Do you think they dressed better 200 years ago than we do now?

I love the way they dressed back in the days. I love the way they lived the simple life as well. I am not sure if I could wear a dress all the time. But,it would surely not be hard to try. I feel we should live more simple. many spend far too much for material things and wears.

The dresses might have been ok but it was all the stuff the wore UNDER them that was just too much! Think of the tie it took to get all those garments on and then off again and they weren't very pratical either. I hate to think how long it took just to go and relieve themselves in the bathroom (ok wherever they went to do it!)
Sometimes even zips are fiddly but they had somany things to untie and unbutton!

Oh my Lord, I don't even know how the ladies were able to breath in those girdles and corsets.
Those would have to be very uncomfortable, especially on a hot summer day. All those petticoats they wore, too
My goodness, wonder how long it took them to get dressed for the day. It was a good thing alot of them had maids to help them or they would have probably never gotten out of the house.
I agree, some of the gowns were just beautiful.
My neice, when she got married a few years back had a colonial wedding and she rented all her bridesmaids gown from a place in New York City.
It was just beautiful watching all those big gowns coming down the aisle with the hoops under them.
It sure would be alot different from the dress we see today form jeans and t-shirts to mini skirts and so on.

interesting discussion! it seems a little high maintenance. they would never go out in their pajama pants! lol! yeah, maybe they did dress better because they had standards. there were things that you didn't do. uuggghhh, guess i am lazy cos i love my yoga pants and tank tops with flip flops!!

They did dress much nicer then in my opinion.

I wouldn't want to dress like those ladies though. Like you said, they wore corsets and I could just imagine how uncomfortable the women were wearing them.

I like my jeans and my shorts and having my legs uncovered during the warm weather.

Would rather wear comfortable clothing than look good.

I think they dressed better back then. The suits and dresses they wore back in that period were gorgeous even though they were uncomfortable. People really took pride in their appearance now it seems like people don't care what they go outside looking like. I must admit I am guilty of this myself, especially when i was in college. I would just throw on some sweats and most of the time not even to brush my hair to make it to class on time.

I just happen to LOVE the Pirates movies. However I don't think I would like the corsets, girdles and full gown dresses that they wore. On the other hand there is something to be said for modesty which is something we could be missing in this day and age...

whoaa.. I can't imagine wearing corsets, girdles and full gown dresses in the kind of schedule I live every day, with long hours commuting - either on the Tube or driving. Seems totally impractical for today's working woman. Ofcourse, if I can be transported around on a horse carriage, I'd gladly opt for those lady-like clothes!:-))

i think we dress better than 200 years ago. i think a good cloth is the one in which you feel very comfortable and nice. i don't think that a cloth needs to be from a special trade to be nice.me too i like the old cloths, especialy that of france, with their wigs and corsets, but i don't know if i can wear one.

I think it would be cool if we still dressed like that! A friend and I once where trying to figure out what type of person we would be from 200 years ago. She said she would be an elegant lady sipping tea. And I said, I'd love too, but I'd probably end up the bodacious barmaid! LoL! It would still be cool to see what the people of today would have fit in as then.