Plus, think of your fellow reenactors and maybe your own popularity or lack thereof, if you smell really bad. The Civil War was pre-deodorant days. Some guys think worse you smell, better your impression, but I would not go to that extreme. You can't diagnose smell in original photos.

My last comment on staying neat and clean as soldiers of Civil War wanted to do is about hair. Most of men who fought in Civil War ran gamut - crew cuts to long hair. I think they cut their hair for hygiene hair to keep lice down. I would think in summer they would cut their hair more and in winter they would have longer hair to keep warm.

The same would go with beards. A lot of this had to do with would depend if you had access to water, razors, etc. I would think in camp they would be much better groomed than on campaign.

In general, they were not sporting long ponytails or long hair very often. Long hair was less common than medium or short hair. Look at original photographs. As I have said many times, if you look at original photographs, you will see that hairstyles of day were neat and clean and short for most part.

Coach McCoach has been a Civil War reenactor in 4th North Carolina Infantry, 2nd Virginia Regiment, and 21st Virginia Company B. Coach has received "Authenticity Award" from these companies several times for his Civil War Uniform Impression. Coach's Civil War uniform designs have been seen in movies GETTYSBURG, Antietam Visitors Center, ANDERSONVILLE.

For more information, contact coach@civilwaruniforms.net or go to http://www.civilwaruniforms.net

2005 permission granted to reprint this article in print or on your website so long as paragraph above is included and contact information is included to coach@civilwaruniforms.net and http://www.civilwaruniforms.net

41. Next, get yourself some good buttons. Stay away from plastic and modern buttons. Go with glass, bone, shell, metal, porcelain, 2-hole cat's eye or Mother of Pearl. Metal buttons are authentic but they have potential to rust and stain your fabric.

45. Some shirts had button on collars, and many shirts were collarless. ECHOES: The Confederate Version shows seven shirts on pgs. 154-155, and each one has a different collar. Pvt. John Burgwyn MacRae Starr's North Carolina is a dark blue wool collarless pullover shirt while one below, Pvt. Andrew Thomas Beam, 28th South Carolina Volunteers' shirt is a white cotton with a square edged collar made of same color and material.

50. My rule of thumb is that I only make Civil War uniform items that I have seen in an original photograph or museum. Note: what is in museum is only very smallest tip of iceberg because there are very few actual items that made it through war. The vast majority of original clothing is long since gone. Some of fabrics and colors can be seen in very old quilts because they reused everything.

53. Note different collars, buttons, and fabrics, color combinations. I personally do not like solid color shirts. I like something with a little color to it. These shirts have original glass buttons on them. I prefer glass buttons for shirts because I like to match color combinations.

55. Keep everything 100% wool and 100% cotton. Make sure that material is a good grade, like homespun. If you are going to take time and energy, to make your own shirt, buy something high quality that will last. The price of shirt material is negligible compared to time and energy you will put into making it.

70. Original coin buttons are still available and affordable if you want to look for them. You can find them anywhere from one to three dollars. You might even want to go with a mismatched set - one or two state seals and remainder coin buttons.

Do you have more questions, have them answered http://www.civilwaruniforms.net/authenticshirts.htm

2004 permission granted to reprint this article in print or on your website so long as contact information is included to coach@civilwaruniforms.net