"Tight Lacing, or Fashion before Ease," by Bowles and Carver after John Collet, London, England, ca. 1770–1775. From the collections of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

CONTENTS

The next
Electronic Field Trip is

The Will of the People
October 16, 2008

Throughout history the human body has been pulled, poked, squeezed, and generally manipulated into many and various confining devices designed to enhance one bodily feature or detract from another; all in the name of beauty and fashion. With the possible exception of Chinese foot binding, perhaps no form of confinement is better known than the European custom of tightly lacing stays.

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Stays or corsets were believed to encourage good posture, provide support, and form a fine figure. During the 1700s, doctors and other enlightened educators admonished women to at least avoid tightly lacing, or "straight" lacing, their stays. Women who did so out of vanity were openly mocked in satirical prints.

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Fashion refers to styles of food, literature, art, architecture, and clothing which are current in any given culture at a particular time. Changes in fashion are especially noticeable in forms of dress. This lesson begins with a general discussion of fashion and what it reveals about society, followed by a slide presentation showing images of "extreme fashion" from the 1700s.

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Colonial Williamsburg offers a variety of quality instructional materials dealing with 18th-century life, including:

• Eighteenth-Century Clothing at Williamsburg (book)
• Hands-On History: Lady’s Pocket (object kit)
• What Clothes Reveal (book)

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Colonial Williamsburg’s A Day in the Life series is now available on DVD!

The A Day in the Life Series, now available on DVD, series gives student a glimpse of daily life in the 18th century. Through stories of people from the past, students experience colonial life from multiple perspectives: working-class young men, women, gentlemen, merchants, enslaved and free African Americans, and more. Learn about how their lives intersected and how society functioned in early America. The 3-disc boxed set includes:

• Two DVDs with eight, 18-minute video episodes on 18th-century daily life
• One CD-ROM with teacher materials, lesson plans, and primary sources (PDF)
• Betwixt Folly & Fate, a 3-D immersive role playing game
• A link to the "Dress the Part" Web activity on clothing and social status

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Colonial Williamsburg Educators Mailing List

The Colonial Williamsburg Educators List (CWEdList) is mailing list comprised of teachers, librarians, media specialists, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation staff, and other individuals interested in history education. We hope members will share ideas and teaching strategies, and freely and openly discuss issues related to teaching history and social studies in the classroom.

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—Variety: A Collection of Essays, No. 19,
London, England, 1788