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Wednesday, August 10, 2016

#WomenoftheWest Clothing

I have to admit, I'm a T-shirt, jeans and boots girl most of the time. But on days like today, I love my sweats and sweatshirts and just sitting here. (I've also been known to run errands in sweats.) But trying to get my ranch going and dealing multiple times a day with livestock, jeans and boots are the way to go.

With that, most people dress for practicality. Weather it be for work or other activities. You tend to dress for whatever it is you have to do. I wonder how practical all the dresses were in the 1800s and 1900s with women doing a lot of hard work around the home.

I can shoot a gun, but admittedly, I've never done it in a dress or skirt. However, I imagine it's not that difficult.

Cleaning chicken coops, horse stalls, pig pens, and such....again possible - but not high up on my to do list. Who wants a skirt getting in the way?
And the "under clothes?" I'm going to go on a limb and say "No thank you."


And riding a horse in a dress? I have horses and I've not tried it (although this post may have just inspired me to see what it was like), but I can't imagine I'd care much for it. Sitting side-saddle, for me, is a big not happening.

Imagine all the extra material you would need just to be able to maneuver on and off a horse.

I'll agree that I've always kind of wanted to dress like Scarlet in Gone With the Wind. The pretty dresses and gloves. But I have a feeling it would get old rather quickly.

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2 comments:

  1. Alison E. BruceAugust 13, 2016 at 12:13 PM

    Some of my favourite scenes to write have involved riding lessons. In particular, I enjoyed writing about Maggie in HAZARDOUS UNIONS who tries to get on a horse without the benefit of a riding habit. She is wearing a skirt with a modest hoop that flips up like an umbrella in a high wind.

    I'm not sure it would actually do this, but I'm pretty sure no woman who might have tried to mount a horse in a hoop (if such a woman existed) would record the results for posterity.

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  2. Kaye SpencerAugust 19, 2016 at 2:39 PM

    With all the layers women wore throughout the centuries, I can only imagine what a liberating experience (dare I say, 'relief') it was when fashion began to change around the turn of the century 1900 and women could shed some of those cumbersome garments.

    ReplyDelete

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