Abstract
This article looks at visual representations and discussions of the linen duster coat in the American fashion press between the years 1870 and 1915. Originally worn as a travel garment on trains and steamships, the linen duster was eventually adopted and redefined as a motoring accessory in the early twentieth century. The literature illustrates noticeable shifts in the duster's perceived fashionability over the years, illuminating broader questions of gender, class and mobility during a period of rapid social and technological change. This research was inspired by two linen dusters — one produced in the 1870s, and the other between 1900 and 1912 — from the Historic New England Textile Collection in Haverhill, Massachusetts. These garments are examined in relation to their visual and narrative representations in contemporary magazines and newspapers.
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