Over time the use of white for garments - in particular those made from wool has altered in significance.

The whiteness of the arisaid could be due to the cheapness of the natural coloured yarn as opposed to the expense of coloured yarns before chemical dyes were developed. There might have been light medium and dark tones of yarn, from the natural colours of the local sheep, and a lightweight fabric produced from it. Women's garments have, historically, been more concealing than a man's, but of lighter materials. That is why I have remarked on a couple of occasions on the forum that any lightweight kilt 27 inches long is most likely a woman's garment, even though constructed in the same way as one for a man.

I have an interest in knitted garments, and jerseys worn when men's trousers were loose and high waisted, with the jersey worn underneath, often had white for the lower part of the body, with a few single rows of coloured yarn at intervals. At the level where the garment emerged from the trousers the yarn changed to the more expensive dyed colours, sometimes with small amounts of white and other natural sheep colours added where appropriate.

The colour would have been a light cream, the natural colour of a sheep, as ways to whiten wool without destroying its strength are a relatively recent discovery. Chlorine bleach dissolves wool.

Over time white became more posh and up market, so it would be correct for tartans which were being devised for dress occasions to be mostly white and with a Victorian sensibility at work red would be equated with scarlet, sure as eggs.

White was also considered more suitable for a delicate complexion, which was also prized in Victorian England, and Negro servants were likely to be dressed in red plush (velvet). Having read a considerable number of old novels I don't recall that there was ever a reference to any other colour in which to dress a person with a dark complexion. Nubile English girls were always dressed in white, perhaps with a few ribbons in pastel shades to differentiate it from mourning wear at the appropriate interval after the death.

The Royal court exerted a considerable power, the colour of a dress worn by a Princess could alter the whole of upper class society wardrobes within weeks, and change the fortunes of anyone able to copy the colour and style in time for the next society occasion.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: