Clearly fashion continues to progress through the decades. But why is clothing important,and how is fashion connected to the society at large? Clothing played an important role in the daily lives of Americans in the Antebellum Era. Fashion was bound to society's ideas and thus to the ordinary lives of the citizens. The Second Great Awakening, a religious revival that occurred in the first half of the nineteenth century, spurred the desire for self-improvement. Some people in quest of self-improvement saw fashion as a reflection of that improvement, while others saw it as a detriment to self-improvement. The residents of Northampton Massachusetts expressed both of these views in their letters and accounts of their daily lives.

EE Warner wrote to Sidney Strong in 1841:

. I thank you for the offer of a locket chain but I have not the least desire for one. I do not think it would match the rest of my wardrobe and besides there are many benevolent objects of the day that seem to have a stronger claim upon us than our own personal gratification.

Although it is difficult to tell whether EE Warner is sincere in her protests, she clearly uses an argument that favors self-improvement and rejects personal gratification in order to refuse the locket chain.

Letters dated from the 1820s to and from Anne Laura Clarke, a Northampton native, illustrate her ambivalence to fashion. After her father fell into financial hard times, Anne Laura Clarke left home in 1817 to teach. She traveled around giving lectures in history. Her sister Elizabeth wrote to Anne regularly. In one letter she wrote:

Abigail is considerably worried about you. She is afraid you are not fond enough of making a dash. I told her I was not at all troubled about it. She sayed you did not dress much here, and that you always wore my bounds when you were here. She wondered what you wore in Portland. I believe they thought you went bareheaded last winter. I hope Mary Butler will give Hamlet a description of your wardrobe in full that they may be satisfied you are making a respectable appearance this winter in Boston.

As a single woman traveling around the country, Anne was probably more aware of the cost of clothing than some of her other friends and family members. Moreover, her idea of self-improvement did not include the latest fashions, but respectable, practical clothing that could be worn for her job. In a letter to her sister Elizabeth written between 1825-1830, she penned:

. I think we had better have plaid coats- lined with green flannel. or rather baize for this winter. The expense will not be much above seven dollars each and we shall live very much retired this winter, and it is my wish that every movement should be treated to improvement.

Self-improvement was certainly important to Anne, but fashion was not a priority in her life, much to the concern of some of her relatives. Even Elizabeth who declared that she was not concerned about Anne's appearance conveyed a tone of curiosity and perhaps some anxiety about Anne's appearance. For Elizabeth fashion was part of the daily lives of those around her and she displayed interest in the current fashions. As noted earlier, she penned a letter to Anne, " I cannot tell you we are all anxious to hear from you. Write what the fashions are. We hear the sleeve is to be straight all round." In another letter dated somewhere between 1825-1830, she again wrote to Anne about fashion:

. I have just received a bundle of calico and letters it all came just in good time. I shall send your muslin dress. I think I shall have mine altered this summer. I have not had my silk dress made yet but inted (sic) to have it before the fourth of July if you have any pretty cape patterns you may send some if you please.

Fashion was also an important symbol of social status. Those who could afford to had their clothes custom-made by a dressmaker or a tailor. Dressmakers and tailors often advertised their services in the local paper throughout the antebellum era. In the May 29, 1822 issue of the Hampshire Gazette, Mary W Lee put in a notice: "Mary W Lee Has just returned from Boston with patterns of Gowns and Bonnets of the latest French Fashions. Fashionable Gown Trimmings and materials for Bonnets, expected in a few days." A member of a middle class family, Fannie French made clothes for herself and other members of her family. On July 27, 1850 she penned, "Made my Bertha cape." Although Fannie indicates that she did not make a full dress for herself until after the first year of her marriage, her diaries clearly suggest that she made most of her own and her daughter's clothes. In one diary entry from 1850 Fannie wrote, "Finished little tot's buff dress her first calico." Fannie did make use of dressmakers for certain occasions. For example, on June 25, 1850, Fannie noted, ". Have tried all over town to get a dress maker but none to be had until after the fourth of July." Fannie's sister-in law, Martha, also of middle class status, actually went to learn the dressmaker's trade as Fannie recorded in her diary: Martha French (sister) went to learn the dress-makers trade at Enos Parsons shop. This is her first attempt. I think she do nicely." Those like Fannie and Martha who belonged to the middle class learned how to make clothes and sometimes employed others to make clothes as the financial circumstances of their life dictated.

While the larger social goals of self-improvement and better social status affected people's fashion, it was the ordinary and everyday interaction between people that comes across in sources from the time. Fashion created social activities for people to do together and provided a basis for conversation. Elizabeth Clarke's correspondence with her sister repeatedly discussed clothing and fashion. Indeed, in one letter dated between 1825-1830 she wrote, "At present I am so occupied preparing the children's clothes for summer. I want to buy me a black silk frock but I do not know whether I shall or not."

Other members of Northampton not only filled their letters with references to clothing but also to clothing during social events or get togethers. In 1836 Elizabeth Cooke's mother wrote to her daughter from Northampton, ". Mrs. Julia C. passed a day or night here last Autumn she is quite well as she and. wear here puts us quite in the Shade but Mrs. Wright and Mrs Lyman do not dress half as much..." Mrs. Cooke's mother criticizes the display put on by the visitors, perhaps masking her desire for clothes like Mrs. Julia C. Similarly, Fannie French feels the need to justify her attire at a ball she recently attended in a letter to her mother. She wrote:

Yes Mother, I did go down to the Ball but did not stay but a short time. I had the sick head-ache very bad that afternoon. but it was the most splendid sight I ever saw. and the ladies were dressed elegantly and indeed the whole affair was splendid, I did not dress as I should have dressed had I felt well. Martha and I wore our red dresses with white muslin sleeves and Orange neck ribons (sic) white kid gloves and c. We should have dressed in thin. dresses if I had felt well enough to have fixed them.

Planned or formal social events produced much discussion about fashion after the event had ended.

However, clothing provided an opportunity for people to interact in more relaxed settings as well. Fannie French made frequent trips downtown with her friends and family members to buy materials for dresses. The trips were social outings for them as much as they were trips to buy materials. (Perhaps equivalent to trips to the mall today) In just over a week, Fannie made two trips downtown. On April 2, 1851 she noted, ". Mrs. Daniels, and Martha and myself went down town to Mrs. Dickinson's Millinery shop to see about our bonnets for spring." Then on April 11, she recorded, ". Mother, and Martha and Mrs. Daniels and myself all went down town. I got Sis a little yellow delaine dress." Another Fanny, Fanny Wright, expressed the general feeling of society that clothing could bring. On March 15, 1848 she recorded, ". The Dorcas society met at Mrs. Dickinson's, have finished off garments to make a box of clothing and bed quilts for the home mission." While Fanny's Dorcas society may not have paid much attention to fashion, clothing brought the members together in a social activity.

Not only did clothing and to some extent fashion bring women together in social outings or group activities, it also brought some together in business. Clothing was a business in which women were involved to a significant degree. Dressmakers were women, as were milliners. Sophia and Cecelia Osborn ran one of the most prominent millinery, or bonnet shops, in Northampton for almost forty years. Ads like the following from 1822 appear in each decade up until the 1850s:

NEW LEGHORN & STRAW HATS S & C OSBORN HAVE this day received from New York a large and elegant assortment of the most fashionable SPRING GOODS and FANCY GOODS. Wanted immediately, 8 young Ladies as apprentices- None need apply except those who are perfectly nice with the needle; those from a distance would be preferred.

Young ladies could find employment in this shop as well as others. The case of the Osborn sisters is particularly intriguing because their sisters, Emma Osborn and Ruth Dickinson worked in their shop for some time. In fact when Sophia and Cecelia retired in 1849, Ruth took over the shop and over time it again became one of the most prominent millinery shops in Northampton.

Just as it does today, clothing pervaded numerous arenas of society. For women in particular it provided opportunities for social activities and conversation as well as employment. Making their families' clothes was a necessity for some women even as they hoped to portray a certain social status. Some embraced fashion and made it a part of their quest for self-improvement, while others, like Anne Laura Clarke, rejected fashion as means to self-improvement. However, the sources indicate most strongly that clothing and fashion were important parts of the everyday life of the residents of Northampton.

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