Today was Lace Day for the Lacemakers of Puget Sound. It was held in the Green River room at Kent Commons in Kent, Washington. It was a lovely event.

Tames Alan is a performer and historical consultant living in Washington. She has about 25 presentations available, and today she presented. From the Streets of Shakespeare to the Court of Elizabeth.

Here she discusses the daily life of a lower middle class woman. Between costumes, she takes a few minutes to answer questions. Of course, I had to ask about the fabric of the clothing they wore during this period—wool or wool/linen. I want to know more because I can’t imagine everyone having a weaving loom inside their cottage to make clothes for their families. Tames said that as a lower middle class woman, you would have two shifts. One you wore for the first six days of the week, and on Sunday, when attending church services, you wore your second one that was kept clean or you’d be fined. Very little clothing, very poor conditions. Fleas, vermin, bed bugs, eek! You only bathed twice in your life—once when born and another time when you got married, but that was more of a sprinkling. They wore caps to keep their heads warm since their hair fell out from not bathing. They were afraid they might die from bathing because they would have to do so in the river, which was contaminated with waste. I would have taken my chances by collecting rainwater and boiling it in my single kettle.

Then she changed into the following outfit in front of us, always wearing the white shift.

You would wear 14 skirts with your clothing weighing around 80 pounds. She told us about the conditions of that time, and it made me thankful that I live now.

It was a wonderful performance. Please take a look at her website, Living History Lectures, to learn more.