1) Wear a white collar. This single item of clothing is consistently worn in photographs from the Civil War period. In surveying the original carte de visites (photographs) I own, every single adult female is wearing a white collar. These are easy to make, inexpensive, and require only minutes to attach to the neckline of your dress.

2) Close the top of your dress with a period appropriate brooch. Again, as universal as a white collar was the brooch closure on dresses. If you can’t locate an appropriate modern jewelry substitute locally, or are unsure of what to look for, try mail ordering from Abraham’s Daughter in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Their cameos and other brooches, while not museum quality, have the general hallmarks of mid-nineteenth century brooches. Their prices are quite reasonable, with most cameos and brooches selling between $5 and $20, plus shipping.

4) While you’re tossing your Garibaldi shirt, throw that "camp skirt" into the box right along with it! "Camp skirt" is a modern reenactor term, as women from the 1860’s did not have specialized apparel to either camp, or wear to visit military camps. If you want something to slog through the dirt and cook over the fire in, you want what women of the 1860’s wore: a plain, simple work or wash dress. Dark colors to help camouflage dirt and stains, sturdy fabrics to withstand washing and boiling, and relatively small skirts to prevent mishaps with open flames and breakable objects are all hallmarks of a utilitarian work dress.

5) Part your hair in the center. If you’re old enough to accept gentleman callers, put it up as well. This "plain Jane" style can be unattractive to modern eyes, but it is, once again, a universal trait of adult women in the early to mid 1860’s. Side parts equaled masculinity during the Civil War era, and "gender bending" wasn’t nearly as acceptable 135 years ago as it is today.

6) Lose the modern lace. Most modern laces available at fabric stores do not even remotely resemble period lace. Nothing screams "Farb" louder than stiff, modern nylon lace, or woefully out of period Battenburg lace. Just can’t live without some trim? Try heirloom sewing supply specialty stores, then opt for a natural fiber cluny or chantilly lace, the finer the net background the better. Other shops offer imported Swiss whitework that is remarkably similar to period machine-made whitework trim. Self-fabric trims are arguably even more common than contrast trims, and can be made from the scraps of fabric you already have. If you have a checked or striped work dress, why not apply some bias cut trim of the same fabric? It’s a wonderful look, very period, and you can’t beat the price: a quick raid on the scrap box!

7) Stay in period clothing. Even if your modern clothing doesn’t bother you, it may ruin someone else’s time travel experience. If breakfast and the cookfire come too early for full corsets and underpinnings, try a loosely fitted wrapper until after the morning breakfast dishes are done. It’s even less time consuming to pull a wrapper over your head before racing to the port-o-let line in the morning than it is to rummage around and find your sweatsuit.

8) Get rid of the ubiquitous "snood." Bust the myth that "women always wore something on their heads." There are two words in this phrase that should tip you off: "always" and "something." Plenty of photographic evidence exists which suggests that women did not "always" wear something on their heads, although adult women usually wore bonnets outdoors. If you can’t afford a really well made, accurate bonnet, try a plain slat bonnet, corded sunbonnet, or straw shaker bonnet. Slat bonnets and corded sunbonnets require only a small amount of cotton fabric, and take few hours and minimal sewing skills to construct. Straw shaker bonnets are widely available through mail order for less than $25. Add a cotton lining and a curtain, and you’re still only out about $30. What women did NOT wear on their heads was "something." You rarely find photographs of women under the age of 60 wearing "day caps," as that was a holdover from the 1830’s and 1840’s, and you likewise rarely find photographs of adult women wearing "snoods." Hairnets, as they were properly called during the time period, were usually very fine netting or velvet/chenille, and matched the color of the underlying hair, and were predominantly worn by very young women and adolescent girls. Nor was the hair merely scooped into the net a la Ruth Buzzi. Hair was put up, and THEN the net was applied to minimize "flyaway" hair. And once again, in the interest of presenting a balanced view of the 1860’s, hairnets and snoods are already over-used. A fair number of hairnet-less women would certainly help counterbalance the plethora of hairnets which seem to sprout like mushrooms at events.

9) Take in your hoopskirt. Unless you’re wearing a ballgown, which is not appropriate for reenactments, hoops were considerably smaller than what you see being worn by most reenactors. Many original hoops measure approximately 90" to 120" in circumference--a far cry from the 180" hoops often seen at reenactments. Better yet, if you’ve tossed your Garibaldi shirt in the dustbin, and you’re wearing a work dress, try a corded petticoat under your dress instead of a hoop at all. Again, it’s a look that is vastly under-represented at most events. Better yet, a corded petticoat will set you back less money than a hoop, it’s easier to store, and small children won’t be so determined to see "what’s under there."

10) Minimize your anachronisms. Wrist watches, makeup, nail polish, modern jewelry and modern eyeglasses only take moments to remove, and improve your impression immediately. It really pays to spend five minutes in front of the mirror before you get in the car to drive to an event, taking a hard look at what you see every day. While you may no longer notice your multiple earrings, it’s a sure bet that someone else will. Perhaps you are used to seeing your manicured hands, but two minutes with a bottle of nail polish remover will be appreciated by the other reenactors at the event. Don’t risk that solitaire diamond engagement ring: leave it safely locked up at home. You’ll sleep easier, and be more accurate besides.

11) Make sure you have something specific to DO, especially if you enter the military camps. Women in the 1860’s didn’t just aimlessly meander through the camps of embattled armies. If they were there at all, it was for a specific purpose: looking for a wounded brother, delivering parcels for a relief agency, selling apples from a basket, taking in laundry, requesting aid from the military because you’ve been displaced by the battle, or nursing the sick, for example.