The civil war changed many things about our young country that are still residual even today. The south wanted nothing to do with the freedom of slavery, that was their way of life and economy. When the war broke out it truly was a separation of people, the north fighting for freedom and the south wanting to continue their way of life. Changes in fashion between the north and south are apparent. The south being forced to reuse clothing and other textiles in order to try and continue a resemblance of everyday life, and the north having more accessible resources even that of imports. The souths main economic resources were cotton, sugar, rice, and other agriculture that made the south so wealthy (1).
Europe and the northern United States was a main purchaser of cotton, the north then made textiles and sold it back to the south (1). The south had minimal manufactured goods, although many had wealth, they had relied in the expensive trading from the north for many years. Because of the tariff of 1828, this meant that the goods from the north were high priced because of taxing (1).
The civil war was broken up between the states, twenty-three states in the Union (north) and eleven in the Confederate (south) (1). The north could still purchase goods from other countries and continue to have almost no consequence of not receiving cotton from the south. The south in turn had to purchase ten thousand uniforms from France and changed them slightly to fit the confederate uniform regulations, which differed state to state (1). The confederate uniforms also differed in color ranging from dark grey, light grey and butternut brown. This was mainly because there was a lack of manufacturing, the mills that did exist committed their time to the soldier’s needs, like blankets, uniforms and sandbags (3). The south at the time was the king of cotton these plantation owners could not conceive of any other way to make money, other than the enslavement of people (1).When the war started they had been prevented from purchasing many things that came from the north. This blockade showed that the south did not have the manufacturing ability to create goods on the same level the north had (1).
Because of the lack of new textiles, many women began to redesign dresses and clothing they already had to fit the fashions of the time. Much of the fabrics were created in the home unless they were upper class. They were not prepared for manufacturing on a large scale, southerners had an exceptionally hard time adjusting to this new way of life, being cut off. They had cotton, but no way of manufacturing large quantities of cotton into textiles, many families did this at home creating their own pieces. This became a sense of patriotic duty making uniforms or anything else for the men (3). Because the south was cut off, items and goods were being sold on the black market for extraordinary prices, maintaining appearances during wartime not only improved a woman’s self-image but also helped morale (1).
I am reminded of the iconic scene in Gone With the Wind, when Scarlett O’Hara dramatically wants her house maid/slave to make a dress out of her mother’s curtains so that she can ask for money to pay the taxes on her property (2). Some of the dresses for upper class women were a minimum of ten yards of fabric, the hoop skirt was not worn every day, but only for special occasions (3). Yet these women either using hired seamstresses or with their own hand tirelessly recreated the wardrobe they already had to stay with the current fashions of Europe. The southerners were stretched out thin from resources, yet they took the time to keep up their appearances. During this time clothing was still done by hand, although the sewing machine had been invented in 1818 women felt that hand sewing creating a stronger stitch (1).
The women of both sides of the war are not given enough credit for their tireless hard work they gave to the cause. Women became caregivers, nurses and filled many positions left open by the men. These beyond creative seamstresses working with what they had may have lost the war but did not lose on their perceived dignity. In an era where dress truly defined who you are, a dress with many layers consisting of many pounds of fabric defines humans drive to make anything we want to be perceived as perfect. I wonder when Americans will use that same drive for true equality and banishment of racism.
