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CIVIL COSTUME
AT LOUISBOURG: 1713 - 1758
MEN'S COSTUME
MEN'S COSTUME
o
BY
o
MONIQUE LA
GRENADE
o
March 1972
o
(Fortress of
Louisbourg Report H-F16AE)
o
Translated By
Christopher Moore
o
I. CLOTHING
o A. SHIRTWEAR
o 1. THE SHIRT
o Whether of rough cloth for the fisherman or fine cloth
for the great merchant broker, the shirt was an indispensable item of clothing.
During the day, men wore shirts against their skin, with a vest and breeches.
The night shirt or Amadis shirt (chemise en Amadis) was made of
"light cloth with more narrow sleeves". [1] The term
"amadis" was not used at Louisbourg, but Governor Duquesnel, for
example, owned sixteen "nightshirts" (chemises de nuit) at
about 10 livres each. [2]
o However the word "shirt" alone was most
often used, since night shirts and shirts worn during the day were probably
very similar. The shirt usually reached to knee-height. It was open at each
side, and split at the front from collar to chest. The sleeves "reached
beyond the hands; but were attached at the end of the arm by buttoned
cuffs". To this basic style could be added trimming "of finer cloth,
plain or embroidered, or of lace; the trimmings at the cuffs are called manchettes ...
that at the front is called jabot ..."[3]
o The making of a shirt [4] began with the preparation
of sleeves. To start, one folded a rectangle of cloth along its length and then
sewed the two sides, leaving an opening of two pouces at one
end to insert the armpit gusset and an opening of three pouces at
the other end. Each side of this opening, called the fourchette of
the cuff, was hemmed. Next the sleeve of the shirt was folded to the size of
the cuff, to which it could then be sewed. The cuff is a narrow strip of
fabric, doubled over. Its size could be adjusted to the wrist size of the
wearer. Each side of the cuff had a button-hole. The body of the shirt was a
long piece two aunes (approximately 94 inches) or a little
less in length, folded over unevenly to make the front slightly shorter than
the back. A six pouce cut was made in the front of the fabric
for the opening of the jabot (a frill or ruffle of lace at the
throat). The end of this cut was reinforced by a heart-shaped gusset called
the coeur du jabot. At the neckline, the cloth was cut on the fold,
to the right and left of the hole for the 'a.1 bat, to six inches from the
shoulder. At each side, the upper third was left open to receive the sleeve;
the middle third was sewn and reinforced by a gusset at the bottom; and the
bottom third was left open.
o The collar piece was a band of toile adjusted
in length to the size of the wearers neck. Its width varied according to taste.
It was folded along its length and the doubled band sewn at the neck of the
shirt closed with two or three buttons.
o Then the sleeves were attached. They were sewn to the
body of the shirt, with flat folds on the upper side of the shoulder.
o Accounts of inventories or public sales at Louisbourg
are brimming with references to shirts. Often they tell nothing but the number
of shirts, or add only the most vague details such as "common",
"trimmed", "old", "used", "of poor
quality". In general, then, men wore shirts as simple as those described
above, made of toile. (See Table No. 1)
o # For this and other un-translated terms in the text,
see the glossary.
o
o
TABLE NO. 1:
SHIRT FABRICS
PERIOD
|
TOILE
|
COTTON
|
UNSPECIFIED
|
1713 to 1745
|
80
|
4
|
521
|
1748 to 1758
|
105
|
4
|
513
|
1713 to 1758
|
185
|
8
|
1,034
|
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DOCUMENTATION:
o
1713-1745: 49
documents referring to shirts 605 times
o
1748-1758: 48
documents referring to shirts 622 times
o
1713-1758: 97
documents referring to shirts 1,227 times
o
o Throughout the history of Louisbourg, this fashion was
unchanged. One finds a certain stability in comparing documents predating and
post-
dating the English occupation of 1745-1748.
dating the English occupation of 1745-1748.
o However the quality or type of toile could
vary, as could the trimmings added to the shirt, and there are few exceptions
to normal colours, styles and fabrics.
o A few examples of price will show that a variety of
qualities existed. In 1743 six used shirts which had belonged to a fisherman (compagnon
pêcheur) were valued at 13 sols 4 derniers each.[5]
In the following year, the effects of Governor Duquesnel included eighty-one
trimmed shirts ranging in value from 4 to 14 livres.[6]
o The amount of wear on these articles partially
explains the divergence in price; but the quality of the toile must
also be considered. (See Table No. 2) Shirts of toile d'Alaçon for
example, were a luxury available only to the wealthy. Even simple white toile implies
a concern for quality since the frequent washings required must have
represented a great deal of work.[7] Hence it was rare for common people to
wear those shirts, unless they had found some way to enrich themselves. In one
case, a soldier drew attention to himself by wearing shirts of good quality
stolen from a merchant. Questioned about it, a witness answered that he had not
"suspected that the shirts had been stolen because the said Paquet usually
wore the best, having earned a let of money the previous year..."[8]
o Rough unbleached toile (la grosse
toile écrue) was the most common type. It served in the making of the
shirts sold by the merchants and probably also those classed simply as
"common". This was cloth without
o
o
TABLE N0. 2:
TYPES OF TOILE USED IN SHIRTMAKING
YEAR
|
QUANTITY
|
PRICE
|
CLOTH
|
OCCUPATION
|
1732
1736 1741 1750 1750 1751 1752 1756 1757 1757 1757 |
47
3 7 4 13 4 1 24 6 2 1 |
-
3#3s 1#4s 5# 6# - 1#15s - - - - |
"rough unbleached toile"
"white toilet" "rough toile" "blue Zinga toile" "Bretagne toile" "Rouen toile" "royal blue toile" "toile de Leval" "Jinga" holland toile Rouen toile |
"bourgeois"
- - schooner captain treasurer of the Marine stolen from a merchant bourgeois - merchant - - |
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DOCUMENTATION:
o
From the
documents referring to shirt fabrics (See Table 1), we have isolated those
which specify the type of toile. We have listed the average price for
each group
o
and the
occupation of the people involved when these details were available.
o
o its fibers bleached: it was left in its original
state, which was gray in the case of flax and yellowed if made of hemp.[9]
o Apart from these two colours and white, coloured shirts
were very rare. In all the consulted documents, there are only four shirts of
striped cotton; [10] one of "blue Zainga toile"; [11] one
of striped blue toile; [12] three of "blue checked
cotton" and three other "blue";[13] one of "striped toile"
and one of blue gingham.[14]
o Except for the coloured cottons noted above and one
other of "cottonade", [15] toile was always the
fabric used.
o Finally, several style specifications can be found. In
1734, the inventory of the goods of a drowned man, likely a fisherman, included
"basque" shirts.[16] In four other inventories, all of merchants, can
be found twenty-four "sailor's shirts" (chemises de matelot)
in 1720;[17] thirty "fisherman's shirts" (chemises pour pêcheurs)
in 1738,[18] fifty-eight "Saint Malo shirts" (chemises malouine)
in 1743 [19] and twelve "Breton shirts" (chemises bretonnes)
in 1756. [19a] Evidently these qualifying terms refer to styles of shirts
favoured by seamen, so it is not surprising to find mention of them at
Louisbourg, where fishing was an important activity. However, we have no
information which would enable us to describe this shirt.
