Description:
Pair of man's orange wool plush or shag breeches. While the original construction of this garment dates to the 18th century, this garment was altered sometime in the mid-20th century, when they were worn by Henry N. Flynt to a birthday party of Katharine Prentis Murphy in the 1950s. The breeches, acquired by the Flynts in 1955, were altered to fit Mr. Flynt by Mrs. Kennedy, a Greenwich, Connecticiut-, or Greenfield, Massachusetts- area dressmaker. Plush was a wool pile fabric, woven in many colors, that was used in many types of apparel worn in colder weather during the 18th century. Plush could be used for more everday and utilitarian garments. Its stiff drape lent the fabric to more tailored garments or outerwear. In 1741, a runaway servant notice remarked one such run away wore "orange colored plush breeches." On the center back linen waistband gusset is written in ink "Dominique," possibly suggesting the garment's later life as a theater costume piece.

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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.656

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