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of witchcraft or plain superstition I couldn't say. From what I can figure out, my parents were married in 1825. My mother was of average height and while she wasn't fat she was of a rather heavy build. She had long black hair which she always parted down the middle and tucked behind her ears. Since she always wore a cap it aided in keeping her hair to the back and out of her face. The cap always had a long bow made of silk on it with strands that reached all the way down to her hips. This bow was referred to as a neck bow. In the front she had a bow tied under her chin which had strands reaching down across her chest and it was referred to as the chin bow. However, her night cap had no such bows on it and along with her shirts they were always made from homespun yarn. (there was no such thing as dresses). She, as well as all women of her time, spun and dyed the yarn themselves and had someone else weave it. There were many women who knew how to weave, but most weavers were still men. She also had a home sewn dress made entirely from home spun yarn.(from wool). However, for it to be labeled a dress it needed to be sent to a fabric dyer in the capitol to be sheared. this process entailed dragging the fabric through specialized machinery


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several times where it was scraped and scratched so that at the end it was only half as thick as when it was woven. Then it was officially called cloth. Usually when a young girl was to marry she'd receive such a dress which was referred to as a wedding dress. The dress was never to be worn unless the girl was at the altar which happened about twice a year or if she was having a child baptized. Such a dress would last her for her entire lifetime and when she died she would wear it to the her grave. Along with a white apron which was big enough to be draped all the way around her and was made of fine linen. It was exclusively worn at the same events as the dress. Their shirts had sleeves that never went past the elbows. For everyday use, or for if they went to town they would wear sleeve garters that resembled what bartenders and  the such wore at that time. They were made of wool, came in a variety of colors and were fastened above the elbow with a small white strap or something like that. However, when they wore their black dresses then they also wore gloves made of yellow hide. They were as soft as velvet and so long that they also would be tied off above the elbow.