Bast Recast Deep-Dive: Ladies Workwear Shirt 1880
One of the greatest problems facing historians of women’s work is the absence of reliable information. In the 19th century, women’s work was not always accurately recorded within the sources that historians rely on, due to much of women’s work being irregular, home-based or within a family-run business.
Women’s work was often not included within statistics on waged work in official records. Often women’s wages were thought of as secondary earnings and less important than men’s wages, even though they were crucial to the family’s survival.
Sometimes work was illegal (as with prostitution) or performed in unregulated sweatshops (a further reason for failure to record). Women may have also have preferred to keep their income earning a secret from their husbands.
An occupational designation, for whatever reason, meant something very different for men than for women. With the emphasis primarily placed upon their roles as wives and mothers, women workers did not usually see their occupation as a centrally defining characteristic of their lives, and therefore frequently failed to declare it.
This is why the census returns from the early years of the 19th century often show a blank space under the occupation column against women’s names—even though there is evidence from a variety of sources from the 1850s onwards that women engaged in a wide variety of waged work, both in the U.K. and U.S.
So consequently, women’s workwear is much less documented than that of men’s. When you think of women’s workwear in the 20th century, it’s obvious to immediately think of classic pieces such as a suit or a dress. However, that has not always been the case. We have come very far in terms of what women are able to wear during work and daily life. As discussed in one of our other Bast Recast articles, certain garments, such as trousers, were once seen as something that only men could wear, but have now become a staple in everyone’s wardrobe.
During the 20th century, more women began to find employment in the industrial sector. This was especially true during World War I and World War II, when many men left factory positions to serve in the military. To support the war effort, women—including middle-class and wealthy ones—worked producing weapons, bandages and other supplies that the soldiers needed.
For the first several decades of the 20th century, women continued to face much discrimination. Women routinely did not receive promotion to management positions. And they continued to receive one-half to two-thirds the wages that a man received in the same position. Still, women’s contributions were vital in this time. Women factory workers sometimes made the difference in their families’ lives, providing the necessary income to house and feed their loved ones. Also, women’s contributions during World War I helped lead to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted adult women the right to vote.
This Bast Recast shirt takes its influences from a shirt of the 1880s. Garments of this period would have been oversized rather than fitted. In order to create the extra volume, there is a significant amount of pleating, especially on the back of the garment, which really lends itself to washing treatments.
Other notable constructional details include period-correct ecru stitching made with Crafil (Celafil®) 100 percent TENCEL™ thread, run and fell clean construction seams 1/4″ and 5/16” (single needle tailored), period-correct lock stitch shirt buttonholes and a hem sewn with a Union Special 43200G machine, in order to create vintage roping effects.
This garment has been interpreted in two fabrics, both 2/1 twill and both in deep indigo. Both contain cottonized hemp, feature TENCEL™ with REFIBRA™ Technology, and are around 8.0 – 9.0 oz/square yd in weight.
The garment finishes are quite a contrast. The 5344-G-01 fabric quality is given a mock warp-way stripe effect, and the 5566-A-01 has a super washdown patchy bleach effect with additional stains. Both finishes achieve a low EIM impact score.
As with all the garments in the collection, Warp Face supplied the recycled paper for the hang tags and joker label, which were printed with Officina+39 Recycrom™ dyes.
Click through the slideshow below to discover the Ladies Shirt 1880:
Discover the 1890 Boss Jean from Bast Recast here.