Colonial Dress Codes by Linda Baumgarten From left, interpreters
Brooke Barrows, Stewart Pittman, Preston Jones, Cathy Hellier,
Diana Freedman, Rick Hill, and Conrad Mann in the old-fashioned
but prescribed formal dress of hoop skirts and knee breeches.
Early nineteenth-century doll of a liveried servant. The
fineness of material and excess of buttons reflected the
position and affluence of the master. Tightly buckled at the
knees, Conrad Mann's breeches billow in the seat to permit
comfortable sitting. Preston Jones assists with the waistcoat as
the gentleman readies himself for a ball. Slaves mended,
patched, and embellished their clothing to create an individual
style. Interpreters Bridgette Houston and Richard Josey in the
Rural Trades yard. A man of high stature and considerable
resources could command the embroidered flourish of this dress
suit. The hooped gown style, with ruffled sleeves and petticoat
underneath, grew bigger, then smaller, before vanishing in the
nineteenth century. In 1774, Norfolk, V