Not so Glamorous

18th century 

Colonial women had few clothes. Generally, a work or day-time) dress, apron and a dress for special occasions was the standard.  There were no closets and clothes were kept neatly folded inside of a chest. New clothes were made by making a pattern of the old dress and duplicating it. Women had to spin the cloth, then hand-stitch the item.  The hairdo was kept in place by sleeping on a wooden bolster (under the neck). Try that one for your vertabrae! Despite what the movies depict of the days on the plantation, the days were filled with chores and responsibilties, not only for the household, but for the servants as well. Although the mistress of the home usually managed a small household staff, she dispensed all of the medicine and acted as a nurse. She had to teach servants the most rudimentary chores, such as sewing. Oftentimes, there was not a girl available to be the household seamstress, so the mistress made clothes for her own children as well as for the servants. That was a daunting task, ladies!  The glamorous costumes were mostly worn from titled English ladies or the colonial governor's wife.  

Join this blog for more interesting information about the first patriots to Virginia whose sacrifices and actions led a path to the freedom which ultimately resulted in the American Dream.

Join $30 to subscribe for 3 months to Virginia Pioneers and read old wills on line. Easy.

"Virginia Historical Videos"
"Find your Ancestors on Virginia Pioneers.net"
Follow us via Email

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Do the Magic Centipede

click here for video

Become a member of the Pioneer Families Community, and enjoy the benefits of a network of genealogy experts: including access to all eight websites, books written by renowned Georgia genealogist Jeannette Holland Austin, and personal help with your research for any family in GA, NC, SC, or VA. A full year of membership with all these benefits for less than $13 a month, compared with up to $45 a month at ancestry.com

GeorgiaPioneers.com KentuckyPioneers.com NorthCarolinaPioneers.com SouthCarolinaPioneers.net VirginiaPioneers.net Genealogy-Books.com GaGraduates.com (Graduates database from ca 1830 to 1925) SoutheasternGenealogy.com (Digitized Wills in counties of: Carter 1794-1830; Jefferson 1802-1810;Johnson 1839-1900;Unicoi 1878-1887; Washington 1779-1800)

SAVE MONEY! Click on Annual Membership button - $150.00 for one year.

Subscribe