What was Booth wearing?

[Dave Taylor]

(12-12-2013 01:11 PM)Rick Smith Wrote:  Dave, Looks like you have your answers to the clothing question. By the time you are spending the nights in the pine thicket, remember, you will only be wearing one boot. You should have a shoe with the end cut out on your left. The one boot should be a mid thigh riding boot which was for the purpose of giving you the ability to grip the saddle and provide a secure seat. The under garments should not be of a fitted or knitted variety that you see on western movies. Underclothes for men were usually made of cotton osnaberg, muslin or flannel in various weights. The under drawers buttoned in front and tied in the back. The undershirt usually had one button at the top. Remember that Booth's undershirt neck was fastened with a gold stick pin he had been given by Dan Bryant. The button must have been lost at some point. Email me, I can direct you to all the best places to get your gear.

Rick

Thank you, Rick. There's so much to remember about all this stuff. Lindsey said it would be best to take a trip up to a period clothing store in Gettysburg in order to make sure I get all the items I need and to make sure they are fitted properly. Would you agree that's the way to go? Or would I be better off, after measuring myself, to use the expertise of people like you a Betty to verify online purchases for different online retailers of period clothing?

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(12-12-2013 01:55 PM)Cliff Roberts Wrote:  Dave, I'm going strictly by memory here, but as I recall Booth was buried in the same clothes he'd been wearing when he was shot at Garrett's place. I found several published accounts by persons who were present when Booth's body was returned to his family and the box first opened, one of which described in detail his clothing including the fact that he was wearing long-johns. I also recall that when a reporter interviewed the Garrett boys some years after Booth's death, one said Booth had been dressed in a dark suit, nothing fancy but of good quality. Newspaper reports at the time of his autopsy first reported that he was dressed in Confederate gray, then said his clothing was actually black and covered with dust. I'm mentioning these as leads; I don't have the time right now to dig up the files, but let me know if you need them. Good luck.

Cliff,

Thanks for this. The Garrett boys did talk about how Booth had a nice (not stellar) suit of clothes. He offered to trade his suit for Will Garrett's Confederate uniform, but Will said no. Am I correct that Booth's Ford's Theatre ensemble (black frock coat, blue flannel shirt, likely black vest) would be considered a nice suit? Or did he change clothing over the escape route somewhere?

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Rick,

Thanks again. I'll post the images from the mail when I get home, later.

Since I can find this image online, is this an appropriate "frock coat" and "slouch hat" or was his assassination apparel different?