In 1862, Caroline Child claimed that she could make three smocks in one day. This seemingly wild assertion by a working-class woman working in the smock trade contrasts with the now common view of the Victorian smock as an heirloom garment, made and embroidered with care, perhaps even reflecting the individuality of their male wearer through their needlework.
This talk will unravel how this discrepancy in the garment’s history has arisen, tracing a path from how smocks were manufactured during the heyday of their usage in the mid-nineteenth century, when they functioned as a working garment for men, through to their take-up as artistic and reform dress, concluding with the emergence of smocking as a specific craft by the twentieth century.
There will be a focus on the Victorian needlewomen who made the garments as well as the women who later promoted these skills as a craft through organisations such as the Women’s Institute. By disentangling the complex narratives around one garment, which include workwear, folk dress and craft, the fascinating history of smock frock is revealed.
