How much thought have you given to a corset?
It’s challenging to write an historical novel if you’re not sure what the clothes are like.
How many of us have read Gone with the Wind and wondered if Scarlett really could have an 18 inch waist and still breathe?
The answer is probably not.
Recent Civil War events in both California and Tennessee have given me insight into the trials and tribulations of mid-1860’s clothing and since I’ve had a hard time figuring this stuff out myself, I thought I’d share a couple things I’ve learned.
1. An 18-inch corset may not really be only 18 inches.
A Civil War re-enactor at Duncan Mills explained the mystery of corset sizing: “each corset has a three inch piece in the back where the strings are gathered.
So while your character may wear a size 21 corset (as does mine), that doesn’t mean her waist was only 21 inches wide.
You have to add that extra three inches and therefore can conclude she probably had a 24 inch waist.”
Wow, what a relief. You might be able to breathe with those extra inches!
Civil War historian Shirley Farris Jones observed an 18 inch waist is only feasible if the woman had several ribs removed.
No wonder the women were always fainting in those Civil War novels!
My confederate Kim Baily recently visited a fascinating exhibit at Oaklands, an historic home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, presented by PNJW Collections of Atlanta.
The exhibit featured clothing from the era, some of which can be seen on their website here.
Look at this dress, however. It’s described as having an 18 inch waist. Looks painful to me!
It’s important to remember, as Kim told me, the average woman of the day was 5’2″ and weighed about 110 pounds.
Her frame, therefore, would have been smaller than many 21st century women.
Still, 18 inches around is the size of the average thigh in the US these days!
2. Hoop skirts were augmented with starched petticoats to make a bell shape.
The woman in the plaid dress above gracious pulled up her skirts so I could actually see a hoop skirt. I’d read about them many times over the years–most notably in the Laura Ingalls Wilder novels, and I was curious what a hoop looked like–was it a cage?
Sort of. Using flexible hoops, in this case made out of plastic but in the past using tapes and other constructions, three or four graduated circles sewn into a muslin petticoat helped hold out the dress.
Here’s an example, taken from here.
The CivilWarDresses.org website has a host of products if you want to make or purchase your own dress.
My Civil War living doll was actually wearing five layers of clothing that day: a chemise, a corset, a petticoat, a hoop skirt, and her wool dress.
She assured us she was very comfortable and it provided enough layers to keep the beating sun from heating her up. She also wore that very large sunbonnet.
I asked about the corset and she commented that it helped not only give her clothing shape, but kept her back straight. Frankly, it looked like she wore a shelf in the bust area, but I didn’t ask her to unbutton the dress to show us reality.
The bell shape is very apparent when women walk in their hoops. The hem of their dresses sway in a pleasing manner.
3. Hoop skirts require care for the wearer and the bystanders.
Walking through the sutler’s tents required dexterity–those hoop skirted women took up a lot of space in the aisles!
The hems of the dresses often reached between 130 and 150 inches in circumference–that’s 11 to 12. 5 feet around at the bottom!
I asked my Civil War doll to explain how a woman sat in such a dress.
“She didn’t sit,” the re-enactor explained. “She had to sort of ‘perch,’ sliding onto the edge of the seat, in order to keep the hoop from flying up.”
This had the added benefit of making her sit up straight–which enabled her to sip her cups of tea in an endearing manner.
Or, if all else failed, gave her a colorful look as she languished close to the ground! 
What crazy things have you done in the name of contemporary fashion? Click to Tweet
Of corset it hurts! Click to Tweet
One of the Oaklands/PNJW photos shows all the layers a lady would have worn — it’s the one that has a metal bell-shaped dress form. I can’t imagine the time it took to get into all those garments! The California reenactors’ dresses are beautiful, love the colors.
By the way, my Susan wore a corset-like scoliosis brace in her adolescence; she said she missed it when she didn’t have to wear it any more because she slept better with it on. And she has wonderful posture from those couple of years spent wearing it! Maybe there’s something to be said for a good corset :-).
Thanks for the shout-out; I’m so excited — I’m a tag!
The dresses were gorgeous–the colors were lovely and they swayed in such a fetching way when the women walked along. Very attractive!
Love this information! I don’t do much in the interest of fashion anymore, but I once wore a very painful pair of high heels to an important dinner meeting in New York. Walking those blocks to the restaurant from my publisher’s building was misery!
Didn’t see many shoes, though Kim did in Murfreesboro!
I have actually worn a hoop skirt and may even have one in the closet right now. The trick to sitting is to gracefully pull up the first hoop and sit between the first and second hoop. The dress lies flat on the front.
I wondered if that was how you did it . . .. thanks!