Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1898 — A PICTURESQUE COSTUME. [ARTICLE]

A PICTURESQUE COSTUME.

Dresses Worn by New Haven Fishwives That Are Very Becoming. The ordinary dress of the fishwife consists of from three to nine woolen petticoats, reaching about half-way from the knee to the ankle and measuring at least three yards in width. All the under ones have a tuck an inah and a half deep run all the way round the top about an eighth of a yard below the waistband. This'is done for the purpose of making a more solid support for the basket upon which the creel rests. Each fishwife, rich or poor, is the possessor of three gay petticoats, which are worn over the dark flannel ones; the foundation is white and all are marked with broad vertical stripes of a solid, vivid coloring, red, yellow, or blue. Each one has a wide tuck about six inches from the bottom. The bodices are loose jackets, “shuguns,” orshort gowns, made of bright-figured cambric or calico, and confined at the waist by the apron strings; the sleeves are made of a square of the cambric reaching nearly to the wrists, but they are nearly always rolled over two or three times until they come only to the elbow. A bright ribbon confines the garment at the neck and finishes it with a bow and ends. . The apron is long and full; the lower edge and the outer skirt are pinned together at the bottom and caught up to the hips on either side, which adds to the width, making the woman look broader than ever. A separate pocket fastened with a draw-string is wornunderneath the apron; this is the fishwife’s bank, where she carries the money of the family, which is always given into her keeping. Thick worsted stockings and heavy, high boots complete, with the exception of the headgear, a picturesque and very becoming costume.—Laura B. Starr, in Chautauquan.