Defining self and others through textile and text

Abstract

This article examines letters, diaries and fiction by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century women travellers and colonists to show the important contribution of sewing, cloth and clothing in defining the self and determining class and racial barriers within a colonial context. Needlework skills often acted as significant props for the performance of socially approved femininity, indicating the complex role of women settlers both as colonisers and as colonial subjects. Upper- and middle-class women directed their supposed social inferiors, along with indigenous women, in approved feminine practices by urging they learn such skills. Issues of appearance and self-presentation, so important in maintaining class boundaries, were a frequent source of anxiety, while indigenous peoples were pressured to follow European notions of “decency” in dress, yet derided if they were perceived to be aping fashionable appearance.