In the 17th century, the poor did try to look fashionable, because good clothing was directly linked to respectability. They would have followed similar fashions to the nobles, or at least tried to, rather in the way the modern working class tries to imitate catwalk fashions, but the clothes worn by the poor would have been plainer and the fabric poorer quality. Let’s discuss what your peasant girl might have worn in the 17th century:

First is a shift. These were worn by all women, rich and poor, as the layer right next to the skin. This would be made of linen, but a poorer woman wouldn’t be able to afford to keep her shift pure white like the nobility, so she might have chosen cream or beige instead. The shift is constructed from simple squares and rectangles, with triangular gores under the arms running along the side seams to give greater freedom of movement. Alternatively, the front and back panels could have been cut with a slight flare and no gores used. The sleeves would come to the elbow or the wrist, and the hem would fall at the ankle or calf.

No drawers would be worn, so the next layer is the stays. These would have likely been strengthened with bents, made from reed, rather than whalebone, and a locally made wooden busk would strengthen the front. These weren’t tight laced at all like you may associate with nobles, especially in later periods like the Victorian era. They functioned almost like a full-torso bra, supporting but not restricting.

Stockings would be worn, gartered below the knee with ribbon or tape. Men’s hose were gartered above the knee, at the thigh, because their tunics were shorter.

Multiple petticoats would be worn, made of wool or linen. These would be ankle length, as it was respectable to show your ankles in the 17th century and did not become rude until later. Skirts/petticoats would have been as full and wide as a woman could afford, so potentially a bum roll may have been worn if she had access to it.

Sleeved bodices would be worn over stays, but potentially removed if a peasant women was doing farming work. The bodice would be made from wool and boned if not worn over stays. It would likely be simple without ribbon or braid, unless it was a cast off from a noble woman (see below).

A linen coif would be used to cover a woman’s hair. Wealthy women went without a head covering if they could afford to have their hair elaborately styled, but for poor women the respectable thing was to cover their hair with a coif.

A kerchief, a square of linen folded in half and pinned or tied about the neck, was worn particularly by labouring women to keep heat in when cold and avoid sunstroke when hot.

Clothes were made at home, especially items such as shifts, but there was a thriving second-hand market where someone may have bought their Sunday best. Also, clothes were part of a servant’s pay, and a favoured servant would have likely been given cast offs from their employer, so may have been seen wearing, say, a bodice ornamented with braid and ribbon. Poor people wore their clothes until they fell apart, mending and repairing until they couldn’t be mended any more, then cut up to make something else or to line a quilt. There’s also lots of piecing in extant garments, demonstrating how expensive fabric was, and how it wasn’t wasted.