No new members, however welcome back to Raul and/or Betty Reyes. If you haven't already contributed, we hope to hear from you soon. ****** ****** ****** Last week I presented an extract on "Care of clothing 1880's style" from the Girl's Own Paper of that period - the topic was "OLD BLACK SILK DRESS, TO RENOVATE"; and I closed with the comment: > While there may have been a need for such instructions for a > young widow resident in the towns of Rothesay, Millport and > perhaps Brodick, what use would they have been out on in the > farms occupied by most of our ancestors? Or is that a too > simplistic view of the situation ? Pat Jeffs kindly took the bait, and here is her response: "It is too simplistic. My impression of the women of Bute of the late 19th century seldom wore any colour but black. Full mourning had to be worn for a year, and by the time that year had passed there might have been someone else to mourn for. Not only was it the colour of mourning, but it was also a colour that hid the dirt, and possibly mended rips and tears and poor original dressmaking as well. The petticoat or crinoline would have been black as well. Dyers may have found it easier to produce a basic black dye than all the myriad colours we are used to. This was still true in the 1920s when Henry Ford produced the Model T. A black dress could always be trimmed with white or another colour when its wearer was out of mourning. A lace frill or jabot was quite common. Dresses were not one-piece, but four: the skirt and the "waist" and the sleeves were separate and interchangeable. Cotton or wool would have been the material for day to day wear, with the silk brought out for special occasions if the woman could afford it. I write with my Bute great grandmother Mary McAlpine looking down at me, wearing a black dress which appears to have a matching jacket, and a lace frill around the neck fixed with a brooch which I still have. Over a chair hangs her Paisley shawl of red and green. Still vividly colourful, more than 120 years after her death." Hum, do you have a family portrait looking down at you ?? ****** ****** ****** Feel free to join in and present your own items. Peter Cook cookfmly@bigpond.com List maintainer and Co-host with Barbara < babrown12@optonline.net > of the ButeshireGenWeb mailing list.