GENERAL D ESCRIPTION*
Men’s civilian fashion of this time period consisted of five main pieces of clothing: shirt, waistcoat, breeches, coat, and hat. The shirt was the base. It served as the undergarment. A waistcoat, commonly called a “jacket,” was almost always part of a man’s outfit. Knee breeches were the most common lower garment. A coat of some sort usually covered the waistcoat unless, that is, the waistcoat was sleeved, in which case it served in certain circumstances as the outer coat as well. To round out the wardrobe, there was the tricorn hat. This combination was typical for men of all levels of society and was common over all of Western Europe and North America. Militia soldiers quite often served in their standard civilian clothing, at times substituting a hunting frock for the coat.
* This information is intended to serve only as a general recommendation. If you belong to a reenacting group or work for an historic site, we strongly recommend you check with your group first before purchasing this outfit.
HAT
Pictured: TH-805 Brown Standard Wool-Felt Tricorn.
Alternatives: Any non-military tricorn or uncocked broad-rimmed hat that we offer.
SHIRT
Pictured right: SH-124 Cotton Workshirt.
Alternatives: LH-124 Linen Workshirt, or for labor-class civilians and militia, CK-124 Blue-Checked Workshirt, RS-124 Red-Checked Workshirt, or our OH-124 Cotton Osnaburg Workshirt.
NECKWEAR
Pictured: LS-375 Black Linen Neck Stock.
Alternatives: Any of the Cravats or Neck Stocks we offer will work, though we would recommend you avoid the RS-373 Ruffled Neck Stock for this persona.
WAISTCOAT
Pictured: SW-130 1770’s Waistcoat (pictured left) in either cotton canvas, linen, or wool.
Alternatives: For labor-class civilians and militia, SW-116 1770’s Sleeved Waitcoat, or the WJ-155 Woolen Short Jacket. With this option, an outer coat is not needed. Also, for economy sake, CW-195 Unlined Cotton-Canvas Costume Waistcoat.
COAT
Pictured: MC-150 Civilian Coat.
Alternatives: If you have chosen a Short Jacket or Sleeved Waistcoat as suggested above, you may use it as an outer coat. In some settings, another alternative outer layer for labor-class civilians and militia is the Hunting Frock, LN-123 Linen Work Smock, or the OS-123 Osnaburg Work Smock which, if used in your persona, should generally be worn over a shirt and waistcoat.
BREECHES
Pictured above: SP-128 Cotton Canvas Fall-Front Breeches.
Alternative: Fall-Front Breeches of any fabric option. Fall-Front Trousers in any fabric option (pictured right) are also an option for lower-class civilians and militia.
STOCKINGS
Pictured: SP-754 Cotton Stockings of any color.
Alternatives: Any Cotton or Wool Stocking. Avoid striped stockings. Silk and Clocked Stockings may be appropriate for higher class civilians.
SHOES
Pictured: CS-925 Men’s Straight-Last Shoes.
Alternatives: MK-976 Center-Seam Moccasins are an appropriate alternative. These can be worn with or without SB-984 Spatterdashes (pictured left). Also, some events or units will allow for simple modern leather shoes as long as they are mostly covered with Spatterdashes (check with your unit).
BUCKLES
Pictured: SB-929 Shoe Buckles.
Alternatives: Any of our men’s shoes buckles we offer, or the tabs on our Straight-Last Shoes can be folded back or trimmed, then punched with two holes on each side for lacing.