Western - specific woman's undergarment name?

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RBEmerson

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In the WIP, it's mid-winter in a part of Arizona where the average temps are 47/19 F. Female MC dresses for practical, not fashionable. Age: 21

Female MC bangs her right shoulder up during gun practice (including sawed off 10 ga.). Her husband and male MC (surprise) is supposed to rub in "Doctor Wisenberg’s Embrocation for Sufferers of Muscle Damage of All Sorts". (Horse lineament fancied up with oil of wintergreen to hide the ...ah... pig pen scent)

The question. The spouse needs to get to her shoulder, of course. Given it's darn cold out, female MC says fashion be damned and wears a flannel shirt. What goes between the shirt and chemise top? What has to come off to get to that aching shoulder? In modern terms, I'm thinking of something on the order of a t-shirt in cut.

Somewhat related, are women using "union suits" plausible in the "less civilized" parts of the west?
 

RBEmerson

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Good point - December 18, 1873 (date counts - they got hitched six days prior).

Combinations don't happen for another four years and, being as Yavapai County wasn't on the forefront of fashion, probably later.

Anyway, I keep seeing some variation of the camisole and think "that looks damn cold!"

Of course, simple necessity can drive any choice of any garment, but if there's a formally named something, it makes the writing easier.
 

angeliz2k

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Well, from the perspective of someone who knows a bit about historical fashion (without being by any stretch an expert):

1. She wouldn't need to wear a man's flannel shirt for warmth. There were perfectly suitable women's clothing options for cold weather. In cold weather, women wore: heavier petticoats (made of wool, sometimes padded), jackets or cloaks, extra wool stockings, and/or fur-lined caps or bonnets. I mean, maybe her thing is wearing men's clothing, but be aware that that was extremely rare even in the West, though it's a trope that's overused in media.

2. Does 47/19 F mean high of 47 and low of 19? Seems like a hell of a big temperature range, but that's really not all that cold. Folks in Minnesota and Wyoming and at the higher elevations would laugh that to scorn, frankly. :)

3. Layers: by 1873, not a heck of a lot would've changed in the basic layers from the 1860s (which I'm familiar with), though bustles had come into fashion. Our friend wouldn't be wearing a bustle on the frontier, unless she were going somewhere and wanted to look smart/presentable. But no matter the level of fashion, the basic layers would be the same, just as today a woman will wear panties and a bra (just assume that's the case...) with a business suit, an evening dress, or a t-shirt and jeans. So she would be wearing: stockings, split drawers, a chemise tucked into the drawers, a corset (yes, a corset), and her dress (or outer layer). Combinations hadn't really started to come in yet.

In order to get to our friend's shoulder, our friend's friend would need to move aside the outer layer (dress or shirt) and the chemise. Chemises might or might not have sleeves--most work-a-day versions had little sleeves, so you would have to push the neckline down and over the shoulder; chemises had wide necklines, so this wouldn't be difficult. As far as the dress: it would fasten up the front, most likely with buttons, so she might have to unbutton the top few buttons and push it aside to get at the shoulder. In that regard, it wouldn't be that different from a man's shirt that buttoned up the front.

4. All that being said, I could see her maybe borrowing a man's shirt and wearing that over her usual underthings and paired with a skirt. It would be a bit odd but believable in the make-do kind of way.

Hope some of that is helpful!
 

RBEmerson

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OK, I'll go with number 4 and sleeved chemise. BTW, MC's are married and ...um... less than strait-laced but scarcely bring on the mayo, Eskimo, and trapeze. Or, in this instance, practicality wins over modesty. Charlie (male MC) does conjure up a blanket, arranged as needed. After all, what spouse wouldn't? :D

FWIW, Anne (female MC) takes it upon to herself to become proficient with "the ol' family sawed off 10 ga. double bore" (read the book for why) and see below.(*)

BTW 47/19 is the December range for basically eastern Mogollon Rim. About 6000 ASL.

Agreed mid-40's to mid 20's isn't brutal, although that is an average.

Anne (female MC) wouldn't touch a bustle with a ten foot pole. ev-ah! Ditto corsets. Comments on both verge on unprintable. In general, assume "I do as I damn well please". Yes, she wears Levis (correct name? Levi Strauss & Co make them, but correct vernacular names?) when riding, rare as daily wear. Probably when confronted with truly adverse winter weather.

However... somewhere around '75 or '76, Mr. and Mrs. MC will head to Boston and (horrors!) a visit to male MC's home (Beacon Hill!) before heading west. Merriment ensues.

- - - -
(*)
Anne Gordon said:
Maisie (female, local gunsmith, and "shooting coach") started with, “missy, you sit up with that snow on you for a while. That’ll take the ache off some. Get some lineament, embrocation on it after that”. That was the easy part.

The hard part was when she laid into me for being man stupid about not stopping with that damn gun.

The nice part was when Charlie managed to get a blanket over me to keep the rest of me warm. And covered up.
 
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