"Wrapped" in love- A History of At Home wear
Note: the pictures in this article focus on early bustle era garments
and is published as a "preview" to SSE's "Ultimate Wrapper Pattern- Early Bustle Era SSE-EB-2"

"Fashion writers may talk of silks and satins as if they were the every-day dress of all women-- but, in reality, the dress in which the husband and children see the wife and mother, at least six days out of the seven, is a print, and the silk, if it exists at all, is only taken out of its folds for occasions, and is quickly restored when the motive for the unwonted display has ceased to exist." - Demorest 1884

An often-neglected part of fashion history is the "everyday" clothing that women wore during their daily routines. For the bustle era this was the "robe de chambre" to give it the fashionable "French" name or the simple "Wrapper". The bustle era was a time of excessive draping, frilling, and tightly fitting bodices- an impossibility to achieve any number of household chores while wearing the "fashionable" styles. Though most women would have at least one "good dress" to wear while on trips to town or church or visiting, the wrapper was generally a standard in her home wear.

It is a difficult garment to document, as little time was devoted to it in fashion magazines, and even fewer photos of women wearing it exist because the "best dress" was the one most often chosen for this privileged activity. It is not impossible to trace its evolvement, and even later development in the 1880's into what would become known as the "teagown." One of the best sources we have are the pattern catalogs of the era- both Demorest and Butterick would publish patterns for several styles of wrappers or house-gowns. These designs showed a princess line dress -a dress that did not have a seam at the waistline. This was often loosely fitted and with options for a round length or a small demi-train, which was thought graceful in house-wear in a well-to do home, but a nuisance in the pioneer cabin.

Other names for this standard garment might be "robe", "morning dress", "Gabrielle", "Sack wrapper or dress", or "house-dress".

The reasoning behind the princess cut or one piece dress, as opposed to the usual two piece gown, is revealed in a quote from a 1908 McCall's magazine. "A Serviceable House dress - All women who like to look neat and pretty in the morning while attending to their work should make themselves dresses of some washable material. These gowns can be easily laundered, and as the skirt and waist are sewed together, there is none of that dragging down of the skirt at the belt that gives anyone such a shiftless and untidy look, and yet is so hard to prevent when doing housework."

Mrs. H.W. Beecher would give a description of appropriate house-wear in her book Motherly Talks with Young Housekeepers in 1873. -"It is convenient to have morning-wrappers made with a narrow ruffle round the neck of the same material as the, dress: or, if yours are not so made, before retiring baste or pin in a simple collar or ruffle, that no needless time may be spent in dressing…. A large apron made from heavy brown or white " butchers' linen " is much neater and more serviceable than calico or gingham; it does not wrinkle so easily, and if wet will not become limp and useless so soon. The sleeve of a morning-dress should be large enough at the bottom to be easily folded back above the elbow and pinned up; or, if preferred, a deep cuff is very convenient, as during work it can be unbuttoned and turned back in the same way. Put a button and a loop of tape or strong cord about a quarter of a yard apart, on four seams of the skirt at least, before, behind, and on each side so that you can loop up the dress evenly instead of pining it awkwardly back; it is much neater and in the end will save time, and certainly it keeps the dress from being soiled at the bottom, and thus saves much washing. Now go to work with bare arms, a large, long apron, and dress looped up, too short to be drabbled; and it is very seldom, except in cases of uncommon accident, that one's working attire may not be kept in suitable condition to meet any stranger or friend who may chance to call during the busy hours of the day. With smooth hair and a clean dress, you may consider yourself perfectly presentable; all preparation needed should not occupy five minutes, and no caller should be kept waiting longer. Unpin the sleeves, unbutton the dress where looped up, take off the apron, wash hands and face, and smooth the hair if need be --that is all. To keep a visitor waiting is not in good taste; we think it inexcusable, unless compelled by some unusual hindrance. "

The fit of the house-dress or wrapper- varied with the individual. Some ladies preferred a dress fitted much the same as a normal dress with all the same fitting darts, etc., but perhaps a bit less tightly. Some would "half-fit" the dress- that is use only one looser bust dart instead of the normal two darts on each side, and some would be left "sack" or sacque style- loose in front with no fitting darts what so ever! In any case, these house dresses could be worn with or without a removable belt or sash, and might have any of several collar options. A small ruffle or roll collar being two of the favored variations, but a small stand up, military style or a simple round neckline were also worn. On the inside construction if they were cotton- they were often only interlined to the hipline- if a heavier flannel or wool for winter wear, or if made in a silk for a wealthy woman's leisure the whole dress might be interlined. This lining might be a simple muslin fabric, a chintz, or even the remains of a well worn dress or feedsack. A false hem inside would guard against undue wear. Machine stitched hems added decoration and durability. The new aniline dyes had only been in use a short period and many of the bright prints could not be relied upon to stay pretty. So, often, the lady of the house would choose a print that seemed to be a "durable" color, as seen in the following quote. "In this country prettiness in prints has had to give way to utility, to such samples as could be depended upon to stand the brutal kind of washing to which it was subjected. Having no confidence in the permanence of pretty colors, the housekeeper took refuge in dingy neutrality, having an impression, based upon experience, that the uglier the pattern the more certainly it could be relied upon "to wash"." -Demorest 1883. A favored selection especially for winter wrappers was a red paisley challis or wool. The color could be steadily relied upon and the bright pattern brought to mind the expensive imported shawls that were so popular with many ladies during the Civil War era. Stripes and plaids were also very popular for use in house dress construction and were found in wool, cotton, linen and blends of these fibers. To the left is an original wrapper Circa 1876-77 from the Koester House Collection in Kansas, worn by Sylvia Koester for daily household duties. It is changeable wool pattern, woven in grey, turquoise, and red.

Among colors available in cotton prints in the early bustle era (washing prints or calico prints) were
Browns: chocolate, soft browns, cool tone browns, tans, beige, and madder prints, which have a coppery brown tone
Greens: over dyed (darker green with a yellow tone) and mint
Purples: these did not hold their color well and often fade to brown tones, but were dark almost plum or blue-violet colors, some soft mauves.
Reds: turkey red, red brown combinations, cinnamon pinks, pink and red prints on white were also popular
Blues: indigo, soft "country"blue, royal blue
Yellow: Dark yellow tans, "cheddar"(orange-yellow), yellow

Most of these prints are fairly small, the larger ones are often paisley prints, or chintz patterns. (NOT the large roses some reenactors are fond of).

Decorations were often sensible- bias cut fabric bands, useful pockets, and larger buttons in painted wood, decorated china, fabric covered moulds, or even agate or shell.

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