ROUND FROCKS OR SMOCKS
by Pat Mitchell
Updated 11th January, 2015.

The word ‘smock’ is an old English word for a shift or chemise, hence the word ‘smocking’ came to be applied to the ornamental gathering of the necks of these garments.
The earliest smocks were simple shirt-like garments and came into being in Anglo-Saxon times. Many European countries also used smocking on their garments. They gradually developed into a fuller garment with much more room to move while working. The fullness was gathered in tubes or reeds at both back and front. These garments, known as ‘smock frocks’, were worn in England by the shepherds, carters and wagoners in the 1700s. Not much is recorded of the wearing apparel of the working class up to this period but occasionally in paintings of rural life one can see them.
Most smocks were made from a rough homespun and home woven linen or wool. They were quite heavy and provided extra warmth for the wearers while protecting their everyday clothes. The cut of these garments was simple and the basic sections were squares or rectangles. There were three styles - the Round Smock (Frock), the Shirt Smock and the Coat Smock.

Elsie gives a good description of them in Chapter 5 of ‘Rosamund’s Tuckshop’ ... "the new gardening mistress, coming from a survey of the grounds, was dressed in the same uniform that Daffodil had been wearing; khaki breeches, smocked yellow tunic to match, long boots, and soft khaki hat, with a glimpse of red hair beneath." In Chapter 2 of ‘Rosamund’s Castle’ we meet Benedicta when she finally gets to school after her accident. She has just arrived and has arrayed herself in her new outfit for the first time. "She wore yellow breeches and long brown boots, a yellow smock hanging almost to her knees, and a soft slouch hat to match ... She stood gazing dreamily down at the beautiful lawn, where girls in yellow smocks where working in groups under the trees."

Later in ‘New girls at Woodend’ Chapter 5 we meet Jean-Ann when she arrives at school wearing her working outfit. " .. The stranger wore the khaki breeches and lose smock, the soft hat and the long boots, which were the gardening outfit of Woodend."
In Chapter 8 Miss Rainey tells the new juniors "They are Sussex round-frocks, made on the pattern of the working clothes of old Sussex shepherds, up on the hills. Smocked across the chest and fastening at the back, they are exactly like the shepherds’ smocks ... You should feel it is an honour to wear traditional garments."

COAT SMOCKS were worn mainly by the Welsh shepherds. They were buttoned at the front and had a large cape-like collar to protect the wearer from the wet and misty conditions in Wales. They were knee length or longer and usually made of wool.
The gathering on the smocks began to be embroidered. It is not known why but perhaps the fullness of the coarse material blousing out from the neckline was uncomfortable. Smocking or embroidery held the gathers close to the chest. By the end of the 1700s the gathers were embroidered by a strong linen thread the colour of the smock, and the embroidery varied from area to area. Mostly natural colours from cream to dark brown, the type of embroidery indicated the wearer’s occupation. Leaves and trees for a woodsman, crooks and sheep for a shepherd, crosses for a gravedigger. Feather stitch was the most common.

(This article first appeared in The Abbey Guardian for April, 1998.)