Not All Black and White: Puritan Clothing

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Puritan Clothing

Currier and Ives; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division


We are approaching a monumental 400th anniversary: the landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims in November, 1620.  They were followed by the Puritan settlements beginning in 1621 and through the Great Migration years, all nearing the 400 year anniversary.

Maybe it is due to our childhood education that the month of November brings up visions of the first Thanksgiving.  The Mayflower Pilgrims are some of the most iconic figures in American history. One glimpse of their black clothes and buckled hats and you automatically know who they are.


But those images are not completely accurate.  The Pilgrims and Puritans are often represented as wearing black or grey clothing but in reality they seldom wore black, preferring to wear what they called “sadd” colors.  These included green, rust, orange, purple, brown and other colors.  In the 17th century black was the color of formal garments and not considered appropriate for the simple life style preferred by Puritans.

Clothes were made from linen, wool and leather and colored using dyes made from roots, berries and leaves.  “The ‘sadd’ colors mentioned in the records of the time were so called because of a dye process that dulled or ‘saddened’ the intensity of the color.”

 The inventory of William Bradford’s possessions, in his last will and testament in 1657, states that he owned many colorful items of clothing:
  • A suit with silver buttons & a coat valued at £4
  • A cloak faced with taffety [taffeta] and lined with bays valued at £3
  • A “sod” or “sad” colored cloth suit valued at £2
  • A Turkey grogram suit and cloak valued at £2
  • A pair of black breeches and a red waistcoat valued at 15 shillings
  • A lead-colored cloth suit with silver buttons valued at £2
  • A “sod” or “sad” colored short coat and an old serge suit valued at £1 and 10 shillings
  • A light-colored coat valued at 16 shillings
  • An old green gown valued at £1
  • A light-colored cloak valued at £1 and 15 shillings
  • An old violet cloak valued at £1 and 5 shillings
  • Two hats, a black one and a colored one, valued at £1 and 10 shillings 
The Puritans used clothing as a sign of social status—black was appropriate for the leaders of the colony, including the clergy, who often added lace and other indicators of privilege.  People of lower social classes were forbidden from wearing clothing inappropriate for their station.


Governor Edward Winslow, circa 1651


How did we get the iconic images of stern black wardrobes?  The paintings and portraits of the period usually show a dignitary in black clothing, but portraits were expensive; we’re only seeing the upper echelon of society.  Later paintings often show people in various colored clothing.

So, for your Thanksgiving displays and pageants and your 400th anniversary celebrations, break out the “sadd” colors.  You’ll be right in style with your Pilgrim and Puritan ancestors.

https://historyofmassachusetts.org/what-did-pilgrims-wear/

The Dyers of London, Boston and Newport, Christy K. Robinson, 2013
British Colonial America: People and Perspectives, edited by John A. Grigg, 2008, ABC-CLIO, Inc.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

MaryLynn Strickland



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