At 9:47 AM +1100 12/21/05, A & J Garden wrote:
I have a man's doublet that is too tight for buttons and am looking for a period correct way of fastening down the front where the two sides just meet. I have not seen any lace up in any paintings. Can anyone help my poor tired brain with options?
Hooks and eyes? They're documentably period for front closures of men's doublets, as evidenced by the well-known portrait of (IIRC) Henry VIII's fool.
They do have to be carefully placed in order to make the edges butt up against each other exactly, and don't hesitate to space them at 1 inch apart or even closer. Commercial hook and eye tape usually has its hooks spaced a bit too far apart for this, unfortunately. Also, you need to bone, or at least reinforce, the edges they will be sewed to, in order to prevent buckling and gapping.
If the tightness is due to the wearer's having gained a few pounds, it might be worthwhile to put a hidden lacing underneath, to pull the wearer's girth in just a bit (if he'll put up with that, or feels the weight gain is temporary). Then cover it with a plain cloth placket and add the hooks and eyes to the outer edges.
I've sometimes heard it recommended that you alternate which side the hooks go on (i.e. the first pair would be hook on the left, eye on the right, and the next pair eye on the left, hook on the right). But I don't know whether that actually makes a smoother closure or not.
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