Two Centuries of Costume in America

is a historical account written in the early 20th century. This volume provides a comprehensiveexploration of American dress from the early colonial period through to the early 19th century, examining the garments worn by various groups, including Puritans and Pilgrims, as well as their social andculturalimplications. Theopeningofthebookdelvesinto the misconceptions surrounding the typical images of Puritan and Pilgrim attire as somberanddull. Earlearguesagainstthisnotionbyhighlightingthe rich variety of colors and styles that were prevalent among the NewEngland settlers. She discusses the evidence we have from historical documents, in ventories, and surviving garments that illustrate a vibrant tradition of dress that reflected both individual identity and social status. Earle paints a pic ture of colonists in lively russet and scarlet attire, contradicting the stereo type of drab Puritan clothing and emphasizing that the settlers paid careful attention to their apparel as a reflection of their dignity and social standing. is difficult to discover the reasons, to trace the influences which have re sultedintheproductioninthemodernmindofthatcomposite figurewhich serves to the everyday reader, the heedless observer, as the counterfeit pre sentment of the New England colonist,-the Boston Puritan or Plymouth Pilgrim. We have a very respectable notion, a fairly true picture, of Dutch patroon, Pennsylvania Quaker, and Virginia planter; but we see a very un real NewEnglishman. This"grayoldGospeller,sourasmidwinter,"appears with goodwife or dame in the hastily drawn illustrations of our daily press; we find him outlined with greater care but equal inaccuracy in our choicer periodical literature; wehavehimdepictedbyartistsinourhandsomebooks and on the walls of our art museums; he is cut in stone and cast in bronze for our halls and parks; he is dressed by actors for a part in some historical play; he is furbished up with conglomerate and makeshift garments by en thusiastic and confident young folk in tableau and fancy-dress party