Dress of the Day: Philadelphia Quaker outfit, 18th century. At Brandywine Battlefield this afternoon, I spoke with Marie Stotler, who weaves beautiful Indian baskets using methods and materials from the colonial period. Marie's outfit includes cotton shift, linen short dress and petticoat, and an embroidered pocket. She told me that the Quakers in colonial Philadelphia tended to be among the wealthier members of society, enabling them to buy brightly colored clothing.
Marie weaves baskets out of rye, which she explained was the only material mice wouldn't eat, so that one could use these baskets for storage and bring them into the fields without worrying about mice. Her specialty is woven skeps, which are baskets used to contain beehives.
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