You've heard the saying that, "the clothes make the man". In the 18th century, it was quite the opposite. Usually, the man (or his wife, if married) made the clothes.
The proper dress for a man in the 1750's was at least one Common Shirt (they were often layered), knee breeches with a French fly (drop fly breeches came in to fashion in the 1770's), stockings with garters (if you owned them), and shoes. Over his shirt, a waistcoat would be worn, and then a coat worn over that.
One would always wear some kind of head covering, as it was not proper for a man to be seen in public without his head covered. It was also not proper for a man to be seen with his ankles exposed
The people living on the frontier couldn't always dress "properly", and tended to preserve what few clothes they had. They would often leave "proper" items at home when working in the field or forest. Settlers tended to go barefoot when weather allowed, and left the overclothes off unless they were going to a village or town.
One item that was often worn while working to protect whatever shirt, waistcoat, or other "small" clothes were being worn, was the frock. Sometimes referred to as a waggoner's frock or a box frock, this was simply a heavier shirt worn to keep the clothes under it from becoming soiled. The same basic pattern as the common shirt, this was usually made from heavy linen or hemp canvas, and slightly larger than the common shirt so that it would fit over the other clothes comfortably.
Although most European settlers didn't adopt the native dress of their Indian neighbors, some of the items the Indians wore became quite common. Of these, leggings and moccasins were two of the more widely accepted items. Less accepted by the majority, but used frequently by longhunters and others on the frontier was the Breechclout. It was simply a piece of cloth about 1 foot wide and six feet long that was belted and worn between the legs, draping down in the front and the back.
Back to Skills, Tools and Techniques