Title: Facts on Clothes in Jamestown, Virginia During Colonial Times | LEAFtv
Headings: Facts on Clothes in Jamestown, Virginia During Colonial Times
Facts on Clothes in Jamestown, Virginia During Colonial Times
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Women
Boys
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Content: Women
In Colonial Jamestown, women generally wore a two-piece dress made up of a gown and matching petticoat. The gown, also called a mantua, had a fitted bodice, sleeves that reached the elbows, and a skirt with an open front that showed the petticoat beneath. Wealthy women wore gowns of silk, while working class women wore wool, cotton or linen. Under their dresses, women wore stays, which were the precursor to the modern corset. Stays were designed to correct posture and were fashioned out of linen and stiffened with whale bone. Mob caps, which were bonnets with a puffed crown and frills or lace around the face, were worn at all times. Shoes were made out of silk or leather and were fastened by a buckle across the top of the foot. Boys
Until they reached age 6 or 7, boys in colonial Jamestown wore long, loose gowns that fastened in the back, called bed gowns. Once they reached 6 or 7, they were “breeched,” which was when they were given their first pair of breeches. This often called for a celebration because it marked the end of a boy’s childhood.