They were little - short, and small-framed, and strong without being bulky. Made me feel enormous, and I'm 5'4", under 120 lbs. (between babies).
It's a trial for historical costumers, because uniforms of say, the WWI era, have to be cut very differently from the originals if today's actors or reenactors are going to wear them. You can't just make the old patterns bigger, because the shoulders will be too tight, sleeves too narrow, etc. People are not only bigger than a few generations ago, but shaped differently.
Mostly fatter. I don't think modern Americans grasp just how sinewy and lean people were before all the modern advances that allow us to put on pounds with such ease.
“It's a trial for historical costumers, because uniforms of say, the WWI era, have to be cut very differently from the originals if today's actors or reenactors are going to wear them. You can't just make the old patterns bigger, because the shoulders will be too tight, sleeves too narrow, etc. People are not only bigger than a few generations ago, but shaped differently.”
That is interesting. Now that you have pointed that out, yes, the skeletal structure appears to be different. Could we say that the skeletal structure is bigger? (“bigger”…lack of a better word).
These are military uniforms, right? That would make them very authentic. Too small, too big, too tight or too loose. Never just right.
Re: the clothes being differently proportioned as well as smaller, my grandmother told me that when she immigrated here from Ireland, her friends over here warned her not to bring much clothing to America, because after six months, it would not fit. Sure enough, she said, after being in the US for less than half-a-year, she had to buy all new clothes.
Hubby and I collect WWI & WWII items. The WWI uniforms are TINY...oddly so (we have quite a few). I'm 5'4"; 125 lbs; and can barely get my arms and shoulders into the mens' uniforms.
Occasionally, at a very large show we will see a larger-sized uniform; they are so rare they command $1000, or so.
Even the larger sized WWII uniforms are more expensive, as most are what we would consider a small or medium today.
HOWEVER, I have WWI & WWII Red Cross nurse uniforms that fit me perfectly. I think that mens' frames have changed far more than those of women.
Other than the uniforms it is hard to find pictures of troops with their cloths off until WW II. There were a bunch of pictures of the Civil War prisoners but they had been starved.
There is one picture of a British Infantry unit on the move in the desert of Iraq in WW I. They are wearing shorts and just walking along at a good pace. That picture has the biggest collection of "Twiggy" like bird legs I've every viewed in one place.
Hey, TC! Fancy meeting you here!