Plain and peculiar: a case study of nineteenth-century Quaker clothing
Date
2002
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Material culture scholars have long struggled to reconcile the Quaker doctrine of plainness with the appearance of Quaker material goods. Early descriptions of Quakers and early scholarship on Quaker clothing decreed that Quakers adopted a distinct style of dress that set them apart from their non-Quaker neighbors. This idea has grown into a mythology of Quaker dress and has led to the erroneous idea that all Quakers wore undecorated clothing in somber colors. This thesis first traces the history of scholarship on Quaker clothing, the early years of which were heavily influenced by Colonial Revival thinking. It then examines the concept of “plainness” to see how confusion over the meaning of the word has led to confusion about Quaker material goods. Finally, this thesis uses a collection of documentably Quaker clothing from the nineteenth century to examine the ways in which clothing and religion intersected for one particular group of Delaware Valley Friends and to expand the boundaries of the traditional definitions of “Quaker” dress.