Thanks for the responses. I knew the slashings could be done so they wouldn't fray. I guess the part I was really surprised by was saying that they slashed the clothing that was too small so it could be worn. I don' t know if that's just an origin story or what, but the Landsknect clothing I've seen was beautifully slashed in decorative ways and not in ways to make it larger.
What say you all? <G> Julie > " I took a history of fashion class in college (design major) and the > decorative cutting of clothes goes back to the 16th century if not earlier. > It started with the german warriors who would take the fine silk clothing > of the people they bested in battle but the clothing was too small (these > were evidently big guys) so they cut the pants up in decorative slashes so > that they could still wear them. (look up "landschkinects") This was of > course before the invention of the washing machine so the fabric didn't > disintegrate like it would now with modern washing practices. And the > fashion spread throughout Europe. The frayed edges of the cuts were > definitely part of the design element of it to the extent that there were > some fabrics woven to look like they had been decoratively cut...the frayed > edge duplicated with an overlaid weft that was severed after weaving (like > velvet, only in spots) and there were special chisels made for the tailors > to do the cutting with." > > Thanks for your wisdom > Julie _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
