Thick Wool Stockings

It is beyond me how the first American settlers ever made it through a Virginia summer, much less the Texas heat, in their traditional European dress. Now that I am here, however, I can completely see it: in summer you might have a linen dress for the hottest two months of the year.

September through May, or even June, you would be thrilled to have layer upon layer of wool! It is just after Labor Day here and I am chilled to the bone in the mornings and evenings if I go out without a fleece jacket. And sadly, I cannot blame this on being extremely thin or poor circulation – the damp chill is in the air to stay until spring, perhaps with a week or two of respite in the fall if we are lucky.

So you see the girls dress in modern variant of these layers:
-strumpfhose, those same heavy wool stockings, but with stripes and updated prints
-a flouncy skirt, but it stays above the knee instead of going to the lower calf
-an undershirt
-a long-sleeved shirt
-a fleece jacket or down vest instead of the traditional dirndl top
-boots and clogs are still very popular as shoe choices, although the boots tend to look like English riding boots instead of Oma’s laced up style