Fashion on the Frontier

by

There are few things as hopeful as a new dress.
Not a practical dress meant for scrubbing floors, hauling water, or feeding chickens. I mean a new dress. One sewn from carefully chosen fabric, trimmed with ribbon if one could afford it, and made for church socials, dances, weddings, or simply the pleasure of feeling pretty for an afternoon.

For women on the frontier, fashion was not frivolous. It was aspiration stitched into fabric.

Life in the West could be hard, dusty, and painfully practical. A woman might spend her days baking bread over a hot stove, mending shirts by lamplight, or battling wind that coated everything in dirt by noon. But even in rough mining towns and isolated homesteads, women still longed for beauty.  And when a new dress arrived? Oh, mercy. That was an event.

A woman might save for months to buy fabric from the general store, or eagerly await the arrival of a Sears Roebuck catalog to gaze at the latest fashions from back East. Imagine living in a tiny frontier town and suddenly seeing illustrations of elegant walking suits, velvet bodices, fitted jackets, lace collars, and sleeves shaped in the newest style. It must have felt like peeking into another world.

Sometimes dresses were ordered ready-made. More often, however, women sewed them at home or paid a local seamstress if they had the means. And frontier women could be remarkably resourceful. A dress might begin as one garment, then be altered and remade several times over its life. Skirts were recut. Bodices reshaped. Trims removed and replaced as fashions changed. Nothing was wasted.

Still, despite the practical nature of frontier life, women absolutely paid attention to fashion trends. Bustles, fitted waists, decorative buttons, embroidery, ruffles, and fine hats all made their appearance in western towns sooner or later. Even isolated communities wanted to keep up with the times.

And honestly? I love that.

There’s something deeply human about wanting a little beauty in the middle of hardship. I especially love imagining the excitement surrounding special occasions. A church social. A wedding. A town dance. A woman carefully pinning up her hair while smoothing her newest skirt, hoping the hem didn’t drag in the mud before she arrived. A husband pretending not to notice the new ribbon while secretly thinking his wife looked prettier than the sunrise.

Believe me, men noticed.

Oh, they absolutely noticed! I think that’s part of why dresses mattered so much. They represented more than fashion. They represented identity, femininity, dignity, and sometimes even hope. On the frontier, where life could become survival very quickly, putting on a beautiful dress was a reminder that a woman was still herself beneath all the work and worry. And let’s be honest… there is still a little frontier woman alive in most of us today.

Modern women may not wait six months for fabric to arrive by wagon train, but we still understand the thrill of finding the dress. The one that makes us stand a little taller. The one we smooth over our hips before turning to the mirror with a smile.

Some things never really change.

So now I’m curious…

If you could step into the Old West for one evening, what sort of dress would you wear to the town social? Something elegant and sophisticated? Bright and cheerful? Lots of lace? Or practical with just a touch of flair?

Website |  + posts

USA Today bestselling author Kit Morgan is the author of over 180 books of historical and contemporary western romance! Her stories are fun, sweet stories full of love, laughter, and just a little bit of mayhem! Kit creates her stories in her little log cabin in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. An avid reader and knitter, when not writing, she can be found with either a book or a pair of knitting needles in her hands! Oh, and the occasional smidge of chocolate!

34 thoughts on “Fashion on the Frontier”

  1. Pretty and practical. Probably with a calico print. Maybe a few embellishments or ribbon trim.

  3. I’m with Denise and Ginni; it’d be pretty (if not a calico print then a solid color in a becoming shade) but durable. Any trims would be out of the way so they’d be safe during cooking or what have you (on the collar probably).

  4. I would choose a practical dress with sleeves to the elbow (so it’s wouldn’t be so hot) and add a pretty little hat.

  5. easy for me, since growing up a tomboy – I do love lace and the shirred flounces on tops and skirts!

  7. I would choose something more practical, and you can ditch that cinched in waist! I don’t know how they stood it.

  8. I am so much the practical type when it comes to clothes.
    I would probably pick a classic style in a pretty-for-me color.

    I learned to sew, crochet, and embroider when I was 4yo so I know I could dress up simple fabric on my own and not be dependent on paying someone to sew for me.
    I have even sewn for others from the time I was a teen.

  9. welcome today. oh what a wonderful post. yes, as women, we all feel like feeling pretty. even if it is sometimes. I love putting on a pretty dress that makes me feel pretty. I love mid to bright colors, lace, ribbons, ruffles. I love knowing that my husband loves the way I look and feel. and frankly dressing up is as much for him as it is for me.

  13. I would save that fancy dress for something more than a trip to town. Practical is better in case it gets damaged.

  15. I have always loved the parts in a Western romance about the dresses, skirts, even riding skirts these women were able to fashion for themselves. It seems like they all knew how to sew and design clothes. I remember growing up how my mother would make us (4 girls) dresses with no pattern. It always amazed me. I would choose a simple style, something blue and maybe with a little capelet for cool evenings, made from velvet or wool depending on the season. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have been able to go to one of the socials in those days.

    • My mon could do the same thing, Sarah. I never learned how to sew, I wish I had. And yes, it would have been great to go to a social back then!

  17. I’d want something bright and cheery, definitely NO lace, though! I grew up with my Mom making most of my clothes, and loved to go with her to pick out the material and all of the notions to go with it!

  18. I am another practical with a flair.Part of the fun of making a new dress was always choosing the zippers, buttons, and trim in just the right colors to match or contrast with the fabric chosen. Of course zippers weren’t common in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s but there were some fun ones when I was sewing in my teens and twenties and making a lot of my dresses.

Comments are closed.