Don't forget that the Pilgrim's LOVED colors and, using natural materials - plants and such - for dyes, had clothes of wonderful reds, oranges, yellows, blues, greens, browns etc.
I have written and harped for decades - and threatened murder and mayhem - when seeing them depicted in black and white.
It was the PURITANS of Boston Bay Colony that dressed in b&w, who didn't sing and such. They were a holier-than-thou bunch - but history and particularly schools - have mixed them up with the Pilgrims.
Elder William Brewster was the Pilgrims spiritual leader for decades until his death just short of 80. One of his favorite pieces of clothing was a long, red velvet cloak. And listed in his will - they always listed every thing, even to bed linens and stockings - were a pair of blue and a pair of green 'breeches'.
It's understandable they considered such things worth being listed in their wills as they were not easily come by. You couldn't order from Sears or LL Bean nor run down to WalMart. You had to raise the sheep, clean and card and spin the wool, weave the cloth and then make the clothes! (Or, in the case of Elder Brewster's cloak, have the material or cloak shipped from overseas.) As to bed linens, they were hand woven with flax which comes from a plant. It's back breaking work to beat the plants fibers into linen thread.
Most homes - like in John and Priscilla Alden's home in Duxbury, had a 'work room' in which there was a spinning wheel and a loom.
If we had to do all this for our clothes, we'd treasure them too! Even just back when I was a little girl on the farm with my grandparents, winter socks were all hand knit. When they got hole in the toe or heel, out came the darning 'egg' and the holes were carefully darned. It was a lot easier than to knit a whole new pair! And people didn't have to have walk-in closets! If you had a 'good' pair of shoes and an everyday pair - you were good. Ditto few clothes. Neither did they replace their wardrobe every season. Their clothes were well made with high quality fabrics and lasted years..especially since they didn't get worn out in modern day washer/dryers. ;o)
Sending you another post with an other area of interest that is fascinating on the Pilgrims.
You are amazing.
Have you ever considered a lecture series for kids?
And you know, my mom had a “darning egg”
Her Dad carved it in the shape of her foot when she was three.
My Polish Grandma with 12 kids darned socks too!
I put a picture of my girls up on my Facebook page in Polish dance outfits and bonnets from Ft. Boonesboro. People slammed me for putting them in colors and not the traditional Black and White “that the Pilgrims wore”. HA!!!!!!!