The Earlier Days of Ladies' Fashionable Hunting Attire

Illustration from an

Early 1900s Vintage PostCard

While perhaps not appearing at first to be the most practical attire, it is with a longing look ~ some of today's women who hunt ~ view the fashionable ladies' hunting attire of earlier days.

The sturdiness and protection of such fashion in thick cover justifiably might be questioned although the addition of boots and other protective factors such as the type of fabric utilized could increase the "practical" factor to render such concerns of "practical protection" nearly insignificant.

In open field situations, it would seem there hardly would be any down-side at all.

The most mysterious question which keeps popping up here seems to be: why women would veer away from such an attractive and flattering fashionable mode in earlier days to don the uni-sex attire of their husbands, fathers and brothers ~ other than for the sake of practicality and convenience.

Not all upland game hunting is done in thick heavy cover, after all.

And would the style of skirt worn by the lady in the vintage postcard illustration above, really be that much more of a disadvantage in even the thickest heavy cover than the baggy-style pants and coats or jackets worn by men hunters of both today and of yesteryears?

Illustration/Photo from a
1960s Vintage Postcard

Advertisements and postcards from the 1950s and 1960s show hunting women clad in pants and coats similar to those of men's hunting wear ~ actually the same exact hunting wear most of the time, with very little divergence.

It would seem the woman in the early 1900s vintage postcard shown at the top of this posting and below ~ in her personal choice of fashionable hunting attire ~ was wearing fabric such as a canvas duck material which would withstand the rigors of the open field as well as thick heavy cover.

The hat she wears would provide warmth and shade from the sun as well as any hunting cap or ball cap, although admittedly the style of her particular hat conveys more of a fashionable statement.

Could it be that despite the introduction of the "fairer sex" in shooting and hunting scenes in postcards and advertisements ~ which can be traced with very little research to coincide with the surging popularity of sharp-shooter Annie Oakley and others ~ that, while satisfying the general public's thirst for more images of "sharp-shooters of the female persuasion" ~ that the introduction of such a number of "feminine elements with guns" still covered up an overwhelmingly prevalent popular public predisposition of prejudice towards women in the field?

Some of these postcards and advertisements did indeed even pre-date women's rights in the voting booth, after all.

So perhaps like many "women's libbers" of the latter day 1960s and 1970s (and even beyond) who consciously chose menswear-style pantsuits as office attire over the more flattering (and more feminine) dress and skirt suits, women hunters felt compelled to adopt male hunting attire not only because of the convenience and supposed superior protection in thick heavy cover, but also as a way to be taken more seriously in the field.

Whatever actually transpired, the advent of male-inspired hunting attire worn by women hunters served to banish such fashionable hunting attire as portrayed in the early 1900s vintage postcard above.

You will not find any such style of women's hunting attire offered in even the highest quality of current catalogs or stores.

The attire shown in the early 1900s vintage postcard illustration was probably not mass-produced either, but most likely created in a day when many articles of clothing were either made at home or by a local seamstress.

The search for vintage patterns which could be adopted to such a style has been going on here for several years and if anything suitable can be found, it will be a joyful time here. There may in the not-so-distant future even come a time when a vintage or modern similar pattern is revised and re-made to accommodate.

It is doubtful such fashionable ladies' hunting attire mass-produced in this day and age would have much of an effect on the general market after women have adopted male hunting attire for such a great number of years.

However The Lady of the House ~ the author of this particular posting ~ would at least like the option of choosing ~ and to personally own at least one (preferably more) fashionable hunting outfit very similar to the one worn by the lady in the vintage postcard above.

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