Women's+Clothing

__What I already know:__
 * Who?** women from the 1800s
 * What? t**he clothes that they wore while traveling to the west
 * Where?** traveling west
 * When?** during the 1800s - westward expansion
 * Why?** they did not want to be without clothing
 * How?** I'm not sure what to put for this.

__What I want to know (research questions):__
 * Who?** What class of women wore what kind of clothing?
 * What?** What clothes did they wear?
 * Where?** Did women dress according to where they were?
 * When?** Did women dress according to what time it was?
 * Why?** Why did women dress the way they did?
 * How?** How did they put on the different pieces of clothing?

__My research strategy:__ "ninteenth century women's clothing", "19th century women's clothes", "19th century women's costume"
 * Who?** I'll ask Mrs. Horn and Ms. Brem for help in locating information. I could ask Ms. Brolan or Mr. D. I could ask the public librarian.
 * What?** expert websites, databases, encyclopedias, books, textbooks
 * Where?** the CTMS and public library, on any other computer for online resources
 * When?** during class or outside of class if needed
 * How?** I'll use my thesis statement and research questions to figure out what to look for and what to take notes on.
 * Key words for searching:** "1800s women's clothes", "westward expansion women's clothing", "clothes women wore in 1800s",


 * Women's Clothing Throughout the 1800s**

Women's costume during westward expansion found a place in history because of the many unique styles and articles of clothing used in that time. Earlier in the nineteenth century, you could see a lot of the style influence from past fashions. Some examples are the high waistlines from the eighteenth century, and the clingy Greek muslin draperies. (Sichel) There were things like flat pumps, corsets, and styles from different decades that helped form the kind of clothes we wear today.

Corsets were worn to make a woman's body shape look "perfect." They were worn as an essential piece of clothing, and girls started wearing them at an extremely young age. However, women did not realize that the corsets they wore on a regular basis were endangering their health. The corset shaped a female's body as she grew, making the rib cage very small and cramping the internal organs. (Kenney) Another style from this time was the concert dress. The concert dress of 1824 consisted of pink and white satin dresses. The ideal hairstyle was: a part in the middle, long curls (like paintings of Vandyck), and flowers in the hair. Pearl earrings and white shoes made the outfit complete. (Thomas)

Flat pumps were a popular thing to wear in the 1800s. In the Regency era, the shoe was outlined in things like bows and/or rosebuds. These fashionable shoes, however, were not very durable; they wore out quickly and provided about as much support as ballet shoes. Since they were so delicate, the shoes were rarely worn outdoors. (Thomas) A different fashion was the tippet. The tippet was a kind of fancy skinny scarf. It was worn by women of all statuses, at all times scattered throughout the 1800s. The tippet was made of fur, swandsdown and other material. In the early 1800s it was a garment worn by the wealthy and higher-class women, but as time went on it was mainly worn by the poorer ladies. (Thomas)

The most fashionable styles were worn from the 1860s to the 1890s. In the 60s, the Civil War was going on. During this time, ionic hoops skirts were very much in style. They were made up of many circles placed on top of each other and held together by cloth. At the end of this phase, the hoop skirts had grown to about six feet across. The sewing machine became popular and was used to make a dress's main seams, but other details (fringes, ruffles, etc.) were made by hand. (Kenney) In the 70s, the hoopskirt turned into the bustle. It was made to emphasize the back of the figure. The bustles were stuffed with a pillow or other things to make it even larger. A train was a popular dress piece to wear during the day. Drapes were often made by wearing two piece skirts: a short overskirt and a long underskirt. (Kenney) Bustles were still fasionable in the 1880s, this time even larger. Women liked to show how fashionable they really were by making the bustle larger than ever. What you would see every day in that time was a shelf-like backside in women's dresses. You could compare the dresses to waterfalls; they had the right colors and effect. (Kenney) The 1890s brought the fad of bell-shaped skirts. The bustle faded away after a time, since the new thing was having an hourglass shape. Another popular thing was the "leg of mutton" sleeves. The exaggeration of the bustle was transfered over to the arms of the dresses, making the shoulders "poofy." In 1896, necklines were incredilby high with a lot of lace. (Kenney)

Fashion in the 19th century was history-worthy because of the variety of styles used. It's amazing how those bustles, hoopskirts, and layers seem so different and outgoing to us now, but they actually helped to form the kind of clothes we wear today. The evolution from frou-frou fashion to jeans and a t-shirt is what makes this topic so interesting.

Kenney, Kim. "A Brief History of 19th Century Women's Fashion: Hoop Skirts, Bustles, and Leg of Mutton Sleeves." //American History//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. .
 * Works Cited**

Pendergast, Sara, and Tom Pendergast. //European Culture from the Renaissance to// //the Modern Era//. Detroit: Gale, 2004. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 26 Mar. 2010. .

//The Regency Fashion Page//. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. .

Sichel, Marion. //History of Women's Costume//. New York: Chelsea House, 1984. Print.

Thomas, Pauline Weston. //1800s Accessories - Regency Fashion History//. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. .

Paraphrase || No quotes or paraphrasing used. || Very few quotes or paraphrases included, no parenthetical references. || Some errors in quoting or paraphrasing and/or a few missing parenthetical references. || Several quotes and paraphrased pieces of information in each body paragraph, all with parenthetical references. ||  ||
 * || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || Score ||
 * Thesis || No thesis. || Thesis is present in introductory paragraph but is not well-written. || Thesis included in introductory paragraph is satisfactory if a bit obvious. || Thesis included in introductory paragraph is well-written and interesting. ||  ||
 * Flow || Paper is difficult to read and understand. || Paper is full of short, choppy sentences and topic shifts with no transitions. || Some use of transitional words and phrases but the paper is a bit choppy at times. || Use of transitional words and phrases as well as topic sentences makes the paper easy to read from start to finish. ||  ||
 * Quotes/
 * Commentary / “My Ideas” || No commentary. || Commentary lacking in a few places. || Commentary included with each quote or paraphrase, but it is a bit obvious or repetitive. || Thoughtful commentary included with each quote or paraphrase. ||  ||
 * Works Cited || No works cited page included. || Works cited page is included but there are several errors. || Works cited page is included but there are a few formatting errors. || Works cited page is included and is correctly formatted. ||  ||
 * Conventions || Difficult to understand. || Several errors. || A few errors. || Little to no errors in grammar, spelling or punctuation. ||  ||