Whatever Shall I Wear? A Guide to Assembling a Woman's Basic 18th C. Wardrobe

by Mara Riley

A small but complete guide to 18th C. women's costume, throughout the century. Includes fabric choices, sewing hints, colors, shifts, petticoats, pockets, stays and jumps, bed gowns, short gowns, jackets, gowns aprons, caps shoes, cloaks, hair styles, jewelry and more. Illustrated by Cathy (Kate) Johnson, longtime member of the Costume Society of America. Cover blurbs from Sharon Ann Burnston and Sally Queen, authors and clothing historians, and Sue Felshin, researcher and contributor to 18cNewEnglandLife.org.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Fashion, 18th Century, Reference, Fashion History

Paperback

Published August 21, 2002

Reviews

[Alexandra]

While this book is aimed at American reenactors, "Whatever Shall I Wear?" is also a great starting point for anyone (reenactors, historical costumers, costume designers, artists, etc) interested in 18th-century women's working-class clothing. It talks about all the components of a woman's wardrobe, from underwear to outerwear and from head to toe, including things like hair and shoes.

While there are no patterns provided in the book, the author does provide an extensive reading list and some online retailers for patterns, textiles, and accessories. (The book was published in 2002, though. While I know that some of those companies still exist, I suspect some don't.)

And the illustrations!!! The illustrator, Cathy Johnson, provides pages upon pages of lovely ink drawings to illustrate the clothing in question, how it was worn, and how it evolved through the century. Some of the illustrations reference a particular painting and in those cases the title, artist, and usually year are given alongside the illustration.

[Barbara VA]

Great resource for clothing in the colonial era for women.

[Amber Ray]

Good starting place as a reenacting guide. I'd love to see an expanded version with photographs/detailed drawings of the varieties of gowns, maybe a simple pattern for shifts and under-petticoats as well as a couple pages of information on era appropriate fabric/textile patterns. This guide is good, but it could be even better expanded with lots of pictures for examples!
I'm trying to put together a gown and a few good examples of what prints were worn when would have been welcome. I nearly bought one dark patterned fabric, only to be warned by another reenactor that such prints were more usually Dutch, not American colonial.
Picky details? Well maybe...but it's like the difference between bell bottoms and neon--two items of clothing that in my lifetime were adamantly not of the same fashion era.

[Rachel L.]

A wonderful resource for someone just getting into colonial re-enacting. Covers choice of materials, styles for different impressions, and much more. Wish I'd seen this when I started!