s skirt styles were a bit narrower, and bustles were starting to come into fashion. Skirts that were less gathered in the front, but densely gathered in the rear (“walking skirts”) were becoming fashionable. However, humble Cracker women probably just made do with easily made gathered all-around drawstring skirts (elastic was not invented then).
– Hooped skirts or excessively wide skirts with thick crinolines were out of style by 1870 and were just not practical for pioneer women, a less full skirt with a bustle was popular for “dress up” wear
– Excellent article about Women’s Pioneer Clothing: https://recollections.biz/blog/pioneer-clothing-what-women-wore-in-the-western-frontier/
Sources for budget Cracker 1880’s style cow hunter & huntress wear
– eBay
keywords:
– “Wah maker” (a brand (a division of Scully) that makes vintage style western clothes)
– “Cattle Kate” (a brand that makes vintage-style western clothes) (I just got a $125 blouse for $25 yesterday!)
– “reenactment”, “pioneer clothing”, “maxi skirt”, “mormon trek”,”cameo jewelry”, “vintage skirt”, “vintage blouse”
– Wild West Mercantile http://www.wwmerc.com
– at the bottom of the page is a mailing list signup:
“join our posse for big savings”
– menu category is “Old Western Wear”, also look in “Bargain Corral”
– http://historicalemporium.com, bar menu “Old West”. Again you can sign up for their newsletter and get sales and discounts
– http://recollections.biz
Their stuff is beautiful but expensive and also made to order, so it can take 5-6 weeks. Sign up for their newsletter to get discounts and sales info.
– http://riverjunction.com River Junction Trading Company. High-quality merchandise.
– google “1880’s women pioneer clothing” or “Mormon Trek” and you will find lots of patterns. Apparently, there is a “Mormon Trek” event where they re-enact the pioneer trek out to Salt Lake City around the 1850s and people like to sew their own bonnets and skirts and such for this.
– https://www.gatheringofgoods.com/womenshistorical.html – this lady sews EXCELLENT affordable skirts that can be customized to your hem length, they have a drawstring and part elastic waist. I have two of her skirts and they are of excellent quality. Sara has one also. She also sells historical pattern calico cloth if you want to sew something yourself, but her prices are so reasonable it is worth it to have her do the sewing for you. The cloth she sews with is also pre-washed so you don’t have to worry about shrinkage.
– Etsy – search for “western reenactment” or “vintage western” or “maxi skirt”. Etsy also has old patterns for a few pioneer-style costumes.
– http://sheplers.com – search for “Scully Wah Maker” brand line, they often have this brand on sale. Very pretty old-style blouses.
– cattlekate.com – their stuff is very nice but very very pricey and the sizes run small. menu Special->Sales Corral. They often will have a promo code in a bar on their main page for free shipping or small discounts. You can sign up for their newsletter and get discounts and sales from time to time. Last year I was able to find a navy riding skirt at 50% off, but it was only in that color and only my size, so I really lucked out.
– https://www.ccsutlery.com – this looks to be mainly Civil War era reenactment supplies, but they have odds and ends
Most “mountain man” or “Rendezvous” era re-enactments are a little earlier in time than the 1880’s Cracker Cattle Drives, but still googling those terms can point you to some good ideas.
– https://www.crazycrow.com/rendezvous-clothing-and-accessories
– http://www.christineuniqueapparel.com
– thrift stores – use your imagination! Sara is the wizard at doing this but I think she is so successful because she is constantly stopping back in and checking them out because their items change.
The key is to check out these websites and places often, sign up for mailing lists so you get discounts or find out about sales. Don’t be afraid to make really low offers on eBay stuff, the seller can make you make a counteroffer. Be creative about combining finds from different places into an outfit. Be willing to alter to fit if not quite the right size (Sara and I both have found nice skirts for $3.50 on eBay that just need a little waist size altering and hemming.) Also putting a petticoat under a blah “maxi skirt” in a calico print can really transform it more into the 1880s look.
Facebook Idea Sources:
• “Rendezvous Clothing Company”
• “Frontier Clothing, Kit, Weapons and Tack” group
• Most other re-enactment groups are Civil War so a bit earlier in time.
Other:
– Canvas Bedrolls: https://canvascutter.com (tie bedroll to your saddle to not include the weight in your 60 lbs of gear)
– there are lots of cool canvas tents and tepees available, but remember this will weigh as part of your 60 lbs of gear
Sewing Patterns:
Beautiful 1880’s style dress: https://www.simplicity.com/ea455101-premium-print-on-demand-costume-pattern/EA455101.html#start=7
Buckaroo Robbins Patterns: https://www.buckaroobobbins.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/catwomen1951/1880-s-patterns/
DON’T
– hoop skirts
– excessively shaped modern-day style western hats
– Skirts, pants were designed to be worn at your natural waistline – not below – it feels odd now, but …
– DO NOT wear style Renaissance Festival clothing unless you are a time traveler
– Absolutely NO baseball caps, or t-shirts, sneakers or sweatshirts with logos/advertising
– Try to not wear dark shades or to have your cellphones visible (particularly if you want to appear in photos or the video!)
——
Great Florida Cattle Drive Authenticity Sub-committee:
Connie Woodward
Sara Moran