Man's Tail Coat
Subject
Title
Date
Description
Mrs. Muriel Buckley donated this man’s plaid tailcoat to the university in 1967, apparently as part of a collection of antique clothing started by her grandmother, Mary Eliza Kenyon Huling (1880 – 1967; Mrs. Edwin W. Huling) of Lafayette, RI. Information from the accession records describes Mollie, as she was known, as a "saver of many century old costumes and accessories." Several articles that appeared in the Providence Journal document Mrs. Huling's interest in collecting old clothes, and their use by people wishing to dress for a masquerade or fancy ball. (See Providence Journal article, dated December 5, 1954). Perhaps this coat has had two lives - one as a new garment of the 19th century and the other as a "quaint old costume" of the 20th.
Materials
The double-breasted cutaway or dress coat is a made of a plain weave, plaid cotton fabric. The thread count of approximately 45 - 50 threads per inch indicates moderately fine, single ply Z spin yarns for both the warp and weft. The asymmetrical plaid includes light and dark blue, white, and orange yarns.
Construction
This dress coat is entirely sewn by hand, with a backstitch used for all the major seams and an overcast stitch for finishing. Although the seams are all well sewn and finished, the awkward set of the collar and the inexpert tailoring suggest that the coat was not made by a professional.
Evaluation
Several characteristics of this coat help date its construction. The first is the position of the side seam, which drifted towards the center back throughout the 1700's. The development of an underarm seam in the sleeve in the 1840's finally changed this construction to include an underarm side seam.
A second feature is the horizontal cutaway to the front of the garment. Fashion changes during times of social, political and/or economic upheaval. Certainly the revolutions of the late 18th century propelled change in dress for both men and women. Men adapted the riding coat – a coat with the front skirt cut away to accommodate riding a horse – as regular attire. The use of cotton and wool fabrics in men’s wear allowed tailors to create well-fitting dress coats that were worn with long trousers, a vest, and a high-collared shirt.
The position of each false pocket flap to the back indicates that this coat was made and worn after 1800. The elaborate pocket flaps seen in 1790s were replaced by plain, narrow strips of cloth. These later flaps no longer had to hide a pocket opening underneath, as in the 1700's. The tail pockets on the plaid coat are almost inaccessible, the wearer either slipping his hand down the tail or taking the coat off.
The simple U-curve on the lapel combined with the shorter collar stand suggest that the coat was made before the 1820s, when very high collars with cravats tied into complex knots became fashionable. However we should not forget that this garment, if made at home by a skilled seamstress and not a skilled tailor, may not reflect the up-to-the-minute fashions of the time. It is important to remember that techniques such as making an M-shaped collar notch may have been beyond the ability of the maker.
A close investigation of the economics of weaving is important to the analysis of this coat. The plaid's colors - light and darker blue, white and orange - are colors used by cottage weavers in Stonington, Connecticut and the surrounding area in the first years of the 19th century.
The technological gap created between the use of water-powered spinning machines to manufacture thread and the ability of manufacturers to weave the thread into cloth created problems in fabric production. Samuel Slater began to use water-powered spinning machines in 1790. Water-powered looms were not used in Rhode Island, one of the centers for fabric production in New England, until the technology changed in the 1820's [Mohanty, p.74]. Spinning mills wanted to turn their thread into a marketable commodity, so they commissioned agents to employ weavers to produce cloth as a cottage industry. These agents, often store owners, would issue warps to people who, when the finished fabric was returned to the store, would receive store credit. The cloth would then be shipped back to the manufacturers. Plaids and stripes are easy ways to create fabrics with color and a pattern.
Research at Mystic Seaport Museum provides some interesting information. A daybook from J.H. Browning's store (1824-1825) in the Stonington, Connecticut area describes how dyed threads for warps and wefts were carted from C.A.Whitman of Coventry, Rhode Island to the Browning store. The weavers were given very particular instructions for weaving, identifying fabrics by a number system and occasionally describing “striped” or “plaid.” The information from C.A.Whitman tells us that the fabric was expected to be woven at 45-50 threads per inch. The yardage of finished goods most often was 90-110 yards of material.
Yarns were also sent to North Stonington, Connecticut from Providence and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The supplier would send enough yarns per warp and weft for one particular pattern. The thread would be weighed as well as the fabric measured to determine any waste or misuse by the weaver. Common colors for these warps were indigo blues, oranges, white and naturals.
Several drafting patterns for plaid colors come from the ledger of Ephraim and Russell Wheeler, 1817-1822, also at Mystic Seaport Museum. These are plaids with light and dark blues, oranges and white – just like this plaid coat, although none of the drafting patterns match exactly. The Rhode Island connection to weavers in southeastern Connecticut deserves more research.
Given the use of these colors in the fabric of this coat, this is hand-woven cloth made from machine spun yarns. Construction characteristics strongly suggest that this coat was made1810 - 1825. Consideration must be given to the humble nature of the coat. It is unlikely that the original wearer was at the height of fashion.
References
Baumgarten, Linda. Eighteenth Century Clothing at Williamsburg. Williamsburg: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1986.
Baumgarten, Linda, and John Watson with Florine Carr. Costume Close-up. Clothing Construction and Pattern 1`750-1790. New York: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in association with Quite Specific Media Group, Ltd., 1999.
Chenoune, Farid. A History of Men's Fashion. Translated by Deke Dusinberre. Paris: Flammarion, 1993.
De Marly, Diana. Fashion for Men. An Illustrated History. New York: Holmes & Mercier Publishers, Inc., 1985.
Goody, (Susan) Rabbit. "The J.H.Browning Day Book: December 24, 1824 - July 18, 1825." Manuscript Collection, Mystic Seaport Museum, RF 212.
Goody, (Susan) Rabbit. "General Storekeeping and Cottage Weaving." Manuscript Collection, Mystic Seaport Museum, RF221, 1974.
Mohanty, Gail Fowler. "Woven Documents." In Down By the Old Mill Stream, eds. Linda Welters and Margaret T. Ordonez, 51-82. Kent: Kent State University Press, 2000.
Tozer, Jane and Sarah Levitt. Fabric of Society. A Century of People and Their Clothes 1770-1870. Powys: Laura Ashley Limited, 1983.
Waugh, Nora. The Cut of Men's Clothes 1600-1900. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1964.
Wright, Merideth. Put on Thy Geautiful Garments. Rural New England Clothing 1783-1800. Montpelier: The Clothes Press, 1990.
Source
Identifier
Contributor
Medium
S-twist and Z-spin sewing threads in light and dark blue, black and white colors
plain weave, natural colored fabric for pocket linings