Baseball & Bathing 2013- Part 1

I've been noticeably missing from the blog-world lately; many, many projects in progress, but none that can be revealed just yet. 

And I realized I never shared anything form the 2nd annual Baseball & Bathing weekend, so here's part 1! 

Grand Hotel hosts period baseball games, using 1860's rules - a great excuse to dress in our finery and provide some period spectators.

We were a slightly larger group this year and just look at our handsome escorts:

It was a lovely day for a baseball and a picnic, a bit warm, so we were fortunate to find a bit of shade to spread our blankets and our wonderful "spread" of lunch.

Our repast included chicken "patties" - chicken salad in pastry shells - a receipt from Miss Eliza Leslie's cookbook, blackberry pie made from fresh picked berries, fresh baked bread with preserves, vegetable bounty from the garden and a bit of hothouse fruit too!

Who knew that fruit could lead to such scandalous behavior!

We also enjoyed some rousing rounds of battledore - great fun!

The baseball teams use a progression of period rules, including a set form 1868, so it made a great reason to wear my 1868 dress. And as Mackinac is a "Watering Place", I could get away with wearing a hat, even at my advanced age. My plan was to wear a fanchon bonnet, but it didn't get finished in time (and still isn't), so it was hat or nothing.

A gentleman on the Island is developing his period photography skills and was pleased to models dressed in period styles.

Those good looking gentlemen again!

Heading up the hill, to don our bathing costumes - part 2, coming soon!

Make-do Hat

I had great intentions last year, to create a hat to wear with my bathing costume, during our two mile stroll down to the water - but it didn't happen.

And I had great intentions this year, to create a fanchon bonnet to wear with my 1868 dress when we attended the vintage baseball game and held our picnic - but it didn't happen and I even had the frame!

So I really needed a come up with a "make-do" hat quickly.

During the mid-19th century, hats were most commonly worn by girls or young women, but there were occasions when they were acceptable for a woman of "certain age" and picnics were one of those occasions. Additionally, they were also acceptable when visiting a watering place, such as Mackinac.

Ladies straw hats of the period typically had low crowns and shaped brims, the above image shows a very common style.

Here's a couple vintage images too:

So, on to my "make-do" version:



Unfortunately, I failed to take photos of the process. But I started with a cheapy straw from the craft store, that was in the Halloween box.

First,  I steamed and flattened the crown. Next I chopped about 3" off the brim. I wired the edge (hardware store wire, not millinery) and then covered the raw edge with grosgrain ribbon. Petersham would have been the proper thing to use, but I didn't have any and this was a "use what you have" project. A bit a shaping and I was making progress.

The final step was to add some simple ribbon trim - actually bonnet ties removed from a friend's bonnet, she didn't like the red and I replaced them for her. I didn't even iron out ends that had been gathered and fastened to the bonnet!

The red was a nice contrast to my dress and also coordinates well with my red and black bathing costume.

 Was it perfect? No!

Did it work for the weekend? YES!

I still plan to make the fanchon, but I rather like my sporty straw too!

A Weighty Matter

Lead sinkers seem like an unusual sewing item, especially for a bathing suit - I know the guy at the sportings goods store thought so!

NOTE TO SELF: Sometimes it's better not to explain why you need particular items.

But last year, we discovered why it was suggested in period descriptions of 1860's bathing costumes - without them, your skirt resembles a jellyfish, floating on the water.

Lead was suggested, I'm sure because it does not rust. These days, lead is not as readily available as in the period. However, lead split shot sinkers are still used for fishing and can be purchased in small quantities.

The split made it very easy to attach to heavy wool cord...

Just a quick squeeze to keep them in place, an inch apart.



I opened a bit of the hem and carefully fed the cord in, securing each end.

But was it enough weight?

I'll let you know soon!

Taking to the Waters: Male Bathing Costume Construction Details

If you ask most reenactors what men wore to swim in during the mid-19th century, you would probably be told "nothing - men always swam in the nude."

Well, I'm sure there certainly were times when men swam in their skin, but a bit of research tells us that it was definitely not a case of "always". 

This scene, "The Bathe at Newport", by Winslow Homer circa 1858, shows a good reason why - in America, bathing was not gender segregated, as on the continent - and while the Victorians were not the prudes they are ever so frequently portrayed as, group nude bathing was definitely not a socially acceptable activity! 

Clues to what men actually did wear, are tantalizingly few. I choose to use this example in the collection of the McCord Museum as my inspiration. The original is wool, trimmed with braid.

The museum's description notes that men's swimming suits of the period were closely styled on underwear - and that's exactly what I used for the basic shapes when creating my custom pattern.

 

 

I took the pattern pieces for men's drawers and a square shirt and combined them into one piece. 



 

 

My initial "muslin" (actually an old flannel sheet) was a bit short in the torso, so I added an additional 3" - thus, the piecing you can see on the muslin.

 

When I first asked Robin if he would be willing to wear a period bathing costume, he readily agreed: if it was ORANGE, so if he ended up floundering in the waves, we could find him. As fate would have it, on our first attempt to find appropriate fabric, what did we find but bright orange wool! However, it was blanket weight and would have had him floundering in the waves for sure, so we settled on this color scheme instead

 



 

And behold, my version of an 1860's male bathing costume, which has come to be nicknamed the "Civil War Onsie"! It was never my intention to 100% replicate the McCord Museum piece, but to use it as reference. The basic shape is very close, but I used bands of red wool as my trimming and the mother of pearl buttons were great accents.

 

 

As the "test driver" so to speak, Robin reports that it is both functional and comfortable.

 



Taking to the Waters: We Did It!!!

Well, our "Baseball & Bathing" weekend is over, just a fond memory now!

We started by gathering to watch a period baseball tournament, sponsored by Grand Hotel and enjoyed a fabulous picnic.

It's a great time for a period picnic, with so many fresh items available and appropriate. We had many great interactions with the modern spectators, who were quite intrigued by both our outfits and our lunch!

We strolled about town and then it was time for a bit of rest before our bathing excursion. It's about a two mile hike down to British Landing, and yes, we received more than a few stares as we made our way down to the water.

Here we are, in all our bathing glory (plus a couple non-bathers).

There had been a couple storms in the preceding week, which had unfortunately brought cold water to the surface - but it really wasn't too bad - or maybe we just became numb!

It was amazing how well all our ensembles came together - not that we don't all plan on a few "tweaks" now that they've actually been put to use.

Four of us submerged up to our shoulders, one decided the Lake Huron was just too cold and stayed on the shore

I suspect this may become an annual event for us - we had such a good time and hope we can convince a few more friends to join us in the future.

Our evening ended with a gorgeous sunset and another two mile hike, uphill this time, in our wet wool which was really not as unpleasant as it sounds.

I plan to post in depth details regarding the two bathing costumes I created - one male, one female, so more to come soon.

The Perils of Online Research or Why It's Important to Evaluate Your Sources

My most recent post, "Taking to the Water - Part 6", created a bit of controversy, particularly my assertion that short sleeves were not appropriate for 1860's bathing costumes.

Rather than continuing the back and forth comments, I thought I would discuss my research methods and why I have reached my conclusions.

Here's an image that was presented to me as evidence in favor or short sleeves, note the lady on the far right:

And here's another version of that image:

I found both  images while doing my research; while similar, there are differences - the background, the position of the ladies, the length of the jacket in the "pant suit", the length of the skirts, the sleeves on one lady and most significantly, the documentation of when and where the images were originally published.

Image #1 is said to date to 1863, on the Graceful Lady website, with the name of the publication unknown.It does not appear in either the 1863 Godey's or Peterson's magazines, as I have bound copies in my personal collection that I double checked .

The only place I find Image #1 published, is on the cover of the Harriet's "Three Piece Bather" pattern, stated to be circa 1862 - hardly a quality reference source .

However, I know exactly when and where image #2 was published: Godey's July 1864 and descriptions of each outfit are included - it's sitting on the desk next to me, so easy to verify.

Therefore, Image #2 is currently a much stronger primary reference, it can be placed in an exact time and place. Until the same can be said of Image #1, I will not use it as a basis for any conclusions. However, if I ever can document the image, I will reevaluate my conclusions.

Here's another image, presented as evidence:

The source is a Flicker account, with the only description "Bathing Dresses 1864".

A bit of searching revealed that the plate is in the collection of the Claremont Colleges Digital Library, part of
the Myrtle Tyrrell Kirby Fashion Plate Collection comprises 650 images of nineteenth-century fashion plates from the Macpherson Collection of the Ella Strong Denison Library at Scripps College. The collection was donated to the Denison Library in 1948.

The full-color fashion plates in the Kirby collection were culled from a variety of women's periodicals and
other mass-circulating works published between 1789 and 1914. The images are primarily from France, Britain, America, and Spain.

The provided description of this plate gives two differing dates - 1867 and based on a handwritten comment, 1864. No source of publication is given, as it's just a single page, however it seems safe to assume either Britain or the US based on the use of English.

The person who pointed out this plate also found it in "Fashions and Costumes from Godey's Lady's Book" edited by Stella Blum,with a date of July 1865.

Back to my bookshelf...and it's not in the July 1865 Godey's.

So once again, we have a fashion plate with no firm date and no source. It's a real shame, as it's a charming plate.

Having looked at many plates over the past weeks, I feel the plate may date to the early 1870's - the narrowing and shortening of the trousers certainly point in that direction.

This is another bit of evidence that requires more research before it can be definitively used.

Here's another example presented to refute my conclusion regarding short sleeves, a bathing suit once listed on the Karen Augusta site:

It's provenance is given as "Late 1860's bathing costume, was purchased from Doris Langley Moore (legendary British fashion historian) by an important American collector. She collected American and European clothing during the decades of the 1940s through 1980s".

That note of European clothing is important, as I do not believe this suit is of American origin. In Claudia Kidwell's,  Women's Bathing and Swimming Costume in the United States , she states the following:

"American women seem to have accepted the majority of styles shown in European fashion plates, except for the skirtless bathing suits. The writer of an 1868 column on New York fashions sought to convince his readers to try the more daring European style although he grudgingly admitted that the “Bathing suits made with trousers and blouse waist without skirt are objected to by many ladies as masculine and fast....” This style was in fact, very similar to the costume worn by men when they bathed with the ladies. A year later, the writer of the same fashion column had given up the campaign to dress all women in the skirtless suits and admitted that these imports “... are worn by expert swimmers, who do not wish to be encumbered with bulky clothing.” Such practical bathing dress was thus limited to a very small number of progressive women.

The majority, consisting of those who were strictly bathers, wore the ankle-length drawers beneath a long dress as described or illustrated in the majority of sources that originated in the United States. Why was the European bathing suit not fully adopted by American women? Differences between the bathing customs of the two continents undoubtedly encouraged the development of different dress. While men and women in the United States bathed together freely at the seashore during the latter half of the 19th century, this practice was not widely accepted in England until the early 1900s. In the presence of men, American women probably felt compelled to retain their more concealing dress and drawers.

In England swimming seems to have been more popular among women than it was in the United States. While encouraging its readers to swim, during the late 1860s,Queen’s Magazine used forceful language of a kind that was not found in American publications until the late 19th century. If swimming was more acceptable as a feminine exercise in England it is understandable why English women were more receptive to a functional, skirtless bathing suit—especially since it was worn only in the presence of other women."

When I'm researching any topic, I try to cast a very large net, I try to capture every bit of knowledge I can find. Having done that, I start to evaluate the strength and veracity of each bit - is it a primary source? Can it be verified? How does it fit with the other evidence? 

In the case of bathing costumes, I've found fashion plates with descriptions, I've found a very few original garments, I've found a very few extant photographs, I've found written lessons regarding swimming lessons, etc. 

When I sift through it all, some items need to be set aside, they just can't be sufficiently verified - I'm not rejecting them, but I'm not yet accepting them either. 

I need to use my knowledge of 1860's dress in general and short sleeves are not acceptable for adult women during the day in this time period.

Getting it "right" is very important to me and I'd rather err to the side of being too conservative when creating my 1860's clothing - I can always cut the sleeves off if future research shows it to be within the norm.

So I currently stand by my conclusion that short sleeved bathing costumes are not appropriate in the 1860's - at least in America.