From July 4th to July 18th 2016 I spent a fortnight attempting to dress, eat, and live as much like a middle class Wellington housewife would have in the winter of 1916 as it was possible for me to do.
While my experiment wasn’t a perfect recreation of life in 1916, the project still provided a significant base for understanding everyday life in the period, and will hopefully be a jumping-off point for pursuing further living history research.
Blog posts about the project:
- Introducing the 1916 project – how the idea came about.
- A Fortnight in 1916: Guidelines for the project.
- A sewing machine for 1916: meet my new (very old) 1893 Singer 27
- The Fornight in 1916: And so it begins – reflections on the first day
- Doing laundry in 1916 – research on laundry in 1916
- Doing laundry in 1916 – the part where I actually do it.
- The halfway point – reflections a week in.
- 1916 Megrims – when the project got hard.
- Eating in 1916: a dinner
- 1916: it gets better – how you adapt to a new lifestyle, and your lifestyle adapts to you.
- Sewing in 1916
Posts about my 1916 wardrobe:
- A 1916 black and white corset
- A corset-themed tale of irony and hubris – why fit, and the right materials, are so important in a corset.
- A Fortnight in 1916: the clothing. An overview of my wardrobe for a fortnight.