Quote:
Originally Posted by DamoRed
Was that dress code for middle and upper classes only, or would poorer working class have dressed to that level for a wedding, or just their 'Sunday best'?
|
Fasting – it was 12 hours before communion until Vatican 2 when it dropped back to one hour (I think). That is why funerals of the wealthier parishioners took place in early morning - usually at 9.30 a.m – attendees could go for communion, be seen and then pop off for a feed.
The weddings mentioned above are in 1832. At that time poverty was widespread in Ireland. I know nothing about your family in Kildare, but about 50% of the population in Clare, Limerick and Tipperary lived in the worst class of housing, a one-roomed cabin. The majority of the rest of the population was not much better. The French sociologist, Gustave de Beaumont visited Ireland in 1835 and wrote:
"I have seen the Indian in his forests, and the Negro in his chains, and thought, as I contemplated their pitiable condition, that I saw the very extreme of human wretchedness; but I did not then know the condition of unfortunate Ireland...In all countries, more or less, paupers may be discovered; but an entire nation of paupers is what was never seen until it was shown in Ireland."
The likelihood they wore ‘morning dress to an agricultural wedding is absurd. They wore their best clothing, probably a frieze coat & trousers for the groom and a cotton shift dress for the bride. For the majority of the population clothing was homespun or made up locally. Examination of the 25” maps shows the very high incidence of fulling mills throughout the country.
Morning dress as envisaged above had yet to be developed in 1832 and even was uncommon at that time in London. It developed out of the clothing a gentleman wore for his morning ride – the ‘tails’ allowed the coat to fall correctly when seated in a saddle and the cutaway or horizontal cut of the front of the coat did not ‘bunch’ on the front of the saddle. It was a replacement for the frock coat, the latter becoming known as a ‘Prince Albert’ (a different meaning back then!
) as it was popularised by the Royal Consort. Also, correctly they are called morning and dinner coats; jackets are worn by waiters.
Even by the late 1800’s nobody – other than senior nobility / aristocracy / landed gentry / senior officials and very few pretentious idiots – wore morning attire to a wedding. In the Edwardian era it grew into fashion for highly ceremonial occasions (the sartorial link with morning coat / riding and the Royal Enclosure at Ascot is apparent). In a case of aping social betters and social climbing it became associated with 'formal' weddings. Most people (usually brides) who stipulate ‘black tie’ usually have no notion of what is involved and neither do the men forced to wear them. Nor do they even know about the inference of the ink colour on the invitations. Morning suits should not be worn after 7 p.m. and if I’ve been forced to attend such a rudeword wedding and forced to wear black tie I gleefully ask those of the bridal party wearing morning suits ‘When are you going to change??’
PS Don’t get me started on half-drunk idiots wearing kilts who aspire to tell me about their ‘family tartan’.
PPS a tuxedo is an American item of clothing and the term should be left on that side of the pond.
PPS Rant over
) as it was popularised by the Royal Consort. Also, correctly they are called morning and dinner coats; jackets are worn by waiters.
![Wrap [QUOTE] tags around selected text](http://b-static.net/vbulletin/images/editor/quote.gif "Wrap [QUOTE] tags around selected text"){kind=small}
