British Quaker Women's Fashionable Adaptation of their Plain Dress, 1860–1914

Hannah Rumball 2018. British Quaker Women's Fashionable Adaptation of their Plain Dress, 1860–1914. Costume. 52 (2), pp. 240-260. https://doi.org/10.3366/cost.2018.0070

TitleBritish Quaker Women's Fashionable Adaptation of their Plain Dress, 1860–1914
TypeJournal article
AuthorsHannah Rumball
Abstract

Throughout the period 1860–1914, British Quaker women sought to negotiate the incorporation of fashionable attire into their wardrobes to varying degrees, after the religion's hierarchy made prescriptive religious ‘Plain’ dress optional in 1860. After centuries of restrictive Advices, which used Scripture alongside peer pressure to encourage female Friends to dress ascetically, Quaker women began to interpret their new sartorial freedoms in diverse ways. Through the presentation of three female case studies from across the period, this article will suggest three newly identified distinct stances that Quaker women enacted in responding to the new Advice and adapting to fashionable ensembles, up until the devastating events of the First World War. These three stances were non-adaptive, semi-adaptive and fully adaptive. Based on empirical research conducted in dress collections across Britain, this article will describe and present the garments worn by these women, to illustrate and introduce these distinct sartorial stances.

JournalCostume
Journal citation52 (2), pp. 240-260
ISSN0590-8876
1749-6306
Year2018
PublisherEdinburgh University Press
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3366/cost.2018.0070
Web address (URL)https://doi.org/10.3366/cost.2018.0070
Publication dates
PublishedSep 2018

Related outputs

Book review: Sanda Miller, Images on the Page: A Fashion Iconography
Rumball, Hannah 2024. Book review: Sanda Miller, Images on the Page: A Fashion Iconography. Costume. 58 (1), pp. 151-152. https://doi.org/10.3366/cost.2024.0298

"We Must Hope That the Moderates with Their Quiet Attire Are the Rising Section": British Women Friends’ Relinquishment of Plain Dress
Rumball, H. 2023. "We Must Hope That the Moderates with Their Quiet Attire Are the Rising Section": British Women Friends’ Relinquishment of Plain Dress. in: Robynne Rogers Healey and Carole Dale Spencer (ed.) Quaker Women, 1800-1920: Studies of a Changing Landscape Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 222-244

The Ladies Ulster in the 1870s and 1880s: From “Eccentric-Looking” to “Beau Ideal”
Hannah Rumball 2023. The Ladies Ulster in the 1870s and 1880s: From “Eccentric-Looking” to “Beau Ideal”. Textile: Cloth and Culture. 21 (1), pp. 300-328. https://doi.org/10.1080/14759756.2022.2084317

Fashion and Materiality: Cultural Practices in Global Contexts, ed. by Heike Jenss and Viola Hofmann
Rumball, H. 2021. Fashion and Materiality: Cultural Practices in Global Contexts, ed. by Heike Jenss and Viola Hofmann. Costume. 55 (1), pp. 147-148.

How waterproof were Ulsters? Analysing the waterproof claims of Ladies c 19th ulsters
Rumball, H. 2020. How waterproof were Ulsters? Analysing the waterproof claims of Ladies c 19th ulsters. Early tailored clothes for women, 1800-1875: TEAMS RIG Tailoring Group Meeting. Online - London 26 Nov 2020

As “a hedge, as a convenience, a good thing”: Elizabeth Petipher Cash’s continued fashioning of a Plain appearance
Rumball, H. 2019. As “a hedge, as a convenience, a good thing”: Elizabeth Petipher Cash’s continued fashioning of a Plain appearance. 107th CAA Annual Conference. New York, New York, United States 13 - 16 Feb 2016

Symposium Review: Reframing 19th-century Fashion and Dress Symposium
Rumball, H. 2019. Symposium Review: Reframing 19th-century Fashion and Dress Symposium. Centre for Design History, University of Brighton.

“It makes us cringe these days”: Killerton House National Trust and the alteration of Elizabeth Petipher Cash’s everyday Quaker bonnets
Rumball, H. 2018. “It makes us cringe these days”: Killerton House National Trust and the alteration of Elizabeth Petipher Cash’s everyday Quaker bonnets. Textiles and Dress from Below: Ordinary and everyday textiles and dress in museums and historic houses. University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom 07 Jun 2018

A Celebration of Plainness: Worthing Museum’s Quaker Wedding Bonnet, 1843
Rumball, H. 2018. A Celebration of Plainness: Worthing Museum’s Quaker Wedding Bonnet, 1843.

Conference review: Restraint and Excess in Fashion: Costume Colloquium V, 16 – 20 November, 2016, Florence, Italy
Rumball, H. and Vaughan Kett, A. 2018. Conference review: Restraint and Excess in Fashion: Costume Colloquium V, 16 – 20 November, 2016, Florence, Italy. Centre for Design History, University of Brighton.

British Quaker Women’s abandonment of Plain Quaker attire, 1860-1914
Rumball, H. 2017. British Quaker Women’s abandonment of Plain Quaker attire, 1860-1914. The Association of Dress Historians New Research in Dress History Conference . University of Brighton 25 Feb 2017

Conference Review: From Quakers to Cowboys
Rumball, H. 2017. Conference Review: From Quakers to Cowboys. Centre for Design History, University of Brighton.

Negotiating Simplicity and Extravagance in Nineteenth Century Quaker Dress: Restraint and Excess in the Clothing Worn by Eleanor Stephens Clark and Helen Bright Clark of Street
Rumball, H. 2016. Negotiating Simplicity and Extravagance in Nineteenth Century Quaker Dress: Restraint and Excess in the Clothing Worn by Eleanor Stephens Clark and Helen Bright Clark of Street. Costume Colloquium V: Restraint and Excess in Fashion and Dress. Florence, Italy 17 - 20 Nov 2016

Visibility and Invisibility
Rumball, H. 2016. Visibility and Invisibility. Critical Studies. 2, pp. 30-39.

Permalink - https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/w5qq5/british-quaker-women-s-fashionable-adaptation-of-their-plain-dress-1860-1914


Share this

Usage statistics

20 total views
0 total downloads
These values cover views and downloads from WestminsterResearch and are for the period from September 2nd 2018, when this repository was created.