An 18th Century Winter Ensemble

Recently we had a lovely thick snowfall which provided an unexpected opportunity to photograph my 18th century winter wardrobe.

This thick red wool jacket was the first one I made for myself back in June 2018 (You may be asking why in the world I chose wool for a June reenactment... the short and very simple answer is that it was in my stash, and I was in a hurry... Wool is actually quite insulating and probably saved me from dehydrating myself. 😉)

The bayonet made a splendid bread toasting stick. :)

I elected to do ties for closures on this jacket, which I've seen done in several paintings and extant garments, though usually tied with fancy silk ribbons rather than simple twill-tape. But the simple bows are fun and I like them. :)

I finally added the cuffs this past fall and I love them! They make the jacket look so much more like the popular fashions of the 1750's, and as an added bonus they lengthen the sleeves and keep me warmer on frigid days. :)

The mitts are made from an old wool scarf and are stitched by hand with linen thread. The kerchief is made from a pleated wool skirt I got at the thrift store. The icing on the cake is that the two different wool items just happened to perfectly match! They make a night and day difference at chilly reenactments, especially when you need your hands free to cut vegetables for stew!

I've been saving this beautiful brown and blue tartan for the perfect project, and I finally settled on making a warm winter petticoat with it, and whipped it up by hand just before heading to the Nouvelle Annee reenactment at Fort Wayne this past January.

I'm really excited to share my 18th century cloak with you in the next post! More warm woolen happiness is yet to come. :)

Photo credit goes to my brother.