(I don't know quite how to categorize this one: a romanticized "shepherdess" done as a pink-and-chintz pseudo-18th-century costume worn over a very, very Edwardian corset. Click to enlarge the image.)
Skirt of chintz, with large flowers. Bodice and panier-drapery of pink nun's-veiling. Black velvet on sleeves and square-cut neck. Large hat trimmed with flowers.
Source: Masquerades, Tableaux and Drills. New York: The Butterick Publishing Company, 1906.
I’ve known several shepherds and shepherdesses (?) and I suspect that trying to deal with sheep in the hat and shoes portrayed would be difficult. The corset would probably not help.
I criticise, although the actual “imitation” costumes are no more supposed to be taken seriously than the metaphorical ones. A crook, flowers in the hat, old-fashioned-country-style dress and we all know what it’s supposed to be.
Yup, although there seems to have been a small subset of people who took accuracy more seriously and sniffed about people who didn’t live up to their standards. Some things never change!
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