The trick is having lots of unmarried, childless aunts and uncles living with you in a larger family compound to spread expertise and labor around.

@Marialla.

3 жыл бұрын

I often wonder about this, whether being an unmarried childless adult was a valid career choice made by some, perhaps because they were not heterosexual, or for other reasons. The script that it always happened because they were unfortunately never chosen for marriage seems suspect.

@laartje24

3 жыл бұрын

This reminds me of the "gay uncle theory" which basically discusses the function of adults without children in families, society and evolution. I recommend checking it out if you are interested.

@rejoyce318

3 жыл бұрын

@@Marialla. Honestly, there are a number of cis-gender, never-married adults who are single for a variety of reasons. I wouldn't mind being married, myself; however, a wise friend once shared the adage, "It's better to be single than to wish you were," and there is definitely truth in that proverb for me. I finally have enough magazine racks for my "Issues," and really don't want to be carrying another co-dependent's baggage, too. ;)

@Marialla.

3 жыл бұрын

@@rejoyce318 Oh, I would agree! I think marriage is extremely overrated in the modern age, when women do not require a man for financial support or legitimacy. In the past, though, when women were not even allowed to own property in their own name, it must have been a different perspective.

@suem6004

3 жыл бұрын

@@Marialla. Overrated? Working as a partnership to raise a family is overrated? Agree that unless you have children together marriage is not necessary. Just shack up for that.

So what you're telling me is that Elizabeth Swan was not being ✨ fashionably tightlaced✨ by her maid, she was just trying to shove her into the dress daddy ordered a size too small. Got it.

@ah5721

2 жыл бұрын

that whay I thought , dad didn't know her measurements guessed and had them made wrong instead of asking her maid what her measurements were ...

@margaretschaufele6502

Жыл бұрын

Interesting. Possibly. Still not exactly accurate for her calling it a corset at the end of the movie rather than pair of stays.

@audreybourgeois4626

11 ай бұрын

​@@ah5721Elizabeth is still young and the dress ordered as much as a year ago, so it could just be a matter of her growing a bit.

@milozimben

3 ай бұрын

@@audreybourgeois4626 Then again, it would totally be in character for her father to make that mistake.

Video request: laundry! How did people wash their garments, both fancy and not, and how do we modern people best care for ours, both fast fashion and handmade?

@laartje24

3 жыл бұрын

Both the Townsend channel(Historical laundry) and the English Heritage channel(A tour of the laundry The victorian way) have videos on historical laundry if you are interested. I would love to see a video though about how we can translate that to taking care of our own home made clothing.

@sarah_noodle

3 жыл бұрын

Victorian Farm did a great episode on laundry during that time. Townsends has a great couple of videos on laundry in the American 18th century. Edit: I forgot about The Victorian Way

@Callmeapollo1

3 жыл бұрын

If you were rich you didn’t do your laundry, you gave it to the servants who washed it the same way they washed their own clothing. You can find a lot of descriptions of laundry in the mid 1800s if you search “Victorian laundress” or “civil war laundress”. It was like a whole ten step process.

@brucetidwell7715

3 жыл бұрын

They didn't wash their clothes near as often as we do. For instance, the reason men's shirts had detachable collars was so that you could just put on a clean collar and cuffs for the day and not have seven dirty shirts to be washed. All of really ornate gowns/ suits made of silk and satin with delicate lace trims would mostly just be brushed off and spot cleaned. Of course they had loads of undergarments on so, unlike today, they weren't wearing their outer garments against their sweaty skin.

@Readera

3 жыл бұрын

Yes pls!

So what I'm hearing is costumers gotta specialise and then we can trade skills to make garments for each other :P

@soaringsky4416

3 жыл бұрын

I actually plan on going to college for costume design and hope to open my own dress making shop.

@tammyt3434

3 жыл бұрын

As someone very interested in weaving but not a lot of sewing; I see a call to arms here.

@stephh1149

3 жыл бұрын

@@tammyt3434 let’s team up

@rejoyce318

3 жыл бұрын

@@soaringsky4416 My gosh, I wish that had been an option when I was in school, but it's been a fascination since I was a child.

@rejoyce318

3 жыл бұрын

@@tammyt3434 I've been interested in weaving since I did a report on it in 5th grade & made one of those popsicle-stick looms from directions in my Girl Scout handbook. I'm not sure I have the patience for a more complex loom.

I think child labor was very important for maintaining a farm and home

@lenore_nvrmore3317

3 жыл бұрын

Those built-in babysitters come in handy.....

@lenabreijer1311

3 жыл бұрын

Doing some reading, 40 hours a week is required just to process and prepare the food for a family. Then you have all the other tasks like laundry, clothing repair, cleaning, child care and education. That is peasant farm life from the neolithic on. It requires a large extended family and some servants or slaves once you add in fibre production.

@jodiz5901

3 жыл бұрын

@@lenabreijer1311 Depended what time of year it was too. Summer/fall months a lot more time went into producing food and more time was available for making clothes.

@peachesandcream8753

3 жыл бұрын

@@jodiz5901 This is why the winter festive months were so long; this was the prime time to drink, eat, party AND spend time on winter handi-work which would carry you throughout the year.

@Xloi63

3 жыл бұрын

and these days that child labour is just outsourced to other countries

Your video reminded me of a Napoleon Bonaparte quote: History is a set of lies agreed upon.

@Crosshill

3 жыл бұрын

im kinda troubled because i accidentally discovered that the entire history of the borgia family might just be a very elaborate smearing campaign that got accepted as common truth but im not a historian either, what am i supposed to do with that, i cant vouch for anything either and it makes me wonder how much anyone can vouch for anything ever when things keep slipping between the cracks and now i just wish that every educational channel would be as transparent about it as these historical dress historians are cause then i'd feel less awkward being like 'hey i think you may be very wrong about something could you check it out for yourself?'

The best thing I read about shopping in Georgian Dublin was that the wealthy would sometimes pull up in front of the shops in their carriages, and the shop-owners would carry the goods out to them, for the wealthy customers to peruse from the comfort of said carriages. However, some gangs of thieves mimicked this by hiring a fancy carriage and getting ahold of upper-class clothing, and stealing the goods when the shop keeper brought them out to the carriage! I read about this anecdote in an academic journal article, published a few years ago, that looked at consumerism in 18th century Ireland.

It’s so funny learning about this because it’s basically how I get all my custom clothing done in India so it sounds totally “normal” to me. When I shop for Indian clothes in India I basically just buy the fabric pre embroidered and take it to our tailor to sew up for us. It’s how all saris are sold actually and you get the blouse piece custom sewn to your measurements!

@michellesingh6087

Жыл бұрын

My husband is from Punjab and once I learned the absolute bliss of wearing tailored clothing, I'm never going back!

@edavid2557

Жыл бұрын

My dream ✨ you obviously don't live in India... But are from India. I guess you get the quality for it all, you get to see your family so it's totally worth the plane ticket!

@samaraisnt

Жыл бұрын

In Bangladesh and some parts of Africa too :)

@simi5558

Жыл бұрын

nah fr do yall know a goodp lace i can get historical attire sown in india both western and indian

It's about time people started understanding trades. I think this bugs me because my dad was a custom cabinet maker and furniture maker and I was a pastry chef that specialised in sweets/chocolates. How much we know isn't a matter of what is in the book. There is so much that is orally taught and then the experience of the day in and day out of doing the thing. I want people today to give things a go if they are interested, and I still want to learn more and hone in my own expertise in things. However, sometimes just because you can doesn't mean you should and people used to know that once upon a time.

@AbbyCox

3 жыл бұрын

Promoting and protecting trade work, in all its various forms, is *so important*

@jenninstitches

3 жыл бұрын

@@AbbyCox yep. I'd love to see a lot of the older trades comeback to life in and be more common instead of a specialty. It would be amazing to having people doing what they love and are best at as creatives instead of those things being relegated to hobbies as we often see today. I could passionately rant endlessly about this.

@seanathanbeanathan

3 жыл бұрын

My grandfather carved these beautiful birds. Ducks, loons, geese, and others. I regret so much not asking him to teach me wood carving.

@seanathanbeanathan

3 жыл бұрын

I actually have his shop sign hung outside my house now. It has a blue-footed booby doing the little foot wave and his name on it.

@jenninstitches

3 жыл бұрын

@UC6z-2GaoZUL8X29ZA29jJ4A here in Norway there is plenty of information about what they did in winter and there was plenty to do with animals in winter, trapping animals, hunting and such. People were still outside just as much.

This title alone is **chefs kiss** 😁

@AbbyCox

3 жыл бұрын

It was totally Bernadette's idea - I was completely brain dead when I was trying to come up with a title 😂

@jbllngs805

3 жыл бұрын

I sooooooo agree!!

@esme8694

3 жыл бұрын

@@AbbyCox I imagined you saying it in the high pitched voice and then doing a softer tone and accent for "in thr 18the century". 😁

I remember reading Louisa May Alcott when I was a kid, and she was always talking about "turning your gown" to get another year's worth of wear out of them, and the day I understood what that MEANT! Plus the concept of buying lengths of fabric and bringing them to your dressmaker--historical fiction actually written in history made for really useful childhood reading for historical perspective. And, of course, Spinsters as the unmarried maiden aunt got their name because they were the female in the house who "had time" to do all that time-consuming spinning/weaving/sewing because she didn't have the responsibilities of the woman of the house (cough).

@sms4077

3 жыл бұрын

merriam-webster has this to say about the "spinster": During the late Middle Ages, married tradeswomen had an easier time obtaining higher-status, higher-income work than their unmarried peers. Unmarried women ended up with lower-status, lower-income jobs like combing, carding, and spinning wool-hence "spinster."

@alabastermontague6841

3 жыл бұрын

I'd love to know a little more about remaking and the differences in technique required to make a garment more easily refashionable. Since fabric is the most expensive part of the equation: did mantua-makers retain fabric in the seam allowances or did they piece things in ways that weren't visible? (Tailoring's simpler to some degree: it allows for taking-in and a little room for taking-out.)

@Eloraurora

3 жыл бұрын

Weren't there actually restrictions on what an unmarried woman could do for a living in certain time periods/regions? I remember reading that 'spinster' became equivalent to 'unmarried woman' because they weren't allowed to do other jobs that would, y'know, pay better.

@StrongImaginationA

2 жыл бұрын

@@Eloraurora yes, but basically the more you move up in the timeline, the more restrictions. In the middle ages in Europe women had a lot more freedom, as from the 1400's on some trades (e.g. weavers) started actively writing in their statutes women could not be part of it. The 19th century saw the most restrictions on women's paid work in the whole 1500-2000 period.

@neonxvices

2 жыл бұрын

same i read little house on the prairie and they talked about ripping and re-sewing their dresses and i thought they were just haphazardly tearing the fabric apart, not just the seams

As an Aussie, it’s strange to remember that other counties don’t have as many Irish and Scottish and even Welsh names about. Siobhan is not an uncommon name here. Neither is Niamh. There are some less common names, where you might have to help someone out with the pronunciation, like Gràinne (Gronya), or Aoife (eefa), but we do tend to have plenty of Bronwyns and Maeves (also spelt Meadhbh) and Bridgets and Rhiannons about, and the proportion of traditional names spelt in the original Gaelic is increasing. I’ve also met many Anguses and Hamishes (that last one is pretty popular here), Connors and Declans. Not so many Tadhgs (Tadhg is pronounced like tiger, without the “er” part), but even that’s growing. It’s funny, because I see a lot of Irish American and Scottish American pride, whereas here in Australia, we don’t really use the prefix, we’re just Aussies, maybe with some Irish or Scottish ancestry (and this could then lead to discussions of Plastic Paddys or Styrofoam Scots, but we won’t go into that now). My nana (all of my mum’s family, actually) was Scottish, she spoke and sang in Gàidhlig (trad folk is awesome!), and she taught me many traditional songs, and I do have a little Gàidhlig from her.... but I’d never describe myself as Scottish. I’ve never left Australia. But- even though Americans seem to care a lot more about their ancestry, they don’t tend to use the traditional names that much, and that is really quite strange to me. Why not? They’re lovely names, and honestly, Gaelic (both Irish and Scottish Gaelic) pronunciation is actually easier than English, once you know what the combinations sound like. And yes, I did indeed write this lengthy comment based off of Abby having to sound out how to pronounce Siobhan. It’s been on my mind lately, I guess. Also, I haven’t finished my first coffee and I tend to blabber when I’m tired. Or hopped up on painkillers (and I’m currently both). So my apologies for the long, yet supremely unimportant comment.

@AJ-Tivol

3 жыл бұрын

As an American with Scottish ancestors who is studying Scottish Gaelic, I found your comment very interesting and informative. Thank you for taking the time to post it.

@ganymedewordsmyth4931

3 жыл бұрын

This is a lovely comment and you sound like a lovely human. This makes me want to visit Australia. There are some Bronwyns and Connors and Ewans in my family (though not the newer generations) and it would be nice hear those names used by society at large.

@dulcierobertson7828

3 жыл бұрын

That's really cool! I think it's lovely that people in other countries are enjoying Scottish Gaelic, because it's got so politicised here, it's quite difficult to discuss teaching it without getting bogged down in debates about nationalism. I'm from the lowlands, so my folks have never spoken Gaelic, but the music and stories are so beautiful and precious!

@katherinemorelle7115

3 жыл бұрын

@@dulcierobertson7828 I’m very much a proponent of teaching Gàidhlig- mostly because it’s a beautiful language that deserves to live on. I only have a little Gàidhlig- some from what I learned from my nana in childhood, some from the trad folk songs I still sing, and bits and pieces here and there where I’ve tried to add to my knowledge (thanks to shows like Speaking Our Language, available on KZread, and more recently apps like Duolingo). Gàidhlig has so much history and culture associated with it, that it would be a real shame to lose that. As an Australian, I can’t comment on issues of nationalism- it’s just not my lane. But as a lover of languages and of traditional music, I just want it to live on. For those interested in getting into traditional Gàidhlig folk music, I recommend artists like Julie Fowlis and Karen Matheson (and her former band Capercailie). And we’ve seen also that Scottish history and shows about it (hello Outlander!) have become an entry point to historical costuming, which is awesome. Tartan and kilts aren’t as old as people think they are, but they are gorgeous, and I love them. Is there anything as lovely as a walking skirt in a beautiful tartan weave? And to circle back to the original point of my first comment, traditional Celtic names are beautiful, and I’d like to see them continue on as well, and hopefully also in traditional Gaelic spelling, without having to give in to the under the radar imperialism of Anglicisation. And obviously, my handle is Gàidhlig- it means strength, with an implication of strength of will. Also something that is heavily connected to my nana, who greatly appreciated it, and spoke of its importance.

@wanderingteacup39

3 жыл бұрын

This was very interesting. Great details. I even ran into one of the extra names you mentioned in a book recently and no idea how to pronounce it. So it was extra on time. Thank you for posting it.

Fascinating subject! I always thought the “women did everything” idea was a myth. I mean, we are amazing, but even we have limits. Much love to you and yours!

@abigaelmacritchie1365

3 жыл бұрын

I'm barely keeping it together and I have a vacuum cleaner, a washing machine, central heating and bought clothes. How the heck would they have done it all without those modern commodities?!

@rejoyce318

3 жыл бұрын

@@abigaelmacritchie1365 more children, and (hopefully) servants to help with chores.

@Delgen1951

3 жыл бұрын

old saying are true "A Man may labor form sunup to sundown, But a woman's work is never done."

@Delgen1951

3 жыл бұрын

@@abigaelmacritchie1365 The hard way!

@jbowerdel

3 жыл бұрын

@@abigaelmacritchie1365 their homes were their jobs-most did not have a paid job on top of all that work. and it was 24/7!

I love thinking of fabric for a dress in terms of "how many days of income did this cost" rather than "cost per yard". To say I would pay one day's income for a basic dress (fabric yardage plus notions/embellishments) puts things into perspective for me. I'm just glad I don't live in the days where we had to spin our own flax and weave our own cloth just to have one new linen undergarment every year!

Thank you Abby, this filled in lots of gaps in my knowledge! It does raise a question for me - Would a milliner have been lower status than a mantua maker, or was it just a different trade of equivalent value? I know 19th c is not your primary expertise, but I'm extrapolating - when Worth first opened his business in 1858, he was described disparagingly as a "man milliner", meant to express discomfort with a guy designing women's clothes. I had read that "milliner" was equivalent to "dressmaker" at the time, but after you explained the difference here, I'm wondering whether describing him as a "milliner" could have been intended as an extra put-down, or perhaps it was just a mistake.

@katelynpatterns9611

3 жыл бұрын

This is a really interesting thought. Maybe it’s a dig at his previous work? Or it’s sexism.. I’d love to know more too

@jenninstitches

3 жыл бұрын

I had the chance to speak to my friend's great grandmother who is 103 today, and just as sharp as ever, and I read her your question. Her mother was a dressmaker and her father was a tailor, her father's father was a milliner and she was the 10th child so her family were well established in their trade by the time she was born. She said that and she realised this is anecdotally speaking, most of the clothing trades folk, male/female and regardless of their area of practice, were treated fairly the same. She said there were amazing customers who more than complementary, so polite and treated them with the utmost respect. However, like today, there are jerks who saw them as lowly servants and we still see that today with service workers. To her, dressmaker and milliner were/are very separate things and could have been simply a modern understanding mistake. However, Worth, if it was quoted as him being called a milliner by a contemporary of his age, could have been used to be condescending. Her thoughts on why Worth was treated differently and often disparaged early on was because some felt he was trying to 'raise his station' despite being incredibly gifted. Her musings were that because he had zero things and radically changed so much in the fashion world, that (in her own words) 'There have always been haters and there will always be haters of those who refuse to live in boxes and don't give two shits if they abide by status quo". Just thought I would let you know what she said.

@CathyHay

3 жыл бұрын

@@jenninstitches That's *wonderful*, thank you so much! I'm fascinated!

@brendaserafino5034

3 жыл бұрын

I thought a milliner was a haymaker?

@KatieCottingham

3 жыл бұрын

@@jenninstitches Everything about that sharing is amazing and I dearly, dearly hope you captured that conversation on a voice recording, if not camera. We *NEED* to hold on to and preserve these stories and conversations!

Amazes me how much we just assume we know about the past, and how much wisdom we lost in the interest of capitalism - the idea of the 18th century still having its version of “fast fashion” but with so much less waste than we do today is super interesting

@AbbyCox

3 жыл бұрын

Oh yeah they did - all the fine white bits and pieces of millinery? Cap styles changed constantly and if they were mad out of silk gauze or cotton organdy, they would only last *so long* before they were completely trashed. They still would reuse things and remake things, of course, but there are still loads of things that are limited use items.

@Udontkno7

3 жыл бұрын

oh so humanity always said fuck the environment huh, dope

@atinycrow

3 жыл бұрын

@@Udontkno7 except all those natural materials are way more biodegradable AND totally trashed stuff could be used or sold as rags. Rags, especially cotton and linen ones, were integral to the European and American papermaking trade. Paper wasn't mass produced from trees until the mid 19th century (I won't get into mulberry paper from East Asia, since that's more of a fast-groeing bush and doesn't need environment-wrecking chemical processing to become paper).

@twobluestripes

3 жыл бұрын

@@atinycrow i wish there were rag shops and rag paper making on a large scale. I HATE throwing fabric of any kind, natural or plastic, scraps or old clothes, in the trash. We need large scale fabric recycling! I even just wish I had a rag shop/paper maker near me locally.

@aprillen

3 жыл бұрын

​@@twobluestripes Rag paper is awesome, it has a completely different feel than pulp paper! The reason why pulp paper was invented was because there was a big paper shortage -- there simply wasn't enough rags to be had for all the paper needed. With our literacy levels (and commercial/industrial paper usage) there is just no way that rag paper could come back for anything except specialty/luxury purposes. It's just very sad that the paper pulp industry has been so harmful to the environment (less so today, but still not exactly harmless). I would love having a large scale textile recycling industry, but it would also require textile production to adapt and adjust, so that the new fabrics made were designed to be recyclable. A lot of our modern fabrics are mixed fibre or enirely synthetic, which makes them hard to recycle, or requiring very different methods of recycling (and are mostly unsuitable for paper making).

It always makes me laugh when characters in historically inspired fantasy novels (or bad historical romance novels) get a complete set of new fashion garments made in, like, a day. Or get them second-hand and they just inexplicably fit perfectly.

@suebob16

Жыл бұрын

Here are some fictional examples of a lot of hand sewing. A classic fairy tale called The Little Dressmaker: A young apprentice dressmaker was given the job of designing and sewing three different dresses (and a wedding gown) for three ladies who were potential brides for a king. So she would finish a dress, deliver it in the evening to the palace for the ball, then run home to begin the next dress for the next ball. No sooner had she finally finished the three dresses then she was ordered to create the wedding gown. Can you imagine all that hand sewing? The young dressmaker was totally exhausted from all that work, but she would get her happy ending for her effort. From a Barbara Cartland historical romance: The heroine had the skill to alter the sizing of some gowns (I believe these were from the House of Worth) plus some others for a friend. Later in the story she copied a Worth design for herself. She was helped by her nanny who had sewing skills as well. Later on someone would admire her new gown. The heroine told the truth, that it was a copy.

There is also the information and skills that have historically been passed from parent to child. To this day, Mennonite and Amish mother’s/aunts/grandmothers teach the young women to sew, and this is how I learned. People like Tasha Tudor may have been an anomaly, she had an amazing range of the old skills. Many Mennonites were passing down those skills well into the 21st century. Our older generation didn’t gain those skills from watching a tailor or dress maker, they knew how to do it because they participated with their parents at home or on the farm. They knew how to care for a horse or dairy cow, how to grow a garden, or how to make a quilt from scraps and quilt it with insanely tiny stitches. I was fitted for dresses from a very squirmy young age, and saw women sewing all the time, as well as canning peaches and making apple sauce, which we now buy instead of doing the work. It wasn’t until I came across Bernadette Banner that I heard the dressmaker’s term of “felling”, to me it was just finishing a seam. I have a friend who is really good at making apple butter each year, but I’ve never taken the time to learn - so the old skills do require the participation of the younger generation and that’s not always present these days. These days kids may not learn such practical skills as making clothing from their parents, so thank goodness for KZread educators like you who can fill in the gaps or we’d all fall victim to Zombies in the early days of the apocalypse. 💜💙💚

@feezlfuzzl564

3 жыл бұрын

To be fair, though, how often do Mennonite styles change, and how simple are they? It is definitely a skill, but it's also like a uniform.

@amr4211

2 жыл бұрын

@@feezlfuzzl564 , it requires the same sewing skills as sewing any type of clothing, complicated or not. The skills transfer. The same stitches. The same seams.

@ariannedechateaumichel7777

Жыл бұрын

@@feezlfuzzl564 I believe you're thinking about the Amish, whose clothing styles barely change. While there are different types of both Amish and Mennonites and each type has their own types of clothes, Mennonite are generally willing to dress more modernly than Amish. . The particular Mennonite sect I grew up in had more of a 1940s small-town look and even allowed girls to wear pants if they were so loose they wouldn't stay up without a belt and you just wore them for farm chores like mucking out the barn. The younger generations who remained are now wearing jersey or woven skirts and dresses that barely cover the knee and have generally replaced the caps or covers (lace doily things) with basic kerchiefs.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn (steer) a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” -Robert Heinlein.

@rheinhartsilvento2576

3 жыл бұрын

It's cute - except it isn't true...

@tracygoode3037

3 жыл бұрын

@@rheinhartsilvento2576 It's not PRACTICAL, but it is true. He didn't say all at one time. And, this is also why we set up societies--so that you didn't HAVE to do everything just to survive.

@rheinhartsilvento2576

3 жыл бұрын

@@tracygoode3037 Well, in the simplest terms it isn't true because loads of people, from all cultures, don't know how to do all those things. It is obviously desireable to be able to most of these things.

@tracygoode3037

3 жыл бұрын

"Should be able to" does not equal "does". The statement is true: a human being SHOULD be able to do everything it takes to survive. Again, it is not PRACTICAL to do everything ourselves, nor is it cost effective; that is why we live in societies where we can trade resources with others and get what we need.

@samanthakessel7285

3 жыл бұрын

Jack of all trades, master of none but better than a master of one.

my favorite part of reading historical fiction is when they're "shopping" for gowns and accessories. that part of history has always been fascinating for me (this also includes smiths, and carpenters and apothecaries).

@orianedeslaumes3172

3 жыл бұрын

Can you tell me what historical fiction are you referring to? I'd like to read it!

@Keeperoffyre

3 жыл бұрын

@@orianedeslaumes3172 off the top of my head, i cannot remember lol but i have also read some regency fanfiction where they spend quite a bit of time going over clothing materials :D

"at least one husband" 🤣

Reminds me of a scene at the beginning of Arabella (Georgette Heyer, set 1816 or so), where our heroine is about to go to London to make her splash, and her mother (who was super-fashionable in her youth, around 1790s) goes up to her trunks, and gets all her old dresses out, so that they can take them to the Harrogate mantua-maker to be remade! (Recommended as an audiobook while sewing too...) Happy Christmas Abby and family! Cx

@MendyLady

3 жыл бұрын

I love that scene! Especially the Young Folk snickering about the "old fashioned" everything.

@laurarincon648

3 жыл бұрын

The only thing missing is the cólera from the lack of running water... Other than that it does sound like a really good life

@janiced9960

3 жыл бұрын

Georgette Heyer can do no wrong.

@lucie4185

3 жыл бұрын

I devoured that bit!

@persiswynter6357

3 жыл бұрын

I love that book! And that scene was exactly what I was thinking of!

Kind of off subject but the whole "women did everything" mindset that people have today: I think the thing that gets lost in translation is that it was considered courteous to not leave messes in your home for others to clean, and to be over all very courteous to your family. Like it would be considered rude for a wife to come to her husbands work place and make a big mess of things it was considered equally rude for a husband to do the same in the home. People didn't compartmentalize the same way we do now I think.

'Went with the Wind' is the funniest skit ever written! I'm always happy to see it

telling my age (51) but i remember watching that carol burnett episode with the curtains live. i thought my aunts, mother and grandmother were going to die laughing. when i got old enough to know about, and see parts of gone with the wind, i realized why it was so funny.

@rejoyce318

3 жыл бұрын

I'm only a few years older than you (by which time I had read GWTW) and I remember that episode the first time, too.

@Barblooms

3 жыл бұрын

I’m several years older than you, so read the book and saw the movie before the Carol Burnett skit. I remember my mother and I sitting on the sofa in front of the TV, gasping for breath through our laughter at that dress.

@andreaweber8059

3 жыл бұрын

@@Barblooms I am way younger - can you explain the laughter?

@lorainsilvers1165

3 жыл бұрын

@@andreaweber8059 watch the move or read the book Gone with the Wind... then watch Carol Burnett curtain rod skit.

@jbowerdel

3 жыл бұрын

that was a classic moment of comedy!! so clever! i had read the book and seen the movie before saw that!

Well, NOW I wanna know all the millinery gossip, Abby, you can't just TEASE us like that!

This is such a fascinating subject!! I definitely want more milliner & mantua-maker gossip. ;)

@AbbyCox

3 жыл бұрын

SO MUCH GOSS 😂

@annamermaid6359

3 жыл бұрын

THE HOTTEST GOSS

@persiswynter6357

3 жыл бұрын

@@AbbyCox Spill! Spill! Spill that tea!

@CAMPULL

3 жыл бұрын

I loved this! But I was left with one question... which tradespeople would make the stays?

@daveteds

2 жыл бұрын

@@CAMPULL Staymakers, of course! I understand they existed as a distinct trade in at least some cases, though I don't know if other tradespeople also made them.

My great grandmother became a washer lady when her husband died in 1914, she also spun yarn from other peoples flax, cow hair, wool, horse hair or nettles and then made warp and sold that to that to the weavers who made the fabric. I do have a tiny doily made out of linnen that is made from scratch from 3 different ladies in my family, the one who grew and worked the the flax , the one who spun the yarn and made the warp and the one who wove it. This was a royal order and this was just left overs. My gran was yarn runner , weaver and fake fur cutter before she moved to larger town and still working with yarn and fabric and under government control, so hospital blankets and sum such. Yes my gran used to make fake bear, wolf and beaver fur. Most people who lived on farms where my gran came from had to know how to do under garments and shirts and shoe laces since it could days in to nearest largest store., but people who lived on those remote place always where more then one family and clothes was made during winter.

@tinaluu9810

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your family history. You have a precious treasure to cherish.

I would love to learn more about how this applied to enslaved people's clothing as well as the role of slavery in the textile industry

@rejoyce318

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, I think this would be a great topic for Abby to team up again with Cheney McKnight.

I recall going on a historical house tour of some sort and the guide said that there could be a big problem if one were to fail to keep up with fashion trends. Like people would suspect you were hard up or your business was suffering and come after you for bills owed.

"As God as my witness, I shall never go hungry again! Even if I have to make tuna casserole!"🤣🤣

@hkbabel

3 жыл бұрын

I am in process of making a tuna casserole :-)

"Could you imagine living in the middle of nowhere on a farm with no running water..." omg yes it sounds like heaven! Gimme all of that plus basic human rights and a wife (I'm a lesbian) and I'm happy. I love bushcraft and survival craft. I learned how to build a house a few weeks ago. (Before the new covid rules...) so proud of that one, still hyped about it.

@Rotten_Ralph

3 жыл бұрын

Let’s get Boston married and enjoy the farm life together

@___LC___

3 жыл бұрын

I’ve been all about making quick lime and wanting to make my own old school cement blocks. I day dream about building a house and all the things I would need to do for clean water, a chimney, how to make pig iron from iron ore, weaving, thread making, how to make a safe roof (so my house doesn’t go poof 🔥),and so many other things. Those basic human rights are a definite requirement, a wife would be lovely to have, too. That would be up to the right woman, though.

@suem6004

3 жыл бұрын

None of you could hack it.

@sunriseeyes0

3 жыл бұрын

It is the dream! (And occasional reality when the electricity goes off up here in the Hawaiian mountains, about once a month, lol). But honestly as close as I can currently get is growing some of my own veggies and having three chickens that occasionally lay eggs (when not getting knocked up my by neighbor’s rooster 😂)

@feezlfuzzl564

3 жыл бұрын

@@suem6004 Why are you so rude? Are you having a bad day?

I love all the clips (historical and funny) but my favorite Abby videos are the ones where the creativity is unleashed! That intro is so great (the Tara shot with Ancient Aliens?!?!) I can almost forgive for having that Credit Report.com song stuck in my head!

@AbbyCox

3 жыл бұрын

I had the best time editing the opening sequence, I was sitting at my desk laughing like a lunatic and my mom & husband just kept staring at me like I had 3 heads 😂😂😂

@rejoyce318

3 жыл бұрын

I remember falling on the floor laughing when that Carol Burnett clip originally played (yes, I am that old, thankyouverymuch!)

I have so many questions: 1. What did people who lived in the countryside do when they needed clothes? You can't just leave a farm for a few days to travel to the next largest town for a dress fitting. 2. Weren't regular women still expected to sew everyday items like shirts, shifts, stockings, etc for their families? This would still have required a lot of time, manual labor, and a decent understanding of sewing. 3. Even if the 18th century was less prudish than the 19th century, wouldn't it still have been really scandalous for a man to be in charge of making and fitting ladies' stays? 4. Pre-19th century, most people lived in multi-generational households and were pretty chill with child labor, so isn't the idea of one woman doing all of the housework, sewing, childrearing, etc a modern misconception? The household labor, including sewing, would have likely been spread out over multiple people.

@yonicorn1641

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I think the housework was generally divided between multiple people + people back then had more children than we're used to now, so having like 5 kids helping you around with cleaning, cooking etc was probably a thing? Also I think women living in the countryside could travel to the nearest city for a fitting but then again, if you have 5 kids , parents, siblings etc living with you, you can afford to leave the farm work to them? Idk.

@merchantfan

10 ай бұрын

I assume they bought cloth and materials when they could (there were traveling peddlers who sold stuff like that and millinery stuff like shoes and gloves) but if you didn't live close to a real town you (and all your female relatives/servants) would still probably be sewing and knitting a lot of stuff especially for kids who always outgrow stuff (though children's wear was also very asexual and a lot simpler back then especially for very young kids where everyone basically wore dresses). They didn't have traveling tailors or dressmakers. Though I think they also held onto stuff through families and altered things as necessary. My main question is what kind of stuff did they do for wear and tear on fabric. Like there are some stains no one can get off, did they patch that or cover it or toss it?

Yay Carole Burnett reference! I love that skit!

@sarahmwalsh

3 жыл бұрын

Not one, but TWO costumers riffed on it for the Costume College Gala last year. It was so epic.

Weaving was also a trade industry, requiring skill and expensive equipment.

This is exactly what my dad said about school - I beat him lol - I did walk 1 mile uphill over an interstate in a hurricane both ways to and from work - as a nurse! LOL

@christinabrock2893

2 жыл бұрын

My dad used to say the same thing - and then we actually visited his childhood hometown. He lived a few blocks from his school, with no hills involved either direction. And it was California, so if they had even a dusting of snow, school was closed. He hasn't tried to pull that one again since.

*gets 60s in* Ah, Abby’s feeling particularly salty today. Fantastic!

@AbbyCox

3 жыл бұрын

LOLOLOL

In Sweden woman were supposed to have the bedsheets, towels, night gown, linen for the husbands shirt, and a lot more ready before their wedding. A common gift to women when they were engaged was a scutching blade. They put up the loom in the autumn and used the winter to produce fabric in the home. The bedsheets were supposed to last a lifetime and was used to cover their dead bodies in the coffin. You could buy fabric on the market or from a peddler, but most of the clothes was made at home. One woman can't do it all, but you were never alone, there's at least 3 generations in every household.

That moment when you realize that KZread videos teach you more about history than the actual History Channel

@helenamizera3807

3 жыл бұрын

I've always been more interested in domestic history vs political history.

@mirjanbouma

3 жыл бұрын

@@helenamizera3807 you out it into words. This is why I detested history in school but want to sit down for an hour+ and listen to every reenactor I meet.

My Sunday habits are changed. Coffee with Abby is a must! Now off to watch Nicole Rudolph. Good times!

@kdhbookworm1

3 жыл бұрын

Lol same here, and then rewatching the videos later so I have company while I sew or do housework.

“I did your daughters hair once. Not to be super creepy” and then the continued eye contact with the camera 🤣🤣🤣

Ok so my mom is number 7 of 13 children.... my grandparents had so many kids so they could help on the farm. Oh yea they were dairy farmers. My grandmother gave birth to all her kids at home. They didnt have running water, they had a wood burning stove and a out house for their restroom. This was all in the early 1900's to mid 1900's. My mom says that when she was in her teens they finally got a inside toilet. She was born 1951, #7 of 13. I feel like people that grew up in the city dont realize how the country people struggled. My grandmother made most of there clothes and my mom made me a bunch of clothes when I was kid.

A diary was found in a Vermont library of a pre revolutionary woman who kept a diary over 25 years, A Midwife’s Tale. She did it all and more!!!!!

@sunriseeyes0

3 жыл бұрын

My grandpa is from Vermont, raised on a farm. He legit knows how to do EVERYTHING. Even making his own tools!

@AJ-Tivol

3 жыл бұрын

I loved reading that book!

@jeanneclark99

3 жыл бұрын

But she also had daughters, neighbors, and girls who lived in (an informal apprentice-type way of learning housekeeping) to help. A way to get 72 hours worth of work done in a day!

“That’s when we threw our little hissy fit and won.” You are my hero! A truer statement about the American Revolution has never been said! And I am descended from Francis Scott Key!

@suem6004

3 жыл бұрын

No ‘hissy fit’ to want representation, control over trade, control over one’s destiny. That is called Liberty. Very odd the lack of knowledge of American history.

@Xloi63

3 жыл бұрын

me too! He's my (x6) great grandfather! Our family left the states a couple generations ago and ended up in Montreal

@rebeccahavlik7838

3 жыл бұрын

@@Kate-ns1od have you ever heard of a thing called a sense of humor

Hey Abby! School is very hard right now. But knowing I can come back here and learn about history really helps me get through the day! *my school is cursed and doesn’t teach history*

@rejoyce318

3 жыл бұрын

Duchess, I just retired from teaching school, and am SO incredibly sorry that your "cursed school" isn't teaching history. I spent the last three months of my career teaching during the pandemic, and I know just managing reading, writing, & math were monumental feats - and I taught elementary. You are LIVING history, though. It'd be great if you could find some way to document your own experiences, even if it's something you share with friends. Sorry for the lesson. "Old teachers never die, they just lose their class!" :) Stay sane & well.

@user-rx1yk8vy8y

3 жыл бұрын

@@rejoyce318 Thank you so much for the love. I really needed it! I have been keeping a diary. It’s just hard to believe that I’m living history. I hope you are doing well and having a great day! What I meant when I said it was cursed and that it doesn’t teach history, is that it’s cursed because it doesn’t teach history! Thank you for the kind words!

@shannon9993

11 ай бұрын

Oh man, that's rough. --I heavily encourage you: get a library card, if you can, if you don't have one. Browse through the dewey decimal system casually when you visit, and over time you sort of naturally try out so many awesome things. It's not at all obligatory or burdensome, you just. go "what is this" and it's great

Don't forget "walk in the snow with cardboard shoes" exact quote from my father 💗

@mayfair_forest_witch

3 жыл бұрын

Haha :D Speaking of cardboard, maybe my father did not wear a cardboard shoes, but they did actually had a cardboard backpacks. I don't know if that also was a thing in other countries in Europe, but it was a thing in Poland after WWII, if anyone is curious check in google images keywords "tekturowy tornister szkolny lata 50".

@sabrina9333

3 жыл бұрын

@@mayfair_forest_witch Yes this was in Italy after WWII. Everyone was just surviving after the war & this was about the 50's in a very poor village. Luckey he came to American in his 20s 💗

@sisuguillam5109

3 жыл бұрын

My dad and his Brothers had to share shoes. My granny would take her eldest to school, take the shoes back home, take the next son to school, walk back home with the shoes, take the next kid to school, walk back... you get the drift.

This is amazing!!! I had no idea about this in so much detail - thank you so much for explaining it!

I have been wondering about this subject for a while, thank you for this video!

You are one of my favorite souls :) That beginning was everything I didn't know I needed today!

I deeply appreciate the closed captioning. thank youuuuuu.

Scrolling the comments while I wait for the ads to play to help Abby. And now that I’m finished the video, will be looking up Amanda Vickery so that I can love her too.

@sisuguillam5109

3 жыл бұрын

May I recommend Judith Flanders? en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Flanders

@salvyv

3 жыл бұрын

Amanda Vickery is awesome! Her books are very academic but great, and her documentaries are wonderful also. Look for her documentary on staging an authentic ball based on Pride and Prejudice. It’s a treat. She’s an expert on 18th century material culture.

I love seeing videos about the minutia of history like this! So when do we get that millinery gossip video?

I love "Learning with Abby". I look forward to this videos every Sunday!

Interesting and entertaining as always. Thanks for posting! YES GOSSIP! Your passion for the subject brings the past to life. It reminds us this is a story about real people. They become more than names on a page.

I do historical yarn spinning and some weaving. After that mere ‘hissy fit’ King George forbad all export sale of wools and products from Great Britain. The empire had purposely not permitted the colonies from starting their own mills and manufacturing. Drained raw materials and forced to buy finished goods. It was not until 1780s when first mill was built in either Connecticut or Mass. So, yes some domestic homespun needed to be done. And it was patriotic to put domestic products over imported. Gandhi did the same.

I swear this video is my favorite video on the channel! Especially the beginning. I love this girl!

Wow this one is amazing!! I love the way you look at things. A truly fun way to look at the world and history! Still amazes me how dull they made history in school. I’m all for more videos like this one. It went by so fast I will have to rewatch it later. Edit to add: How do we get those hours added back to our day? Not the kids day just ours lol!

Your soundtrack (is it called a soundtrack if it's a youtube video?) is perfect! Your video making skills have noticeably improved in the time you've been doing youtube :)

AAAAAAA I'm so excited for all the things you've just inspired yourself to make!!!

I am loving these history lessons. Keep bringing the goods!

Loved the intro 😭! This was all so interesting! 🎄 Merry Christmas Abby! 🎄💖

Abby, you are just awesome! The editing, the humour, the bloopers at the end, the knowledge... love it all!

This may be my favorite video on this channel. Super informative and well-paced. Loved it!

Omg that credit report ad! Perfect!

Catchy video title! You & your vid editing always makes me laugh... totally priceless! The learning component is lagniappe. THANK YOU Abby!

This was such a great topic! Can’t wait for more on this subject

Great video!! (And yes, Amanda Vickery is totally cool. I think we (the UK) are blessed with a number of really good historians who happen to be female.

This is so helpful for my writing research. I’d love to pick your brain about any knowledge on when Asian silks were no longer protected against by trade tariffs. Once the tariffs were lifted, the silk making industry in Europe tanked, and thousand of middle class/merchant class tradespeople were abruptly put out of business. I’m sure the resulting, much cheaper fabrics helped drive the fast-fashion habits of the consumer of that time. It would have been around 1860 that this happened. Do you have any videos more devoted to the fabrics and production of the fabrics vs the finished garments?

Pleeeeaaase speak more about these professions, I love it! And maybe a video/series about the fabric itsself? From sheep to the streets or something like that? :D

I read two novels called ’Katchya’ & ‘Slammerkin’- both set in the 18th c (one in Russia, time of Peter the Great- the other, in England)- it’s been a long time since I read them, but I believe they briefly mention second-hand clothing stalls (which existed since at least the 17th c) - & the old ‘pass down something you don’t want anymore’ to your servants/ younger relations- which has existed forever...

I really liked this video. I'd love another video on millinery/hat-making. I used to work in a custom hat shop before the owner sold it in January this year. We mostly made men's hats in the style of the 1900s through to the 1950s, though, so it would really be interesting to see a video on how it developed over time.

I was expecting a clip from Cranford when they are in the shop trying to decide on what fabric they can afford for a gown but then one of them wants a dress made up that takes all the yardage they have that they had seen in a fashion plate.

That makes so much sense. Ty for this video Abby!

This was so interesting! Also the beginning and editing ✨

I kept thinking about the historical romance novels I used to read some 20-30 years ago. They did talk about going to the shops to get their dresses and having some remade. It makes me realize how much research they had to do, even when most of their readers didn’t really care about that. I’m super impressed.

Future millinery and mantua-making tea; I'm here for it!!!! Thanks for educating your subscribers with your history knowledge in your way.

This was delightful and sparked quite a lovely conversation with my husband about trades, so thank you! Also, I need to know what foundation you use because flawless.

I want more of this! Such great and interesting information!

You really make history fun. Thanks.

That first clip. Omg I was laughing so hard I cried. That woman is just too funny! Thank you Abby for the laugh. Keep up the good work!

Also worth noting: 1) selling on... second-hand or used clothing could be worn or re-made by poorer classes. Nothing was wasted. 2) Shirts are, in my understanding, the men’s garment most likely to be made at home.

LOVED THIS ABBY!!

Thank you so much for this video I was so curious about the process of how people got a hold of clothing in the 18th century.

This went by so fast and was so full of information! I love your content 😍

Regina shows up in her carriage Wearing her pink corseted floaty dress “Get in loser we’re going shopping!”

Abby, love your channel and especially videos like these - thank you for all of the research you do and great work on putting it into such a digestible format! This video is fascinating and it answers some questions I always wondered. I studied art history and although my career now isn't related to my area of study, videos like this help me indulge in that interest of mine and continue to learn. You are a great teacher!

Loved loved loved this episode. I dig this straight history stuff with a dash of your goofball antics and movie clips! So entertaining.

I've watched and enjoyed a couple of your videos but honestly the bit at the beginning is what made me hit subscribe, lmao. "Back in ye olde days...."

I love love love this, looking forward to a Mantua maker video in the future.

Abby, this the first video of yours that I've seen and now I want to watch all of them you are so funny AND educational and your emitting is beyond first rate. Five stars!

Loved the video. I would love to see one on the used clothing market.

This was such a great video and I learned so much! True story, my mom came into the room while I was watching this, and was like, "What are you watching?" and I said, "It's about clothes shopping in the 18th century," and she was like, "But people made their own clothes then?" Haha, so she learned a lot, as well!

I love these deep dives! Entertaining and educational

Abby, your editing is so much fun. 😁 Love it!!

Woah. I was just thinking that I need to do some research on this (and related topics around how people lived frugally in history) - and here you are with a video. 🙌 Excellent information. Also, I'm a total AcornTV addict. Currently I'm rewatching the Victorian Farm BBC series for like the 9th time. Ruth Goodman!!!! 🤘

This was such an interesting video!! I LOVE the topics you’ve been covering recently

Omg 2 years later and the cut scenes overlapped with malckemore still hit right 😂 gosh i love this video especially

Fascinating! I would love to hear the 16th or 19th century history too

Fab! And yes, please hit us with all the mantua maker/milliner gossip! 😆😍😍