Variations on ‘Plainness’: Quaker Dress in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia

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"Of the Best Sort but Plain": Quaker Quilts from the Delaware Valley 1760-1890

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Silks and simplicity : a study of Quaker dress as depicted in portraits, 1718-1855 / Leanna Lee-Whitman | Smithsonian Institution

Plain and peculiar: a case study of nineteenth-century Quaker clothing

Material culture scholars have long struggled to reconcile the Quaker doctrine of plainness with the appearance of Quaker material goods. Early descriptions of Quakers and early scholarship on Quaker clothing decreed that Quakers adopted a distinct style of dress that set them apart from their non-Quaker neighbors. This idea has grown into a mythology of Quaker dress and has led to the erroneous idea that all Quakers wore undecorated clothing in somber colors. This thesis first traces the history of scholarship on Quaker clothing, the early years of which were heavily influenced by Colonial Revival thinking. It then examines the concept of “plainness” to see how confusion over the meaning of the word has led to confusion about Quaker material goods. Finally, this thesis uses a collection of documentably Quaker clothing from the nineteenth century to examine the ways in which clothing and religion intersected for one particular group of Delaware Valley Friends and to expand the boundaries of the traditional definitions of “Quaker” dress.

Discipline, discourse and deviation: the material life of Philadelphia Quakers, 1762-1781

Quaker plainness in the eighteenth century is incompletely understood. Despite theology, Quaker-owned Philadelphia Chippendale furniture is not plain in appearance--scholars have been unable to reconcile theological understanding and the range of acceptable objects. Philadelphia Monthly Meeting minutes and the Book of Discipline reveal that plainness is used metaphorically, and does not translate directly to the object world. Plainness is defined through the Quaker concept of the inner light and individual, equal access to God. The concept of conversation highlights the issue of mediating theological and material life. Deviation may show lack of religious conviction or a different but valid position; disownment testimonies embody this discursive ambiguity. Philadelphia Chippendale high chests and chest-on-chests exist as a separate expressive system. Variation is allowable within the stylistic competence, and may not correspond to Quaker precepts. As one aspect of Quaker conversation, furniture ties together theological and material life within a single expressive sphere. {Abstract from ProQuest citation page)

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