# What did people wear 200 years ago? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339 "2012-11-28T03:10:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339/21 "2012-11-28T19:30:09Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Note the little carts, called “bathing machines”. What was the purpose of the “bathing machine”? Looks like a little portable changeroom? ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339/22 "2012-11-28T19:44:05Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > What was the purpose of the “bathing machine”? Looks like a little portable changeroom? Yes, they were for changing in. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339/23 "2012-11-29T02:41:09Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > What was the purpose of the “bathing machine”? Looks like a little portable changeroom? Here’s the article that uses that pic : [Bathing Machine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathing_machine). Apparently they were not only a changeroom, but also carried people into the water, as well as hiding the bathers from view of the shore. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339/24 "2012-12-01T01:14:48Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > There are several settlements with colonial reenactors. Williamsburg is one that I know of. There’s also one near Plymouth? Plimoth Plantation is near modern Plymouth MA. The period is Circa 1627. Old Sturbridge Village is not too far away in Sturbridge MA. 1790’s to 1830’s. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339/25 "2012-12-01T19:36:50Z")
> [@Mewl\_Dear](#): > > What did they wear during down time? > No jeans, no jammy pants, no cargo shorts. > What the hell did they wear? Here’s [a famous portrait of Madame Récamier relaxing](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Madame_R%C3%A9camier_painted_by_Jacques-Louis_David_in_1800.jpg). This must be what downtime looked like for the upper class in the year 1800 (unless she’s dressed a little fancier to sit for a portrait). ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339/26 "2012-12-02T02:17:31Z")
I don’t know if the clothing styles go back 200 years, but one of the most interesting things about traveling in the smaller towns and cities in India is how many of the locals wear “Indian” clothes. Outside of Mumbai and Delhi, virtually all the women you see are dressed “local” and this is true for most of the men. In some places, when you couple the Indian architecture with the people one sees, you’d swear you were on a movie set for “Indiana Jones”. And this is not some special Festival Day. Its just everyday life in India. I once got on a bus in a small town in the south and every man (and boy) was dressed in identical clothes, even the driver. It was a white hat with a bill and white loose fitting shirts and pants, but they were all cut and styled the same. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339/27 "2012-12-03T01:41:37Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Men wore breeches, shirt, vest, stockings, and neckstock (also known as "small clothes I believe.) I get the impression they were essentially considered analogous to underwear, and a proper man simply was not seen without his coat. Just so - a man’s shirt was underclothing, the equivalent of a modern undershirt. That’s the point of the scene in _Pride And Prejudice_ when Elizabeth Bennett and her uncle and aunt unexpectly come across Mr. Darcy, fishing with his coat off - they’ve caught him in his undies. And just as modern men ofter sleep in their t-shirts and shorts, 18th cent. men often slept in their shirts. Under his breechs or later his trousers, he wore a pair of linen or cotton “drawers”, rather like knee-length boxer shorts, usually made at home by his wife. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339/28 "2012-12-03T01:51:29Z")
> [@APB](#): > > As was usual at most English seaside resorts at that date, Brighton beach was segregated by gender. And most men swam naked. > > [Brighton Swimming Club](http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk/BrightonSwimmingClub.htm) Hello! Guess it wasn’t cold at the beach that day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339/29 "2012-12-03T02:32:36Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > There’s references in medieval chronicles to people swimming in castle moats when it got hot, including the noble ladies in their shifts. From English coroner rolls, one of the most common causes of death for the peasantry was drowning in streams and ponds; probably they stripped down to their underwear or even swam naked. > > I’ve seen medieval German woodcuts of a typical married couple getting ready for bed – it seems like, depending on the weather, either you wore everything you owned or you slept nude. The wife was depicted wearing her jewelry to bed (probably not a bad idea if you didn’t want it getting nicked by servants). Cites? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-wear-200-years-ago/642339.md?page=1)