Fabrics for the 18th Century and Beyond

Robe a la Francaise, 1770, LACMA M.2007.211 – beautiful and expensive printed cotton

One of the top questions I get from budding 18th century costumers is “what fabric should I use?” Luckily, there is ample choice for the Georgian era, though not as much a today with all sorts of modern mixes and fibers, so the confusion is understandable. So in the eternal words of Captain Barbossa, let’s establish some “guidelines”…

The Four 18th Century Fibers

Linen
Wool
Cotton
Silk

These are all natural fibers and all there was for clothing before the 20th century (excluding leather and fur). Ready for the gigantic textile post? Let’s go!

Linen – The most common fabric of the 18th century

A linen shift, 3rd quarter of the 18th century, The Met, C.I.41.161.7

Linen was used for just about everything – underwear, linings, caps, aprons, and other millinery, men’s and women’s clothing, you name it. It was cheap, readily available, and came in all sorts of weights. Unfortunately today linen is the complete opposite. Expensive, hard to find in good quality, and often too heavy, slubby, and loosely-woven. However, all hope is not lost – our favorite historical fabric small businesses have good selections of good quality linen. Check out Burnley & Trowbridge and Renaissance Fabrics.

Plain woven works for undergarments, linings, millinery, and outer clothing.

The rust-colored linen lining of a Robe a la Francaise, c. 1765-75, Augusta Auctions. You can also see a coarser, sturdier linen used for the sleeve cuffs.

Herringbone/Twill works great for linings and outer garments.

Weight and tightness of weave is important when sourcing linen.

For shifts and shirts – tightly woven and lightweight as possible without being sheer. Look for “shirt weight” as a search term.
For millinery – (ruffles, decorative aprons, kerchiefs, caps), a tightly woven, lightweight linen in bright white. Kerchief were also seen in checks and stripes. Look for “handkerchief weight.”
For linings, – medium-weight, tightly woven white, ivory, natural (brown), or orangey-russety color is ideal. Sometimes linings were also striped or pieced with other linen bits.
For gowns and clothing – light to medium weight, tightly woven linen in solids, stripes, and checks.

In the 1790s, gauzier, looser-woven linens are seen for gowns, but undergarments and linings remained tight-woven structural fabrics.

Handling notes – wash and dry linen before using it, firstly to remove the factory finishing that makes it stiff, and secondly to shrink it. Starch and iron it thoroughly before cutting to make it easier to handle. Keep caps well-starched to hold their shape.

Wool – The “workhorse” textile of the Georgian era.

Another extremely common and affordable fabric, wool was common for working dress and outerwear. It was worn in all months of the year – yes, summer too! Wool has magical, natural properties of being insulating in the winter, breathable and cool in the summer, antimicrobial, washable (yes, really!), and fire retardant.

A plain weave worsted wool gown, 1775-95, Historic Deerfield, 2003.27.1

We associate wool primarily with working class clothing, but wool came in all sorts of weaves and blends back then too. There are two fantastic wool brocade gown in the Colonial Williamsburg collection, my fave being this black worsted brocade, though it’s very difficult to find such fabric today. Instead, here’s what to look for –

Worsted Wool – lightweight, good for summer, and available in lots of colors. Worsteds come in twill and plain weaves. Great for gowns.
Flannels – similar to worsted wool, flannel is a plain-woven wool with a fuzzy texture. It can be used for winter shifts, petticoats, as well as gowns.
Broadcloth – a dense fabric with lots of body, in various weights. Broadcloth was common for men’s clothing and women’s outerwear and utility clothing such as riding and traveling attire.
Superfine – an extremely tightly-woven, dense broadcloth used for uniforms, riding habits, and outerwear. This is the magic no-hem fabric and does not fray with a raw-cut edge. The heavy version of this is called “melton” today and used as coating.

Riding coat of brown worsted wool, 1750-59, V&A, T.197-1984

Suppliers for historically accurate wools are Burnley & Trowbridge, Renaissance Fabrics, and Wm. Booth Draper.

Handling Notes – hand wash on cold with a conditioning detergent like Woolite. Roll up in a towel and walk on it to remove excess water without wringing, then lay flat to air dry. Never ever dry in the dryer with any heat unless you want an itty-bitty gown.