Undergarments
If sewing your own 19th century clothing, undergarments are a great place to learn sewing techniques where any errors will not be readily seen. Accurate undergarments will affect the comfort and fit of the over clothes, as well as help to help distinguish between a costume and reproduction garments.
Drawers
Men's drawers for the mid 19th century should be made of white cotton; canton flannel and osnaburg are both good choices. Drawers are the first layer worn next to the skin to protect trousers from perspiration, to cut down on laundering for the trousers, as well as to protect the skin from rough fabrics. Drawers button shut just at the waist to make bathroom usage easier.
I recommend the Past Patterns Pattern and the Martha McCain Fashion Historian Under Garment Pattern.
Undershirts
Undershirts should be worn as a means of keeping the outer shirt clean, and for cooling and insulating the body. Undershirts can be made of stout cotton muslin, canton flannel, wool flannel, or cotton or wool knit. Knit options were very popular and common in the mid 19th century. Undershirts fit closely to the body.
Martha McCain's Under Garment Pattern also includes a pattern for undershirts.
Socks
Socks should of wool or cotton. Some wealthy men would wear silk socks for nicer occasions. Socks were either hand or machine knit of what is now known as fingering weight yarn. Knitting of the mid 19th century was done on smaller needles and finer yarn than most modern knitting. Colors should be black or white, or of a variety of muted dark colors.
A sock pattern from the Sanitary Commission, 1865, can be found Here.
Shoes
Somebody *stole* my shoe section, and I am still to grumpy about it to rewrite it. Sorry!
To the person who stole it: You know who you are and you know it's not right to steal other peoples writings and photographs. Please return them.
Shirts
Entire books have been written on the topic of men's shirts, and this brief should only serve to get your pinky toe wet on the subject. Please keep researching onto what cut and style of shirt will suit your impression the best!
White cotton or linen shirts are a good wardrobe staple for most any mid 19th century impression. Cotton shirting was a popular material. Middle and better classes might wear one everyday, while working classes would have white shirts for better occasions.Styles were transforming in the mid-century from square cut, ie, composed of mostly square and rectangle shaped pieces to tailored shirts. There were many variations of styles between these two variations. Most would have long sleeves and a button-front placket and the back and top of the shoulders of men's shirts were lined to prevent early wear through. Collars and other details, including decorative pleated shirt fronts of different materials, varied. Depending on what years you are portraying as well as your socio-economic class, your style of shirt could vary.
By the mid-19th century there was a fairly large ready-made industry for shirts, thus making white shirts affordable to most classes of people.
Similar style shirt would sometimes be made of wool or cotton of drabber colors or woven checks, prints, stripes and plaids. These were not as prevalent as the standard white shirt
- An example of a woven shirt
Overshirts were commonly made of wool,including wool flannel, natural linen or other stout materials. These were worn over a shirt as a form of outergarment. Some were cut exactly like a regular shirt, only larger to accommodate layers and of heavier materials. They were often made of practical colors to be useful in working situations.
- An example of an overshirt
Trousers
Trousers were typically made of a sturdy and longer-wearing material in the mid 19th century. Wool and linen were perhaps the most common, but jean-clothe, cottons, and blends of these materials were also worn. The fineness of the fabric would depend on the socio-economic standing of the owner, as well as what activities he planned to do in them.
These fabrics could be a plain in a solid color, or made of a plaid or check pattern. Once again, fabric selection would have depended on the intended use for the wearer. Patterns were frequently found on more informal trousers, while fine solid colors on dressy clothes, and hard-wearing solids on work clothes, but there is a lot of variation in between.
I recommend the Martha McCain 5023 as a trousers pattern.