Dear Julie, I had looked up Picadilly Circus a while back, so your message is most welcome. Who'd have thunk? I went to your websites, but the wiki site doesn't show pictures labelled with peccadille collars, or anything close. So then I went to the book. Takes forever to download, but there are pictures. Is the peccadille collar the one on page 45 of the book, page 55 of the .pdf file figure 13? or am I missing something? The latter is the most likely. Most of the collars look like 'old fashioned' bobbin lace, a takeoff of the Italian needlelace collars. Van Dyke collars. I reread your message, and got to figures 45 & 46, to be found on page 87 of the book and page 109 of the .pdf file. These are not distinct enough for me to tell if they are a form of what is now known as eyelet embroidery or pseudo Italian needlelace. Peccadille has something to do with piercing, and thus reminds me of eyelet embroidery. I wonder if a peccadille collar was a form of eyelet embroidery to copy! the much more expensive needlelace or bobbin lace Van Dyke collars.
I then did a bit of googling myself, and am convinced that peccadille is the French for the Spanish piccadillo, which means, in French, a small sin, http://www.larousse.com/en/dictionnaires/francais/peccadille/58870 and http://www.mediadico.com/dictionnaire/francais-anglais/peccadille At least, that's what it means now. I am being dense here, I suspect, but I think this is a situation where pointing to the picture is what is needed. Has anyone found such, or have I missed it? If Figure 13 is Peccadille it doesn't say so. You're right, this is where I stop, needing to cook supper, but knowing that more research is needed. Wonderful what you can find online. Lyn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, where not enough snow has fallen to show on the grass. Julie wrote: I came across a mention of "peccadilles" in some non-lace reading and got >curious and decided to do some research. My lace library isn't as extensive >as others' so when I didn't find anything (e.g. Earnshaw, Dictionary of >lace), I turned to Google. First stop, Wikipedia, which suggested this is >cutwork (so likely an embroidery rather than lace technique) and confirmed >that further research might be productive. > >Here's Wikipedia: > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccadill > >A piccadill or pickadill is a large broad collar of cut-work lace that >became fashionable in the late 16th century and early 17th century. Examples >of a piccadill can be seen on portraits of ><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_I> Queen Elizabeth I and other >portraits of her contemporaries such as Sir Walter Raleigh. Piccadilly, a >street in central London, is believed to be named after the piccadill, >perhaps because a landowner in the area once made his fortune from them. > >There seems to be other information online, not all in languages I read. >Here's one that confirms the Wikipedia entry (or may be where the >information originated J.) > >Historic dress 1608-1800 (Internet Archives) > > ><http://www.archive.org/stream/1607historicdres00mccluoft/1607historicdres00 >mccluoft_djvu.txt> >The fashionable costume in England during the reign of Charles I, made >familiar to us by the magic brush of Vandyke, was picturesque in the >extreme. A gentleman of those days wore a doublet of satin or velvet with >large loose sleeves slashed up the front (Figures 45, 46); the collar >covered by a falling band of richest point-lace with the peculiar edging now >called Vandyke (Figures 14 and 16), and a short cloak worn carelessly over >one shoulder. Bands were called 'peccadilles ' when trimmed with this >pointed lace, so fashionable in the middle of the seventeenth century, and >it is interesting to read that the fashionable London thoroughfare, >Piccadilly, gets its name from a shop where "peccadilles" were made and sold >in the reign of Charles I. > "My email sends out an automatic message. Arachne members, please ignore it. I read your emails." - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/