Ok, so you are dressed to the hills, repleat with corset, cage, silk dress and parasol but now what do you do? Well, if I were dressed like the above, I would have to wake up because I am dreaming. Don't get me wrong, I would love to own a silk dress, but just where in the Sam Hill would I wear said dress?
Ah hah! That is what I was getting at. Not every woman during the Civil War was wealthy and could afford to wear the above. So, I choose to portray the average, middle class, just trying to survive the war kinda woman.
I still wear a corset and the repleat set of required underclothes. But I wear cotton dresses. If they get dirty, oh well they can be washed. Why to I wear these? Well, friends it takes more than a pretty dress to do living history.
I like to live and feel as though I have stepped back in time. To do this, I like to take some of my 21st century mindsets with me. I am a hard worker by nature (most of the time) and tend to like to do those little dirty jobs. I cook around the fire, I do laundry, I carry firewood and water. I roll up my sleeves, work and sweat. And love every minute of it. I don't have to worry if my silk is getting mussed or if my cage is getting dirty. I like to be doing.
I even tend to get into trouble once in a while and have been caught a time or two stealing medicines (for my sick father) or attempting to gather information for the noble cause. What ever I do, I stay busy. I hate shopping sutler row. No offense sutlers. It isn't that I don't like you at events, its just that I tire of seeing the same ole crap in the same ole tent three times a week. That and I pretty much have my kit complete, so I don't need to buy a whole bunch of stuff.
So, the moral of this musing. Do. Be doing something. Even if you are wearing your silk, why are you there? Are you visiting your father or husband who is the officer of the unit? Are you bringing aid to the wounded? Have a reason for being in camp. If you don't find a nice neutral setting and still be working on something. Sew, quilt, do needlepoint, something. It was thought during the Civil War that idle hands did the devil's work. Well, I am proof positive of that. Muwahahaha. So remember, it take more than a pretty dress to do living history. It takes an impression and a reason for being.