Fabrics
Prosser buttons are manufactured buttons made of ceramic. They were patented in the 1840s and quickly dominated the market because of their cheapness and relative durability. Their easy availability meant that enslaved workers often used Prosser buttons on their clothes. This prosser button (top left) dates from around the Civil War, and appears to have been painted the same indigo blue common for “jean material” at this time. The metal buttons (top right, bottom left) were likely used on heavier outwear; in contrast, the bone button (bottom right) probably came from undergarments.
By the 1820s in America, most enslaved people wore clothes spun from cotton or wool, cotton for the summer and wool for the winter. Cotton and wool were easy choices because of their durability and cheapness, but it was not necessarily made for long hours of outdoor work. In the springtime, wool is hot and itchy; likewise, cotton can be too thin. Inexpensive fabrics were advertised as “Negro cloth” or “Plantation cloth,” though there is no one “Negro cloth.” Businesses catering to plantation clientele sold jean cloth (not quite denim, but a more rigid cotton that held up better under conditions on plantations than normal cotton), lindsey, kersey, and other kinds of cotton and wool blends.
Runaway ads in Louisiana in the early 1800s display a preference among slavers towards cotton, gingham, and wool blends. Interestingly, enslaved people seemed to receive woolen capots from a number of sources, sometimes on the ships departing from West Africa, sometimes from their enslavers, and sometimes from trade with local Native Americans.
Because slaves were given their fabrics or clothes directly, self expression was discouraged. Buying further supplies was expensive and very difficult, and many enslaved people avoided it in order to not call further attention to themselves. But that didn’t mean that there was no self expression; rather, that it came about in different ways.