Getting Dressed in the Tenements in 1881: my working class ancestor's Victorian morning routine
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- čas přidán 30. 05. 2023
- Even working-class Victorians loved dressing up in their best, and my ancestor Carolina was no different! I'm getting dressed in my immigrant ancestor's best dress for Shabbos in 1881, in the Lower East Side's Tenement Museum. Get ready with me while I recreate the morning routine of an ordinary Victorian woman in the Natural Form era of fashion history!
What steps would Carolina have taken as she was getting dressed in the most luxurious piece of clothing she would have owned, this 19th century shabbos dress? Every layer, from the simple cotton muslin chemise and drawers, to a plain undecorated Victorian corset, to the printed cotton Natural Form dress she would have saved carefully to afford fabric for. The cost of historical sewing would have made this outfit a luxury for an immigrant girl to afford. This is how fashion history tells us about other parts of history, and vice versa!
While many media representations of getting dressed in this era of fashion history feature servants lacing and buttoning, a Victorian era working class woman wouldn't have or need servants to help her get dressed. She could lace her own corset and button her own boots, because even a working-class person's best dress was still practical.
The Clothes on Their Backs: Join fashion historian Vi of the CZcams channel SnappyDragon as she delves into her family's Jewish immigrant history through dress reconstruction across generations. Vi brings viewers along on her personal journey as she researches, designs, and sews what could have been her great-geat-grandmother’s best dress for Shabbat as a 19-year-old new immigrant to New York in 1881. Beginning in her sewing room in California, Vi learns stitch-by-stitch what a new dress would mean to a new immigrant girl. Then, in partnership with the Tenement Museum and the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy, Vi retraces her ancestor’s footsteps through New York City during one of the most interesting times for the garment industry and the American Jewish community alike.
Many thanks to The Tenement Museum for allowing us to film in their exhibits! Check them out at www.tenement.org/
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Hey friends, this is *not* the last episode! Episode 6 comes out next Wednesday June 7th, where you'll get to see me exploring the Lower East Side that was Carolina's world, in the dress. See you then!
What I really love is even now having a pocket in the dress is like the best thing ever!
It's Wednesday, but I still have a strong urge to say Shabbat Shalom to Karolina.
You have no idea how warm and fuzzy this makes me feel 💚
❤
What a beautiful herstory and dress
Shabbat Shalom, Karolina and Snappy! ❤❤❤
I feel like this most days. Why is Shabbat so far away?
Even though it’s a lower class dress I still find this incredibly stylish and beautiful. Wonderful job on the construction
It's so cool! We don't give nearly enough credit to ordinary people's fashion sense. I never even liked this silhouette for myself until I made this dress and put it on.
The ingenuity of the lower classes is often overshadowed by upper class or the ultra poor. We don’t hear about those who managed to get by because they left little to no impact on the world around them. Yet, these people were given very little and somehow managed to feed and clothe their families to such a degree that they escaped notice as vagabonds in society.
I loved seeing Karolinas creative skill come 2 life. I enjoy the fashions of the 1880s + this was a wonderful treat!
This whole series was honestly beautiful to watch. I’m a Jew myself, and though my great grandparents would only emigrate in the 20th century, I would like to imagine this would have been a universal experience for my working class ancestors.
My dads family came to New York in thw 40's from Poland.
I remember learning about the Jewish settlements when I was taking women's history course and this video has giving me chills and I'm already on the verge of tears because I'm getting to see you explore your ancestors life through textile history has just been amazing! I'm so glad that I get to watch you grow your channel!
I just looked it up because I remember reading the bread givers and was so moved!
My greatgrandfather was a tailor and even own a shop, that had it’s very own labels. It’s unlikely, but i would love to one day find an antique piece of clothing, that was made there
Ahhhh that would be so cool!
@@SnappyDragon yeah. I haven't met him, but I like to imagine that he was the best tailor in the town and shopping in his shop was a big deal
Have you tired EBay & Etsy ?! Even just a Google search might send you "down a rabbit hole" 🐇 🕳
Good luck searching !
Just love how practical Victorian underwear is. It’s like wearing your pyjamas all day because they’re comfy. Also, after gardening for 5 hours and taking breaks while standing up, I can relate to the “wearing a corset for back support” part. We (modern humans) are lazy and don’t have to do much physical work, but I’m sure some modern equivalent of a corset would be helpful to prevent that burning sensation in your muscles when your back is exhausted.
I have literally worn Victorian underthings as pajamas! Highly recommend.
What a beautiful tribute to your ancestors, your lineage, and yourself. I’m totally tearing up.
This series has reignited my interest in my own family history. Especially so I can share it with my daughter, to give her ties to her history and our family. Ties that go beyond our heirloom bedroom set that she sleeps on and her name (she’s named after both her great grandmothers on my side).
It's so amazing that you still have and use that! I'd love to see it, if you have any pictures please post them and tag #threadsofourancestors
This warms my heart up so nicely. I'm so glad you were able to film at The Tenement Museum, and bring your ancestor to meet us. Powerful.
Shabbat Shalom, Carolina! This project was incredible to follow from start to finish, and caused me to reflect on my own ancestors' way of dress and their personal histories - fashion really is such a personal yet communal aspect of our lives, today as yesterday, and seeing it brought to life in such a heartfelt manner is absolutely incredible.
Thank you so much 💚
beautiful possible reconstruction of your ancestor's dress! you wear it well, both the dress and the history. it's a pleasure to see the best attire of an ordinary working person, as opposed to all the ball gowns and couturier dresses so often featured. both are lovely and important to history, but the finery of the wealthy class seems over-represented. your respect for Carolina shines through in this video---she would be proud!
That's one of the reasons I wanted to do this project! I can understand wanting to make the pretty silk dresses if this is a hobby, but it does lead to regular people's clothing being under-represented.
You almost had me crying there at the end with you singing and smiling like you were connecting directly with Carolina. This is what my relatives would have had there in Brooklyn and the lower east side. Also, my sister works at the tenement museum! I'll have to send her this video and see if she knows about it!
Ahhh small world! Tell her hi from me 😊
@@SnappyDragon apparently she was away when you filmed this but totally knew about it! Very small world!
What a lovely way to honour your ancestor. Just like any other young lady, Carolina would have wanted to be fashionable within her means. But whereas today’s 18 year olds would most likely be buying cheap imported fast fashion, Carolina was creating her own durable styles, learning new techniques along the way, skills she could be proud of. Progress is not always positive!
Chances are her job was in creating the equivalent of fast fashion for her time! But I do prefer not to have other young women insulted by comparison to me.
@@SnappyDragon I didn’t mean to insult anyone. I was merely lamenting the fast fashion phenomenon, which is driven by corporate interests. I’m sorry you were offended by what was meant to be a very supportive post.
I think I understand what you are saying here...? One of the things definitely lost through the shift to complete fast fashion is this direct connection to creation of garments we wear, and thus a clear understanding of what value they may really entail...or lack!!
In some ways mass market fashion as it's developed from Karolina's era onwards has provided a lot more options for personal choice, in terms of cost & access? But esp. as it's usually combined with a loss of personal sewing/alteration skills, it also means that choices for young people in particular are very much limited to what's cheap & in vogue in the shops, unless they take up thrifting or sewing themselves.
I think one of the reasons so many people are now becoming interested in more diverse historical fashions is a realization that what's in style at any one time in history just won't necessarily suit everybody's tastes, figures, or even health needs...? A home-sewn outfit like the one V is recreating here is still necessarily dependent on the skill level and available materials of the wearer (& possibly their friends/family), and some fairly strict social mores around modesty, shape, and materials. But it certainly allows a much greater level of potential personalisation & fitting than when buying an off-the-rack garment. And that feeling of achievement & uniqueness in successfully making your own clothing is definitely something I value a lot myself! ❤
Wow. This gave me goosebumps.
What a special way to pay homage to those that came before.. my mom just came for a visit and let me know she has my grandmas wedding dress from the 40's/50's (it was home sewn and worn by all four of her and her sisters in turns) I'm super excited to get it and hopefully recreate it too!
How good and how pleasant it is for siblings to dwell together in peace and in unity.
Thank you for sharing this work with us - I cried a little thinking of all the sacrifices and work my family had to do to get me to the point I am now. By walking as Carolina, you make young Esther real for me.
We really need to do a dressed-as-the-ancestors photos series when we get together!
I don't know why tears came to my eyes when I heard you humming in the intro, but that song is what I'll be carrying with me for the next few days into my own Shabbat.
A friend led the song at a non-Jewish song circle, and I couldn't get the idea of including it out of my head.
Don't know why this makes me cry.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who felt teary!
What a beautiful way to honor and celebrate! Carolina, and all other strong Jewish women who sacrificed so much so we could have a better life! ❤
And with this base skirt she can perhaps sew another overskirt and bodice out of plain fabric. Like wool for cooler weather
Absolutely! Mixing and matching was part of the appeal of separate overskirts, she could use this to dress up a plainer bodice and underskirt.
Its wild how we are all so connected and incredibly likely that my great grandmother and her family knew yours. When they came to New York they were also in the tenements.
This was a beautiful video. Please keep going with these ❤
It's entirely possible! The neighborhood was really crowded, so not *everyone* knew everyone, but people did still cross paths.
I have loved this series. There is Jewish ancestry in both my daughters from their fathers. There have been family connections since the 1910s with the Jewish community.
I loved seeing the fashionable transformed for working class minority women.
I found this series to be incredibly touching. Many of us, myself included, often don't consider what our ancestors went through in order to pave the way for us. Their lives were ones of sacrifice and hard work. Their sacrifice was for their children, and therefor for us. I can't imagine the courage it took for your great-great-grandmother to leave all she knew to come to America. Staggering. Thank you.
Of course, the dress and the practical-history are great, but I want to add that the venue is phenomenal, and your glasses evoke the period, too. Thank you for this.
Ahhh these glasses are the bane of my existence! So uncomfortable, but I couldn't get a contacts perscription in time. I'm glad they look right at least 🤣
This whole series has been awesome! The dress itself is beautiful, and your journey made me want to know more about what my own ancestresses (Catholic Volga-Germans, Northern Italians, Spaniards, and Anglo-Scottish reavers) would have worn upon arrival in Argentina in the 1860s and 1870s, though I don't have pictures or journals to work from.
An exquisite ending/reveal for this amazing series. The text, the singing, so warm and rich, love this so much!
When you were talking about the over skirt I remember when my aunts sewed church dresses for me and my family, if you were making something with an over skirt or a tiered skirt with ruffles, it was seen as more luxurious if you made it all from the ''fancy'' fabric instead of piecing it with the lining (focusing on what would be seen).
But I imagine that in a historical context it made more sense having the option of making a ''plain'' skirt that could also be worn by itself rather than a sole garment with a ''faux'' underskirt (even though I'm not sure about how much mixing and matching working class people would do in this period or if they preferred singular ensembles).
On the one hand, piecing it with the lining would have been economical assuming she’d always wear it with an overskirt, but on the other hand, making the whole skirt in the fashion fabric would be insurance against changing trends that might not use overskirts, in which case the skirt on its own wouldn’t be _as_ out of fashion as it would be if worn with the overskirt, so that was a choice she’d have to make in each case.
Basically what Ragnhild said! I've seen examples where the underskirt is made of cheaper plain cotton all the way to the knee, but that means less versatility. This way, she can wear all three pieces separately with other bodices and skirts, especially as they wear out or the weather changes.
@@SnappyDragon Thank you (and Ragnhild) for the explanation, that makes so much sense! And considering that they wore each garment for so much longer than we do now, I can easily see the underskirt going well into the 1890s when worn by itself!
Very well done by everyone involved. I am glad you had enabling friends of friends to help include the folk song that added a whole new layer.
My crew are the BEST. I will accept no arguments 💚
This entire series has been amazing. Thank you for all your time and energy. I've been reading up on my Jewish history and doing something like this sounds like a fun way to reconnect with my history.
You have inspired me to explore the history of the women in my family. Mostly farmers and factory workers in the south..
It's great that you got to connect with your history through this museum. Unfortunately, tenement buildings aren't a thing of the past, they're still here with similar shabby conditions as they were before. I'm not throwing shade at you, just that the setup by the museum doesn't evoke the crowdedness of multiple families struggling to get by in that one space, the crumbling paint on the walls, the smell of only having one washroom for the whole building. The conditions are still here in NYC, in the LES, just with (some of the time) running water and electricity.
This is absolutely beautiful. It was also fascinating to learn how your great great grandmother would put on her boots, corset, bustle, bodice and skirt! Thank you for sharing this lovely series with us, and for again teaching us about fashion history 💞
This gave me goosebumps too! It's been an incredible journey to bring your ancestor to life in such a visceral way, and the music really added something special.
Yes, this has been such a wonderful project and this video (and the music) is just lovely!
Hello from a fellow NYC jew from Hungarian via Ellis Island immigrant blood! You've taught me so much about the life my ancestors led so that I could be comfortable, thank you endlessly x
My grandmother, may her memory be a blessing, came here in 1913; making the trip alone at age 13 to reunite with her family from Hungaria. She landed in New York and quickly started working while attending school ( with the small children for 3 years). She worked hard, and it wore her down given the expectation that she suport her brothers. I can imagine through this video the promise that a new land held.
I loved this series. Mixing experimental archeology with your family history is beyond awesome. BTW-your dress is beautiful.
I must say Carolina’s accommodation looked positively luxurious in comparison to the squalid condition of the tenements I’ve heard described.
The singing at the end brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing your ancestor’s story.
This makes me think about the lives of my great great grandparents who immigrated as a family from Norway to the Seattle area in the 1890s I think. They were homesteaders and worked in the lumber industry. My family is lucky to have a couple photos of my ancestors back then, looking very austere in what must have been their Sunday best.
Having a photo taken was a serious (and expensive) thing to do. And the early cameras would blur if you moved, so many photographers had metal stands that people would stand in !
Loved how you wove a beautiful story with sewing. The singing at the end made my heart kvell and I think I shed a tear or two of joy. I rarely see my families story played out. My great grandfather came to California from Russia as a “cutter”.
This was excellently done and the end result is beautiful.
My grandfather was a Hungarian Jew. This is the story of my great-grandmother whom I never knew. I actually found myself crying at the end. Thank you!
Amazing storytelling! Kinda reminded me of O. Henry’s short stories, except yours is real.
this is such a moving and meaningful project--the kind of story i wish more historical content creators would tell :) my own ancestors were displaced indentures & i couldn't help but reflect on their journeys as you narrated carolina's! thank you!
Listening to you sing Hine Ma Tov made me cry
It's these little nuggets of everyday social history that I love to learn about, thank you for making this video. The music is lovely too.
What a beautiful tribute to your ancestor. Thank you V for sharing this ❤
How happy she is to put her new dress on that she’s saved and laboured over. Thank you for this story
The pride and joy on your face is well earned. Amazing series, amazing dress.
What an incredibly beautiful way to honor your ancestors.
My grandmother was also a Hungarian Jewish immigrant to the Lower East Side in the 1880s. She married a tailor and their wedding photo was taken on Essex St. Thanks for this video. Many Hungarian Jews lived on east Houston street, nicknamed Goulash Row.
It has been a joy to see you re-create your great-great grandmother's life through clothing. Thank you.
in the 1880s : spending a lot of time to get ready and wearing layers of elegant clothing
now : hoodie and sweats 🧍🏻♀️
It brought tears to my eyes that you honoured your ancestor like that. Its so beautiful, you did well.
Beautiful dress and presentation…only one flaw to note - Carolina would probably not have rebraided her hair on the Sabbath, as this violates one of the 39 rules regarding ‘work’. Otherwise, just gorgeous and I’m so impressed with how you have done this project and brought the whole world along to give kavod (honor) to her courage and memory. I’m certain her neshama (soul) is rising higher and higher with your efforts. ❤️🥰
It's interesting to see how you turn into your 19th Century Jewish ancestor. To have a inkling into the past, into your ancestors' lives, is amazing. I wish I knew more about my family's past. I didn't even know my grandparents except one grandma who died when I was a child. I have no idea who my other ancestors were. I only know they were Polish and I'm Polish, of course, and my mom's dad had mixed Polish and Austriac background. It would be great to explore the past and reveal the mysteries that remain hidden to my curious mind. Greetings from Chile! 😁
Even as late as the late 1960s, early 1970s, our home had many items that you never find outside an antique store now, and were sometimes useful: a buttonhook, hat pins, several pairs and kinds of gloves, a shoeshine kit, garter straps for stockings and lots of shoehorns. I don't think we were weird at all, just had a family that spanned several generations.
My ancestors weren't Jewish but they were working class. My great-great grandmother would have probably dressed the same. Thank you for this glimpse into the past.
Just so lovely to see the dress, I feel blessed to come on the journey! Also Carolina's journey across the Atlantic and setting up her new home in a strange new country. The confidence the new dress brought with it must have helped her so much.
Can’t text through the tears. Thank you
My great-grandfather came to the US from what was then a part of Hungary (today it is Slovakia) in 1908. He was 15 and came over with his younger brother. So this video series has resonated a lot with me, even though my family isn't Jewish. It's an amazing feeling to almost reach back through time and connect with your ancestors.
Such a beautiful exploration of history and culture! That song had me tearing up 🥲
Thanks for posting 😢this. Not the same nationality, but definitely the same Era and location. I'm weeping, you have touched the nerve of my ancestors. May the Good Lord bless you 🙏
i sit here having a bad chronic illness day, my lungs have decided we don't get to do anything today, so I'm admiring the singing and the effect. are you happy with it?
I am, thank you! I'm not a trained singer so it came out decently given that.
This is so beautiful on so many levels. Thank you for the great work you put in your projects!
I dont know much about my own ancestors, because it was dangerous to talk about these things in soviet union. My only knowledge about my Jewish great grandfather is that he changed his name from Moses to Mikhail to better fit in after he was orphaned. We found out that he worked as an apprentice in a shoe making store for some time, but thats about all. In fear of prejudice my family lost a lot of knowledge not only about traditions and customs, but even the facts about where he was from originally, just some village behind the pale of settlement. Im now working on collecting all the different stories of my family so that hopefully one day I can share them with my children or nephews.
Russian Jews had various relations +
Bolshevik (Majority) Party, later CPSU
In late 1800s early 1900s many (most?)
were Russian Jewish---most famous was
Leon Trotsky. But many were killed in
Revolution + Civil War + 10+? 20+?
foreign powers invasion.
During Josef Stains era.relations between Soviet Jews + CPSU, then +
much less Jewish leaders + followers.
For example, Soviet Jews were given
Birobidhan area by Stalin. but after WW II
he denounced alleged Jewish doctors plot vs. him (real?. or W propaganda?)
@@tymanung6382 I know that he joined Red Army in the revolution at the age of 16-17 ofc lying to them about his age and changing his name to Mikhail. I don’t really know why he changed it, we just have documents that he was Moses in the orphanage and Mikhail in the Red Army. I don’t really know much about politics of that time in detail, just know that it was frowned upon if you were religious or from any ethnic group other than slavic. Not to trauma dump here, but we know he was an orphan bc of violence to Jewish people, so it makes sense that he wanted to protect himself from possible repressions.
@@tymanung6382 about history I know there was constant back and forth with rights of Jewish people in that time period, on one hand right after the revolution they said antisemitism was bad and belonged in the past, but on the other hand they wanted to assimilate all Jewish people and eradicate knowledge of Hebrew and religious customs. So yeah, kinda opposite messages.
I love watching your videos. This one elicited a string of emotions. If I were your ancestor, I would be filled with pride and joy to see this. What a lovely way to pay homage to them!
It’s interesting how stockings weren’t just for show like now. They protect the skin from the elements. Also I had no idea overskirts were a thing. I thought the whole thing with the elaborate design was the whole skirt. Learn something new every day.
This was lovely to watch
This was beautiful. Thank you so much for making this series.
Really looking forward to this😊
I love learning about historical fashion and day to day life, and seeing you connect in such a way with your ancestors is really special.
Thank you, V. This whole series was beautifully and thoughtfully done.
Thank you so much for doing this.
This legit gave me goosebumps. This was an amazing series.
This is charming - and very real. Our immigrant Greatgrandparents had much more courage and optimism - and pride - than we do now, I think.
Thank you so much for making this video.
This is beautiful on so many levels. Thank you for sharing this history and special moment.
This was lovely to watch!
Your best videos yet. You can tell the love and passion you put into it
This was lovely! ❤❤
Love the attention to detail. Thanks for sharing.
This is such a beautiful tribute to your ancestor!
I absolutely loved this.
That was beautifully done!
Fantastic series, well done, V! 💜
Woot woot! Fyi, I learned from a former coworker that the apartment you were in was the recreation of the Gumpertz (german jewish family - badass single mother whose husband deserts her). A friend of mine wrote a song about her, aptly called Dressmaker! I’ll DM you the music video
That was amazing! Wow! that was one effective ending to one interesting video. What a lot of work went into its making! Thank you for sharing.
This video is so beautiful it made me cry! This whole series is amazing! You have created something so honest and magical.
Absolutely brilliant video ❤
This is a heartwarming video series!💛
Amazing!!! Thanks so much for sharing this ❤️
This was wonderful and I really learned a lot from this series.
This is wonderful and so inspiring!
Thank you for this! My maternal great-grandmother came to the Lower East Side from Genoa in 1886. Her daughter, my grandma, was born in 1894 and was a garment worker. They lived in an apartment much like the ones on display in the Tenement Museum on Orchard St.
So precious!
that was beautiful snappy. Thank you for sharing your history with us
Very cool! Thank you so much for sharing this! You really brought the outfit to life ❤
This was so moving and beautiful!
Loved, just lovely!
What a personal project, I could really feel your passion and pride.
This was gorgeous writing, I loved it.
Vi! You must know how beautiful this is; such a stunning conclusion to a wonderful series. Thank you for sharing Karolina with us. 💜
What a great video. Enjoyed the narrative explaining it.
Wow! This is so moving! I love the music and the song. You should be proud, Snappy Dragon, your ancestors surely are! Beautifully done. ❤