Dress of the Day - June 26, 2011

Dress of the Day: 18th century farming clothes at Mount Vernon. Yumi Kendall and I met these people who were working on George Washington's farm, next to his wharf on the Potomac. They paused in their work churning ice cream to tell us about their outfits.
The ladies are wearing linen and cotton summer garments: shift, short dress, petticoat, and apron. The young man is wearing typical farm hand garb of shirt, waistcoat, and trousers. His three cornered hat indicates slightly higher social status than a typical farm hand, and not as suitable for work in the fields as a hat with a larger brim to shade the face.