Q. How could you tell the difference if, lets say, you were on the street looking at people's outfits, of a poor and a wealthy woman?
SOURCES NEEDED.
in ENGLAND
A. Just off the top of my head, poor women's apparel was probably not as clean. Also, poor women during the 1700s would have worn more practical clothes, skirts short enough not to drag on the streets, sleeves that wouldn't tangle. Finally, I would think that the fabrics would be quite different. Wealthy women would wear silk or cotton (I think these were imported), while poor women mostly wore wool or linen (domestically produced).
Some links:
http://www.umich.edu/~ece/student_projects/quest/dress.html
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761585452/Fashion.html
This one is designed for theatrical costume but has good links:
http://www.englishcountrydancing.org/clothing.html
What roles have woman played in Europes history?
Q. How have these roles changed or remained the same over time?
I know women worked where they need to in order to supply for a family.
A. For much of history, woman's role in the economy was quite important. Up until the Industrial Revolution, most people lived in the country, and lived by farming. A farmer and his wife made a team, the farmer doing the ploughing and cultivating of the land and farming of animals, his wife rearing the poultry, doing the milking, making her own butter and cheese, cultivating the vegetable garden, and very often
brewing her own ale and making at least some of the cloth the family would use, by spinning and weaving wool or flax. A housewife was generally expected to ahve a good knowledge of first aid and medicine, since doctors were expensive and seldom near at hand in the country.
During the medieval and early modern period, women who were the wives of merchants or craftsmen were often involved in the family business, and worked as partners with their husbands. A widow would very often run the family business after her husband died. Women were sometimes in business on their own account, and worked in a variety of different trades, there were even some women doctors, though they encountered some opposition from the medical establishment.
Women did not have any official role in public affairs, but the wives of noblemen and kings could be influential, and were often left to run things while their husbands were away. A queen might act as regent for an absent husband or a son, like eleanor of Aquitaine for example, who acted as regent for her son Richard I, and Blanche of Castile who was regent for her son Louis IX. Probably the most famous female regent in European History is Catherine de Medici, who was regent for two of her sons, Charles X and Henry III, in the 16th century. and a noblewoman would be left to run the family estates while her husband was away, and might even have to defend it during a war. For example, Margaret Paston, a 15th century lady from Norfolk, wrote to her husband during the Wars of the Roses:
'Right worshipful husband, I commend myself to you and ask you to get some crossbows, and windlasses to wind them with, and crossbow bolts, for your houses here are so low that no one can shoot out of them with a longbow, however much we needed to. I expect you can get such things from Sir John Fastolf if you were to send to him. And I would also like you to get two or three short pole-axes to keep indoors, and as many leather jackets, if you can.'
There were some women who were powerful in their own right. For example, Matilda, Duchess of Tuscany, who ruled a large portion of Italy in the 12th century, and fought on the side of the Pope against the Holy Roman Emperor, she led her troops into battle herself. And Queen Elizabeth I ruled England from 1558-1603 and is remembered as one of England's best monarchs. A non-royal woman who achieved fame as a military commander is Joan of ARc, who fought against the English in the 15th century and raised the Siege of Orleans.
Some women who stayed single became nuns, and some became well-known as scholars, for example Hildegarde of Bingen, who in the 12th century was well known as a scholar, and Catherine of Sienna who gave advice to Popes in the 14th century. And there was the formidable Theresa of Avila in the 16th century.
There were also secular women who became well-known writers, for example Christine de Pisan in the 14th century, who is the first European woman known to have earned a living as a professional writer. And Aphra Behn, who in the 17th century became England's first professional woman playwright.
The Industrial Revolution, which started in the 18th century, brought about an enormous shift in the population in England, though in some countries the change was less dramatic. In England, 75% of the population lived in the country in 1800, by 1900, 75% lived in towns. Things that used to be made at home were now manufactured in factories, and many women went to work in factories rather than working at home. Domestic service was also a huge area of employment for women, as it had always been. Women who did stay at home were no longer involved in economic life to the same extent, so the role of a housewife was seen more as a supportive role rather than an economic one.
In the 19th century, there were a number of women who became well-known in the field of social reform. For example there was Elizabeth Fry, who worked to reform the prison system in Britain in the early 19th century, and Florence Nightingale, who reformed British hospitals and made nursing into a respectable profession, since it had fallen into total disrepute in England (though not on the contient, where nursing had remained an occupation associated with nuns).
The later part of the 19th century was an era when educational and work opportunities expanded for women. The Education Act made elementary education compulsory for all children, boys and girls, and the upper and middle classes began to take girls education more seriously, w
How did women keep their legs warm in winter before pants came into fashion and after long gowns went out?
Q. I've seen ads for women's winter boots from the 50s but they don't seem to be wearing long johns. When my grandmother was a girl she lived in Winnipeg where it gets down to -40C in winter and she didn't wear pants (she has far gone Alzheimers so I can't ask her)
A. They didn't. However, when I was in high school (1942-46) there were ski pants,heavy,baggy wool pants with an elastic waist and ribbed cuffs on the legs, that we would pull on and wear under our skirts until we got to our lockers and then would take off ,as you were not allowed to wear any kind of pants in school.
Lara, age 81
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