Additional information may be found at:

The Actual Environment:

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Clothes:
"The labourer then wore trousers and coat of corduroy or fustian, or breeches and gaiters of stout leather, a loose cotton neckerchief round his neck and stout heavily nailed boots." and "The man's Sunday clothes were of broadcloth with a gorgeous waistcoat of crimson plush, ornamented with countless buttons." also "...white moleskin cloth breeches below which he wore a pair of leggings fastened up the sides with mother of pearl buttons" and "leather breeches" were also used. Clothing was inherited (passed down through the generations, patched and repatched. The labouring class "wore with pride and spoke with pride of certain clothes which they purchased when they were married, and were proud in the knowledge that they would serve for many years. In those days fashion did not change with the moon, and if it had changed they would have ignored it." Finally, "...he gave pennies to the children in the cottage he entered because he was speaking to a child whose toes were out of its shoes, whose pinafore was torn, or whose clothing was otherwise scanty and much worn...". ^{[#,  p. 118-120]}

Last Easter Jim put on his blue
Frock cwoat the vu'st time–vier new;
Wi yollow buttons all o' brass
That glittered in the zun like' glass.
And pok'd ithin the button hole
A tutty he'd a'begg'd or stole.
A span new wes'co't, too, he wore,
Wi' yollow stripes all down avore
An' tied his breeches' lags below
The knee, wi' ribbon in a bow;
An' drow'd his kitty-boots azide,
An' put his laggens on, an' tied
His shoes wi' strings two vinkers wide,
     Because 'twer Easter Zunday.
For his girl:
Her frocks be a-meade all becomen an' plain
An' clean as a blossom undimmed by a stain.
Her bonnet ha' got but two ribbons, a-tied
Up under her chin, or let down at the zide. ^{[#,  p. 120, 121]}

^*   "....; the coachman, in his wooden-soled shoes,...", "Sketches by Boz", Scenes, Chapter 7, Hackney-coach Stands (London)", Charles Dickens, p. 107, Penguin Books, 1995 reprint.

^#   "The English Rural Labourer: his Home, Furniture, Clothing & Food from Tudor to Victorian Times", by G. E. Fussell, the Batchworth Press, London, 1949