Three women of St. Kilda, barefoot, wearing customary dress. J. Sands, in 'Out of the World; or, Life in St. Kilda', 1876, writes :-
' The dress of the women consists of a cotton handkerchief on the head, which is tied under the chin, a gown of coarse blue cloth, or blue with a thin purple stripe, fastened at the breast with an iron skewer... They wear neither shoes nor stockings in the summer. They go barefoot even to church; and on that occasion don a plaid, which is worn square, and fastened in front with a copper brooch, made by the men from an old penny beat out thin'. St. Kildans made their own clothes from the plucked wool of their sheep, which was then spun by the women using spindles or wheels. The thread was also dyed by the women, being then woven into cloth and made into clothes for both sexes by the men.
Click to enlarge the image, read the text then answer the following questions.
Questions
- What is the most unusual thing about the way the St Kildan women dressed?
- What were their clothes made from?
- Who made the thread and who made the clothes?