Does this work

[prairie dog]

For a Colonial civilian?

[rollingb]

PD.... since the Colonial Period isn't a period in history that I'm knowledgeable in, I have sent your question (and picture) to a buddy of mine.
I won't be able relay his answer back to you until tomorrow night 'cause I'm on a borrowed computer right now, my computer quit on me yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to hear what others might have to say.  

[prairie dog]

Thanks!  I haven't had much interest in Colonial times and haven't researched it.  There are a couple of events locally I would like to attend and try to fit into and I am attempting to do that with as little new gear as possible.

[rollingb]

PD,..... here is what Mike emailed back to me:...........

I can't tell if the guy is wearing just a shirt or a hunting shirt over a shirt.
Almost everybody wore some kind of jacket or coat back then. Lots of guys run around in a shirt and waistcoat now but that was considered underwear back then and was not done in polite company by civilized people. You were not dressed unless you were wearing a coat or some sort of workman's short jacket.

There is a really good book called Working Dress In Revolutionary & Colonial America by Peter Copeland. Fairly common book you can probably get it through interlibrary loan at your local library for a couple of dollars. Good source of information.

I hope this helps.  

[prairie dog]

Thanks for the feedback.  I've been doing some research on line too.  It's getting complicated.  I may need to be a poor farmer.  I don't think I want to wear the wig and complete suit required of an upper class gentleman.  I don't want to look like a freed slave either.

[tac]

For a Colonial civilian?

I don't see anything wrong with it  

[Loyalist Dave]

Geography plays a part in your question, as does time frame....

What you're wearing in the photograph would be fine for Southerners, in the F&I, or on the frontier between the F&I and the AWI.  The waistcoat is thigh length and the gaiters are full, which is what makes the time determination.  (IF those are trousers with buttons along the outer seams then no, you need to go to full sewn seams [imho] )  You might want to consider a cravat around your collar as well.  Your shirt cuffs (like my own) are too wide unless the time period is post 1790.  Common mistake; I've several shirts as I mentioned, like that myself. [I will fix that as they wear out]  FYI,  Over time, the length of the waistcoat shortened, so that in the largest towns and cities on the coast, the waistcoat was just below the point of the hips....but the farther away one went from the seaports, the longer the fashion changes took to appear.    

You should know that gaiters, and half-gaiters (aka spatter dashers) are pretty much military attire, but depending on what you're doing that day you might have adopted their use.  They are for busting brush,  not for normal, every day wear, and full-gaiters were just about gone among the English by the AWI.  

Lower to middle class persons, especially in warmer regions, would have found a waistcoat acceptable in public.  A tradesman working would also have found it acceptable.  He might have also worn an apron to protect the front.  A short jacket, or sleeved waistcoat, was also acceptable, (and would take the place of the waistcoat) not only for lower to middle class, but also for sea faring men.  

It is also a cultural thing.  For example there are reports of German farmers plowing shirtless, and their women not wearing stays beneath a short gown or bed jacket, while the English would in most cases have never done either.  German soldiers too were wearing the full gaiters into the AWI, so these too among ethnic Germans would have hung around for a while.    

Going North, say from PA on up,  then yes a coat would have been expected in public, and always for the prosperous in all the colonies, when "in public"....not to mention when "going to meeting" or a formal event such as a dance/ball or wedding/funeral.  

LD

[prairie dog]

Good information, thank you for posting.  I am still reading and researching the time period.