I have been thinking about this since your message came through a few hours ago, trying to come up with a source to prove or disprove the use of gathers in 1550 to 1600. (One of the things I adore about this list is that folks site documentation to back up opinions.) However, I'm drawing a blank too, since most of our existing examples show those of wealth, layered in seriously significant amounts of yardage.
What class of gown are you working on? It's not a leap to assume that the lower classes couldn't afford the yardage to do proper regular pleats, box pleats or cartridge pleats, and therefore did indeed gather out of necessity. For example, if one only had enough yardage to make a skirt that was 5 inches wider than the hip measurement, 5 inches would not pleat evenly all the way around. To evenly space the pleats and put them all the way around without major gaps between them, the fabric must be 1.5 times the waist measurement, at minimum, right? (And this doesn't even take into account bum rolls.) It's not like gathering wasn't a new skill in that time period...by that era, people had been manipulating fabric with that technique for a long, long time. If you're not aiming for upper class, I say go for it. If you are aiming for upper class, and are low on fabric, maybe a Spanish surcoat would work for the amount of fabric you have...? Or are you just trying to get out of making pleats?? *wink* 'Bella On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 9:24 PM, Elizabeth Jones < elizabethrjones2...@gmail.com> wrote: > I can't think of any Elizabethan images that show pleats as small as > those in mid 19th century skirts (which is the context in which I have > previously heard the term gauging) Cartridge pleats are one of the > types of pleats used but judging by portraits I wouldn't put in pleats > any smaller than 1 inch wide (i.e.I mean 1 inch as the section showing > on top of the pleat not the total amount of fabric taken up by the > pleat) for an Elizabethan skirt. > Elizabeth > > On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 1:58 PM, Marjorie Wilser <the3t...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Just curious. . . I don't have a good Elizabethan book to hand. > > > > In period, is gauging/gathering appropriate for a skirt? Many thanks! I > can do it. . . but little tucks are easier. :) > > > > ==Marjorie Wilser > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > h-costume mailing list > > h-costume@mail.indra.com > > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
