Vigo County Historical Society

By using parasols, women had it made in the shade

Today we look forward to warm weather and getting ready for warm weather and for most of us, that means getting a tan.

In our minds a tan represents a healthy lifestyle and healthy-looking skin. When we see people who are very pale, especially in the middle of the summer, we tend to think that they look rather sickly and should hit the tanning booth once in a while.

Looking back 140 years, things were very different. In the 1800s there was a fashion article that was a necessity, that being the parasol.

When we see parasols in museums today, we think to ourselves, "How is that little thing going to keep the rain off?" They look like miniature umbrellas but they weren’t for keep the rain off, only the sun.

The parasol’s sole purpose was for keeping the face from getting tanned. In the 1800s only those who worked outside with their hands would get a tan. It was very unfashionable and unladylike to have tanned skin. Men were "allowed" to have tanned skin, but women were looked down upon with this feature; this would indicate that they worked out of doors and toiled in the sun.

There were two distinct types of parasols. One type had a long handle that was for strolling in town, perhaps window shopping. The other had a "broken" handle that was intended to fold in half’ it was called a carriage parasol. The carriage parasol was used when riding in an open buggy or if the woman was going to be in close quarters and needed to fold it up and put it in her reticule or town basket.

The look of the parasol changed from year to year, just as fashions of the time changed frequently but with subtlety. During the 1850s parasols were more bubble-shaped and had lots of fringes around the edges.

They changed during the 1860s to be less dome-shaped and did away with fringe and added silk rouching in its place. Some of the higher-priced parasols tilted at the top so the woman could tilt the parasol to whichever angle the sun was coming from, without having to actually lift and move it.

Most American-made parasols were made with black silk on the outside. Many others that are found have plaid silk on the outside.

The person purchasing the parasol chose the lining. The lining was chosen to complement skin tone. When the sun would shine down on the black or plaid silk, it would absorb the heat but would illuminate through to allow the lining to reflect and glow off the owner’s face.

Thus, choosing a complimentary color was of utmost importance. The wrong color could made the woman look sallow and sickly.

The highest fashion was to have pale white skin.

Every effort was made to keep the sun off the woman’s hands, by wearing gloves; the neck, by having a "curtain" on her bonnet to cover her neck; and by having a parasol to keep the sun off her face.

Though these fashion trends have gone the way of cage crinolines and corsets, maybe our ancestors knew what they were doing by not getting tanned?

Several delicate parasols from long ago may be seen in the Dressmaker’s Shop on the second floor of the museum.