Re: [h-cost] h-costume Digest, Vol 12, Issue 6
-- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:54:18 -0600 (CST) From: Pixel, Goddess and Queen pi...@hundred-acre-wood.com To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: [h-cost] 14th c. German interpretation assistance Message-ID: alpine.deb.2.00.130347480.31...@rocky.itasca.net Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed So I have this friend who said if you make it for me I will wear it and I want to make this outer garment: http://diglit.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/cpg848/0141?sid=8d563ad12e918dcb1c d18fb352e23e86 I am having a disagreement with my other half about how to interpret it, though. It's the only one in the manuscript, I just doublechecked, so nothing to compare it with. Anyway and anyhow, what *I* read is that it has sleeves attached at the shoulder but then the body is slit up all the way to the armpit on the sides, or at least the left side. Then the sleeve seam is on the bottom, and this seam is also slit to allow the arm to come out. And it has buttons up the front. Thoughts, anyone? Jen This kind of surcoat is called a garde-corps. It was very common wear in the 13th century for professional men, and was also sometimes worn by clerics and later by women. You can still occasionally see it worn right through to the fifteenth century. The sleeves are wide and gathered into the sleeve head, and there is usually a slit down the front (or the sleeve seam is rotated and left open) so the arms can come out (the sleeves themselves are usually longer than the actual arm). A buttoned slit at the neck is also common, although the surcoat is not usually split all the way down and the slit up the front - presumably to make it easier for this guy to ride - is actually relatively unusual. I made one of these a while ago for wearing over thirteenth and fourteenth century clothes and it's really comfortable and warm - and really good if you want to be doing stuff with your hands. There's a pattern in Mediaeval Costume in England and France: The 13th, 14th and 15th centuries by Mary Houston, but it's not hard to figure out without one. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Is anyone there?
Message: 1 Date: Fri, 04 Jan 2013 23:16:27 -0600 From: Pierre Sandy Pettinger costu...@radiks.net To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: [h-cost] Is anyone there? Message-ID: e1trm9d-0005vs...@elasmtp-junco.atl.sa.earthlink.net Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed We've seen no messages since December 18 - is everyone really that busy? Typical post-holiday question - What costume goodies did you get this year? -- Alas, I haven't been doing a lot of sewing lately, although I have some lovely pumpkin coloured wool that is calling to me right now. I have been doing some crochet, and downloading far more crochet patterns than I will ever have time for. I got a copy of 17th Century Women's Dress Patterns by Susan North and Jenny Tiramani, put out by the VA. It has a little bit of cross-over with Janet Arnolds Patterns of Fashions series, but has a narrower time frame so it covers more garments, mostly from the beginning to the middle of the seventeenth century. It also has more detail including embroidery patterns and knitting graphs and so on. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Looking for textile, costume needlework museums
Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2012 12:15:03 -0700 From: Ginni Morgan ginni.mor...@doj.ca.gov To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: [h-cost] Looking for textile, costume needlework museums near Leeds, Durham or York Message-ID: 5024fb47.c8a6.008...@doj.ca.gov Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Greetings, everyone~ Longtime lurker delurking here. I have a good friend who is traveling to England about two weeks from now. She will be visiting the area around York, Durham and Leeds and is looking for textile, costume and/or needlework museums and/or collections in that general part of England. Her specific area of interest is pre-1650 embroidery in any form (garments, hangings, book covers, etc.), particularly Elizabethan needlework. Does anyone know of such places in that area? Any recommendations? Do they allow photographs? Also, someone once told her about a museum named the Nottingham Textile Costume Museum which supposedly had a very large collection of Elizabethan embroideries, etc. However, this museum supposedly closed shortly after her informant visited it. She thought it was located on Castle Road in Nottingham. We have found a mention of the museum on a what to see in Nottingham website and that seems to indicate the museum is currently open. Does anyone know anything about this one? Any assistance would be appreciated. Ginni Morgan aka Gwenhwyfaer -- ** If she is willing to go as far south as Nottingham then she might like to try Hardwick Hall. This is an Elizabethan house built for Bess of Hardwick, and is famous for its embroideries, many supposedly by Bess herself. I went there once as a child, long before I had more than a general interest in things historical, and remember being rather impressed. Incidentally I later discovered that my great grandmother worked there very briefly as a domestic servant (late Edwardian times) and something unpleasant caused her to leave. She would never say what, but refused to go there again ever. Angharad ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Thread- reluctant switcher needs suggestions
Message: 2 Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 09:08:00 -0400 From: Rickard, Patty ricka...@mountunion.edu To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: Re: [h-cost] Thread- reluctant switcher needs suggestions Message-ID: 9303a5f18320a641acbabbce4dab25ca4a72796...@orion.campus.muc.prv Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Well, having used silk thread on a cotton garment having had it pull its way through the fabric, I can attest to at least one misuse. (the silk matched better, that's all I can say) Patty -Original Message- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Sharon Collier Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 2:59 AM To: 'Historical Costume' Subject: Re: [h-cost] Thread- reluctant switcher needs suggestions On a related note, I heard that using the wrong type of thread can damage the fabric. Anyone ever hear of this and/or have more info? Sharon C. Yes, if the thread is made from a fibre that is stronger than the fibres from which the fabric is made then it can tear, as Patty has experienced. Although it's more likely to happen in seams that are under stress. Embroidering silk on linen is unlikely to cause a problem, for instance, because it is not under tension. But using silk thread to sew a tight-fitting cotton bodice could be a problem. Strong fibres are linen, silk, polyester and nylon. Weak fibres are cotton and wool. But there's no mathematical equation here. A heavy or densely woven cotton fabric like denim or coutil might not be such a problem to sew with silk thread. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing today?
-- Message: 2 Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 14:25:48 -0700 From: Cin cinbar...@gmail.com To: H-costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing today? Message-ID: cam1w8k4amluze+ddpvltkjry4cdq29gfdnb3v8p78xfgttj...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 It's that time of year: spring parties, summer balls, summer theater season, LARPs, historic recreation events, costume conventions fandom. You might even be planning a sojourn to a balmy tropical locale or a historic site. Whatever the reason, h-costumers are probably making something. So, what's your dressmaker's dummy wearing today? --cin Cynthia Barnes cinbar...@gmail.com ** It's might be that time of year for you. :-) My dummy has a big heap of summer clothes that I haven't gotten around to putting away for the winter yet. I haven't done much sewing at all lately. I have been too busy with study and organising a big event in July. Because, you know, work and kids is not enough :-) I do have early stage plans for a late 16th century French gown (and some nice red and blue shot silk to make it), so in my imagination, she is wearing that. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] h-cost] Thread- reluctant switcher needs suggestions
-- Message: 8 Date: Thu, 17 May 2012 08:11:19 -0700 From: Marjorie Wilser the3t...@gmail.com To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: [h-cost] Thread- reluctant switcher needs suggestions Message-ID: bec82a77-4330-4c05-88f9-ebd433cb6...@gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes My favorite thread has been discontinued without so much as a peep. I am preternaturally p.o'd at the venerable Coats Clark, but now I need to switch threads. My old favorite was the sometimes deingrated Coats Clark cotton- wrapped polyester. It had the shine of cotton and the strength of polyester. Coats is now producing it under the same name but it's all polyester. Ideas? I know some folks out there are thread snobs, but I just want something that's (a) available!! and (b) will hold up. A little (c) affordability and (d) good color range wouldn't hurt either. A basic, workhorse thread!! Second question: how do you match thread to fabric if you can't actually *compare* them in a store? ==Marjorie Wilser I use Guterman, but that is mostly because it is the only 'brand' name thread that seems to be readily available around here. I use either the 100% cotton or the 100% silk, but then I am mostly doing hand sewing not machine sewing these days. As for the second question, take a little snip of fabric with you when you go to buy the thread. Claire -- ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume End of h-costume Digest, Vol 11, Issue 103 ** ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Wimple origins - was (no subject)
-- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:03:11 -0700 From: Laurie Taylor mazarineblu...@gmail.com To: 'Historical Costume' h-cost...@indra.com Subject: [h-cost] (no subject) Message-ID: E9C6E08945FD4CD0A2437D9D2252EA50@laurie Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Greetings all, I've been mulling this bit of trivia around in my head for the longest time. I think I need to share it and see if any of you know of any support or documentation for this information. Most Unusual Concession to Modesty: The earliest Christians believed that the Virgin Mary was impregnated through her ear and that other women as well had used their ears as reproductive organs. For that reason, an exposed female ear was considered no less an outrage than an exposed thigh, and a woman would not appear in public unless clad in a tight-fitting wimple. Felton, Bruce, and Mark Fowler. Part II, Behavior. The Best, Worst, and Most Unusual: Noteworthy Achievements, Events, Feats and Blunders of Every Conceivable Kind. New York: Galahad, 1994. 428. Print. So, the wimple had to develop for some reason. Is this reason believable? Documentable? Are there any other reasons that would be more legitimate based on available documentation? Laurie Taylor Phoenix * I could believe the 'impregnated aurally' bit as I think at least one of the gospels just says something like 'and God spoke to Mary and she was with child' and sillier ideas have come of less. On the other hand I'm extremely dubious about the wimple because it was not a very common item of clothing until the late 12th or early 13th century, and there's rather a long time between that and 'early Christian'. Pre 12th century Christian women often wore large veils that they wrapped around their necks and shoulders in some way, but these weren't what I would call a wimple. Note that the reason nuns wore wimples pre Vatican II is that around this time (late 12th, early 13th centuries) was a time of reformulation of some monastic orders, and the foundation of some of the most popular ones. Religious orders took up what was essentially an extremely modest form of contemporary dress at the time, and then modified it very little thereafter. As to where the wimple actually came from, I expect it was a development of either the earlier large wrapped veil (a wimple is somewhat less cumbersome), or of the 'chinstrap' part of the 'fillet and barbette' headdress. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] 15th c Headdress Help
Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:53:57 -0700 From: Regina Lawson reginalaws...@gmail.com To: h-costume@mail.indra.com Subject: [h-cost] 15th c Headdress Help Message-ID: banlktin1egifnr85v7feskzjxuwtzcu...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 I am reproducing the ensemble from the Margaret Fitzgerald tomb effigy, in St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, Ireland. The headdress is the Irish version of the heart shaped headdress. Any and all advice regarding construction or application (kputting it on) would be greatly appreciated. I have some ideas, but no practical experience with the style. ** I've made a couple of these wierd 15th century hats, though not one precisely like this. To start with you need a firmly fitting fabric headband (a wide strip of linen or cotton is good). This will keep all the stray hairs behaving (if you have the sort of hair that misbehaves) and form the base for the headdress. You can see something that might be this on the sculpture at the front of her forehead. I would pin the stiff part of the headdress to such a base. As for the stiff part, you can't really see the back of this one, so it might be two distinct horns, or it might be a single piece that goes right round the back of the head. If the latter, you could make it from buckram or cardboard (you might have to fiddle a bit to get the right shape), if the former I would use Cynthia's wireform instructions. Cover in fabric and decorate. Then drape a nice light-weight veil over the top. The wiggly bits in the middle look like oak-leaf dags to me. Dagging was used on women's hats in the 15th century (copying men's chaperones), but if, as someone else has pointed out, this is an anachronistic depiction, it maybe a mish mash of someone's ideas of 15th century styles. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Subject: Norman quesiton
-Original Message- From: C. S. Friedman c.s.fried...@comcast.net I'm looking for reliable info on the methods of closure of Norman women's dress. Period art or contemporary documentaiton (ie primary sources). Apparently there are sources claiming they were sewn into their garments, and I wisht ot learn if that was 1) true, 2) true for all garments, and if the answer to 2 is no, 3) what else was used? Any help for being pointed in the right dirction appreciated. Annalena ___ That's a tricky one. I wouldn't be surprised if it was true, but it probably wasn't true of all garments. If you're talking about the tightfitting gowns that were fashionable during the mid 12th century, there is a great scarcity of evidence and a great deal of debate about how they were put together. However it's generally agreed that they were fastened by side-lacing (which to my mind includes the option of sewing). There is one particular drawing that illustrates this. I think it is reproduced in Kohler, but most images of these styles of dress come from sculpture. Searching for 'bliaut' will probably get you some useful results. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] I guess this counts as a historical costume
And, hey, he won first prize! http://crushable.com/other-stuff/the-daily-wtf-hundred-year-old-bacon-costum e/ ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] question on corset patterns
Message: 8 Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2011 23:56:59 -0600 From: Pierre Sandy Pettinger costu...@radiks.net To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: Re: [h-cost] question on corset patterns Message-ID: e1pbrmm-0001ik...@elasmtp-scoter.atl.sa.earthlink.net Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed A note on fitting corset muslins: A hint I got several years ago - don't remember from where - was to create two strips out of heavy material - old jeans will do in a pinch. Make them at least double thickness, and put a narrow bone of some sort along the edge fold. Then put in grommets about every inch. Make them longer than you think you'll need for any possible corset style you might ever make. These can then be basted into a muslin so you can lace it up properly to check the fit, without having to put in grommets, try to pin it to fit (not happening), or making slits that then rip out after one fitting. Once you have the fit, remove them and use them for the next corset muslin. These have made corset making much easier!! Sandy This is so useful, and it works well for other things that will be laced too, like 14th/15th century fitted gowns. Pinning stuff closed just doesn't give you a good impression of how it is working. I use an old gown opening that I cut out of a dress I was adjusting, from the days before I started doing hand sewn lacing holes. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] h-costume Digest, Vol 9, Issue 297
Message: 9 Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:49:49 +1100 From: stils...@netspace.net.au To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: Re: [h-cost] Sherlock Message-ID: 1287827389.4cc2afbd24...@webmail.netspace.net.au Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 On the other hand, I'm not sure I would like seeing a modernized version . . . Updated Holmes is one of the oldest tricks in the book...even Hollywood did it with fanfare with the Rathbone series in the late-30s/early-40s. I did not mind the pilot but thought it would make a good occasional bit of viewing rather than a series given the zapping around the screen and the oddball split-screening directors have fallen in lust with over the last decade -- stop trying to find ways to excite us and just excite us. Still, the performances are strong enough to let your memories of previous versions slip away for the duration. Holmes as a sociopath worked well, Watson as an old warrior did so too. The Moriarty hints were nice but Mycroft stuck out like dog's whatsits. I never watched the second and third episodes due to work but probably would if it did not mean doing anything more than flicking the TV switch. I guess that's the whole review: good, watchable but you would not go out of your way for it, -C. You can flick the TV switch tonight - it's been showing on free to air in Australia with the third episode on tonight. Just not on the ABC, where you'd imagine it would be. I liked the first episode a great deal. I was a bit distracted during the second, but it struck me as less good. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Hooks bars problem
-- Message: 8 Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2010 08:31:35 -0700 From: Cin cinbar...@gmail.com To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: Re: [h-cost] Hooks bars problem Message-ID: aanlktim_rh3mpeufvvdyecv2p7kw9nptqnf_8s=_l...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Here's what I've done for historical theater purposes, rather than strict use of historical methods. In Danse Libre performances the last thing I wanted to worry about is costume bits falling off while I was on stage. I chose to do up the lining with sturdy closures, then close the outside fashion layer with something nearly invisible like hooks eyes or covered snaps. This means that the bodice had to be bag lined all around except for CB (usually) closure area. Turn edges of the closure area leaving the outer layer(s) separate from the inside. Apply suitable closure methods to the separate layers.. The lining was closed usually with laces, but for a quick theatrical costume change (7 mins from Victorian into Ragtime), I've installed a zipper. On another, I made a fake closure in the back (a typical Victorian arrangement for a ballgown bodice) and placed the true closure on the CF under some trim. I realize, Kimiko, that you primarily do Tudor, and stay in your things for long periods so my theatrical suggestions are less useful. However, the multiple closures idea shows up in the 16th c with hooks, laces (points) used simultaneously. Finally, you (or your client) may also have over-tightened the stays so that the body fails to fill out the garment as it was designed. Best regards, --cin Cynthia Barnes cinbar...@gmail.com * A similar solution, but one that might fit more in the early 16th century might be have a set of lacing rings set say a half inch back from the openings, and then pin the overlap down. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] fitting question
-- Message: 3 Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 11:43:20 -0500 From: Alexandria Doyle garbaho...@gmail.com To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: [h-cost] fitting question Message-ID: aanlktinoew=+q5yg7g+tdbpfqvaaqhkmkmex4t4_q...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 I have in the past made several ladies a fitted cote, circa 1400. The fit of the body has been good and I don't have a problem with thet. I have been having problems with the fit of the sleeve/shoulders in ladies that have wide shoulders. Usually when I drape with the arm straight out from the shoulder, sleeve fits snug to the arm pit. For those with narrower shoulders, there doesn't seem to be a problem. But I've come across two ladies now, with wide shoulders that while everything fits in the neutral position, the moment they make movements with the arms forward they have issues with bunching at the front of the arm hole in particular, and to a certain extent gaping at the neckline. The capes on the sleeve at this point are realitively shallow, so would increasing the depth of the curve help? making the armhole openning larger? Add a gusset to the armpit? I'm currently working with a dress that is made up, and while I can recut new sleeves if needed, starting from scratch on the body is out of the question. alex -- Look up the pattern for the Pourpoint of Charles de Blois (there's one here: http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/blois.html). This has a very deep armhole with many gores/gussets set into the top of the sleeve to create a large circular sleeve head. Someone once told me this is a good way to make a close fitting garment for men with large shoulder/back muscles so I wonder if you could do something similar, if less extreme for yur wide shouldered women. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Victorian Hair:
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:32:31 +0100 From: Anne anne.montgome...@googlemail.com To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: Re: [h-cost] Victorian Hair: Message-ID: 4bd81ccf.2080...@googlemail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed I would be really interested to hear the result, if you choose this approach, because, to be honest, I never had much luck. My hair is just to my waist, and I have found that hairdressers are more practised in putting up hair that is to shoulder-blades or shorter. They don't seem to know where to store all the length, and weight, before doing fancy stuff with the last 8 inches. Jean This happened to me too at my brother's wedding about 18 months ago. My hair looked very nice but you certainly wouldn't have guessed that it is mid thigh length because most of it was just rolled up underneath itself. Admittedly it was very humid (the tropics in summer), which wasn't helping at all. I suspect most historical women would have had hair not much longer than the women drying their hair on that Victorian roof top. There seems to be a limit to how long you can grow your hair which is probably related to hair type, nutrition etc. Curiously I could never grow my hair past the small of my back until I had children. Now I find it is often too long for some historical styles, and I wonder what women who had very long hair did in these periods - or did they just cut it off for fashion's sake? Claire/Angharad ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] 20 century corsets with underbelt
-- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 02:27:02 -0700 (PDT) From: Anne Foote anne_fo...@yahoo.com To: h-costume@mail.indra.com Subject: [h-cost] 20 century corsets with underbelt Message-ID: 605376.11669...@web30904.mail.mud.yahoo.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I am looking for help with corsetry 1900 to 1950. I am sure that we all know that 18 and 19 century corsets or stays were made in one or two parts, usually with the busk fastening at the front and laced together at the back. In the early 20 century things got more complicated, an underbelt was added - see the following link http://museums.leics.gov.uk/collections-on-line/GetObjectAction.do?objectKey =272581 I can remember my grandmother wearing a pink (tea rose was the polite name!) corset with an underbelt, around 1960. Can anyone help with the purpose of the this underbelt? I've seen examples where they are rigidly boned, but so too was the corset, so I am not sure why the need for extra support. .Annie * My guess is that the underbelt is not so much for support as to help you put the corset on by yourself - ie to hold it in place while you do up the busk or laces. Much the same principle as the little inside facing button on the top of many modern pairs of trousers (ie it holds the waist closed while you do up the zip/slide fastener). Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] A question on sewing fur
Message: 2 Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:16:33 -0500 From: Bonnie Booker aspas...@gmail.com To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: Re: [h-cost] A question on sewing fur Message-ID: e135879a1003111016k270afe96pf5e44c2617036...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Does anyone have any good resources on how to sew fur? I am trying to work up a class on fur in historical costuming and although I have found a few books that cover the topic but they get mixed reviews. -- One of my Apprentices is a taxidermist and furrier. She says not to sew skin to skin as it will eventally give way. Attach it to bias tape or cloth strips, then sew them together. This way the fur stays undamaged and you can remove it from costume when it needs washing. She also draws the pattern on the underside and cuts with a blade. Aspasia Moonwind -- But doesn't attaching the fur to the tape or strips damage it anyway? Is there some way of doing this so that it doesn't? Angharad ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?
-- Message: 8 Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 03:08:54 -0800 From: K?the Barrows kay...@gmail.com To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing? Message-ID: cc6102431003060308l4cfb5a4crfeb898049b673...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 Strictly speaking it's now autumn here Australia? The one time I visited Australia was around Easter (autumn down there). In Sydney I bought my copy of Nancy Bradfield's book with the drawings of real garments, in Adelaide I got a c.1912 parasol really cheap in an op-shop (=thrift store), and in Perth I picked up many yards of nice cotton sateen, and visited a monastery to look at the antique vestments on display in their museum. -- Carolyn Kayta Barrows -- ?The future is already here, it is just unevenly distributed.? -William Gibson -- -- Yep, Australia. Adelaide to be specific. Although I was in Canberra when I wrote that note, where it was decidedly more autumnal. I have that Nancy Bradfield book too (although I think I got it off Amazon). It is lovely. It totally makes me want to make Edwardian clothes (although I have nowhere to wear them). And I apologise for the strange lateness of my message. I was on the road as I said, and forgot that my ISP refuses to send emails from unsecured networks. So it sat in cyberspace for a week. Angharad ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?/Nancy bradfield
Message: 7 Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 07:27:01 -0800 From: K?the Barrows kay...@gmail.com To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Subject: Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing? Message-ID: cc6102431003070727y77a7a835oac1e0f467...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 Yep, Australia. Adelaide to be specific. In Adelaide we discovered 1% alcohol ginger beer, sold as a soft drink at that time in Australia. And we were overflown by a flock of budgies one afternoon. I have that Nancy Bradfield book too (although I think I got it off Amazon). It is lovely. It totally makes me want to make Edwardian clothes (although I have nowhere to wear them). The first edition, which I don't have, includes color images of some of the garments. The second edition (mine) has a drawings of a few more garments instead. There's also a paperback edition now. -- We still have the budgies, but not the ginger beer I think. I have the paperback edition. Colour pictures would be nice, but I love the drawing of the 1913 evening dress in the back. Angharad ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?
Message: 5 Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 16:30:00 -0800 From: Cin cinbar...@gmail.com To: h-cost h-cost...@indra.com Subject: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing? Message-ID: edcaf0221003011630l7fa02ea2n95461e250c736...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 It's spring (where I live). You might be making something for the end of the theater season, a party, a wedding, a con or a re-enactment. Whatever the reason, costumers are probably making something. ?So, what's your dressmaker's dummy wearing today? --cin Cynthia Barnes cinbar...@gmail.com Strictly speaking it's now autumn here, but summer is likely to linger a while yet. It's not really on my dress dummy, but I am finally finishing my handsewn effigy corset, and ignoring the gfd which is actually on my dress dummy. (also handsewn but at the tedious seam finishing stage). Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Washing linen trousers
Hi all, This is not a historical question, for which I apologise, but I thought if anyone had sensible opinions on this it would be the people on this list. I recently bought some fairly upmarket linen trousers for work (on sale of course J). It wasn't until after I wore them that I noticed the care label said 'dry clean only'. I don't have anything else that is dry clean only, so I'm not exactly in the habit of going to to the dry cleaners. I was wondering if it would be a bad idea to wash these trousers in the washing machine. They are actually a linen-cotton blend, a very fine, crisp material with a slight slub. They are styled to take advantage of the crispness of the material (fine pleats around the waistband, turn ups, etc). I see no immediate cause why I should not wash them. I accept that they'll become very crumply, but I'm more willing to iron than I am to dryclean. Can anyone else think of a reason I shouldn't wash them? Thanks muchly, Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] h-cost] Holkeboer book - patterns question - long
I made a Roman outfit a while ago now. I made my stola from about 3m of 120cm Wide silk, and my palla from 2.5m of 112cm wide fine wool. This was perfectly adequate to obtain the drapiness you see on statuary, myself being about 5'3, and about 100cm wide at the hips. So those do seem like extremely large amounts of fabric. Having said that, if I were any taller I would have had to piece fabric rather than being able to use selvedges as the top and bottom hems (if you get my point). And that would probably increase the amount of fabric needed. Claire Message: 4 Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 16:04:57 -0700 From: Laurie Taylor costume...@mazarineblue.com Subject: [h-cost] Holkeboer book - patterns question - long To: 'Historical Costume' h-cost...@indra.com Message-ID: 974a22832bc843f09c51c474acc82...@laurie Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hello, I'm looking at the Holkeboer book, Patterns for Theatrical Costumes. I do understand that the book is intended for theatrical use where down-and-dirty is so often the rule of the day. However, I am looking at the first three sections of historical patterns - Egyptian, Greek and Roman, with the idea of these being (or not) a reasonable jumping-off point to cut lengths for hopefully accurate reproduction of the basic garments of those cultures. My students are going to get the fun of being handed these lengths and trying to figure out how to wrap the long pieces to get the correct effect as well as how to tie the ribbons or belts on the Greek chitons. The book states that the patterns are in 1/8 scale, with a few in 1/16. I grabbed a ruler and calculator and did all the math on those first sections. This is what I came up with for yardage for the main pieces in each cultural group. These would all be approximate amounts with some flexibility as suited available fabrics. Egyptian Man's Kalasiris 48 x 3 1/3 yards Man's Schenti 22 x 2 2/3 yards Woman's Sheath 28 x 3 1/8 yards Woman's Kalasiris 64 x 3 2/3 yards Greek Man's Chiton/Exomis 36 x 2 1/2 yards Man's Himation 48 or 72 x 4-6 yards Woman's Doric Chiton 1 76 x 74 Woman's Ionic Chiton64 x 6 1/8 yards Woman's Gathered Chiton 64 x 6 1/8 yards Woman's Doric Chiton 2 88 x 2 2/3 yards Woman's Himation60 x 4 yards Woman's Narrow Himation 24 x 4 yards Roman Man's Toga (cut oval) 72 x 6 1/4 yards Man's Tunic 48 x 2 1/8 yards Man's Paenula 58 x 3 3/4 yards Man's Lacerna 38 x 2 1/2 yards Woman's Stola 60 x 6 2/3 yards Woman's Palla 60 x 4 yards Man's Dalmatica 64 x 2 5/8 yards Woman's Dalmatica 60 x 4 1/8 yards Of course, as long as no stitching is done to a cut length, it could well double for different pieces amongst the cultures, i.e. the Greek woman's chitons and the Roman woman's stola could be done from the same piece. So, do any of these lengths seem too long for the garment in question? The Roman woman's stola seemed like an awful lot of fabric to me, even understanding the light weight of the period fabrics. I did use 1/8 as the scale for all of the patterns where 1/16 was not specified. The width of the fabric most often corresponds to the length of the garment on the body, with the yards amount being somehow wrapped around the body. I have tons of fabric to play with, or to permit students to play with, so we can do a lot of this. I'm going to cut a few specific pieces which will even get some non-period trim stitched on as a substitute for the embroidered or woven designs on the ancient garments. Also, does anyone know if there's a connection between Katherine Strand-Evans and Katherine Strand Holkeboer? Just curious. Laurie Taylor (480) 560-7016 www.costumeraz.blogspot.com ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing today?
My dress dummy is wearing a pale blue-green linen 14th century kirtle and a yellow Effigy corset, both of which I have been working on for far too long :-) And wearing is probably the wrong word as they are both just draped over the top. Claire/Angharad ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Lacing question
I've only ever made 16th through 18th century stays and boned bodices, but I get silk embroidery floss and make a 4 or 8 strand braid. Phiala's String Page (http://www.stringpage.com/) has good instructions on these. I find these work excellently well, and are not too time-consuming to make. Claire Message: 1 Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:38:45 -0700 From: Laurie Taylor costume...@mazarineblue.com Subject: [h-cost] Lacing question To: 'Historical Costume' h-cost...@indra.com Message-ID: 9074088bb36e40b586e51da85c467...@laurie Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi, Getting ready for Costume College and have a last minute issue. Could have asked this on the CGW list, but thought the larger group here might give a larger range of answers/ideas. What do you use for lacing your various types of corsets and/or stays? When I think about going to the local fabric store and buying the cotton cord that I would normally use as filling in pipings, I just can't see using it on stays, especially late 18th/early 19th century. Rattail certainly would not work either. What do you use that isn't too bulky or to hard, or too prone to slipping out of the tie? Right now, for convenience and in the interest of stash reduction, I'm using 1/8 and 1/4 silk ribbon, leftover from my last round of silk ribbon embroidery. It's not very satisfactory, but I could not figure out a good alternative. Thanks. Laurie T. Phoenix ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Dressing like an American
Hi all, Some of you who were alive back then might not consider this historic costume, but I thought this was a good place to ask this question. I was recently reading 'The Gabriel Hounds' by Mary Stewart, which is set in Lebanon in, I think the '60's (1960's that is). The narrator is English but has been living in America and at one point describes herself as 'dressing like an American'. I was curious how differently American and English women might have dressed at this time. Is this another way of saying that she dressed informally? Or wore trousers a lot? Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] 18th century Tricorn hats ....round heads...not! ...maybe
Not especially my period, but were they worn straight on the head? If you wear a hat tilted back so it sits where an alice band would be, rather than around the crown of your head, then the crown of the hat can have a circular rather than oval profile. Claire Message: 7 Date: Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:11:33 -0400 From: Ron Carnegie r.carne...@verizon.net Subject: Re: [h-cost] 18th century Tricorn hats round heads ...not! ..maybe... To: 'Historical Costume' h-cost...@indra.com Message-ID: 005201c9b7ef$56ff2bc0$04fd83...@carnegie@verizon.net Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 They certainly were worn in the late 18th century. I am not certain that it was ever true that they were only carried, but if it is it had to have been earlier. Usually that story goes along with the huge tall hats of the early period. Wigs decline in favour through the period I'm your huckleberry Ron Carnegie r.carne...@verizon.net -Original Message- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Melody Watts Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 9:14 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] 18th century Tricorn hats round heads ...not! ..maybe... Weren't the majority of the hats for the era, merely carried under the arm or in the hand,as a sort of fashion accessory? So if not actually worn,it wouldn't matter on the shape of the headpiece. Perhaps they had Dresshats,with?the rounded crown?and everyday/working mans hats,shaped for a head,?that were worn, the Accessory hats,not actually being worn and subject to sweat,weather and wear and tear will have survived.The actual everyday worn on your head hat will have worn out and been discarded eventually. just a muse. melody ? --- On Tue, 4/7/09, Ron Carnegie r.carne...@verizon.net wrote: From: Ron Carnegie r.carne...@verizon.net Subject: Re: [h-cost] 18th century Tricorn hats round heads ...not! To: 'Historical Costume' h-cost...@indra.com Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 5:32 AM Of course the originals have seen are round and not oval.? The leaves (flaps) are held up in period by a stitched tacks, hook and eyes, or tapes, usually two for each leave.? The arrangement of the leaves depends upon style.? They are properly referred to as cocked hats, tricorn being a modern term for them. I'm your huckleberry Ron Carnegie r.carne...@verizon.net ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Pointed front kirtle - 1435 ~ 1450??
I'd be very dubious about that - it doesn't look pointed at all to me. I think the woman's posture and the way she is wearing the belt may possibly be contributing to this impression. These mid 15th century kirtles are quite a mixed bag. Some of them clearly have separate skirts, some of them clearly not, and some it's quite hard to tell. The bodices are also cut in all kinds of different ways. It was clearly a period of experimentation in how to get a good cut. There's a very good article about them in one of the Compleat Anachronists (poss no 38?) Claire -Original Message- -- Message: 3 Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:00:46 -0700 From: Saragrace Knauf wickedf...@msn.com Subject: [h-cost] Pointed front kirtle - 1435 ~ 1450?? To: h-cost...@indra.com Message-ID: bay133-w5b4038edde61119902e68d2...@phx.gbl Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 I am looking at Hunnisett Medieval -1500 and wondering about her justification for having a pointed front kirtle. She seems to be using the Magdalene portrait as her example... www.navigo.com/wm/paint/auth/weyden/magdalen.jpg She uses these to images to justify that the skirt is cut separately from the bodice http://www.wga.hu/preview/w/weyden/rogier/05sevens/2sevens3.jpg http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/1/13/12318612 75475/Gallery-prado-on-google-e-004.jpg - which I agree with. Has anyone seen images where a point is visible in the front of this type of dress? Thanks Sg *** ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] More black ruffs?
Message: 1 Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 12:08:06 -0800 (PST) From: mlysett mlys...@yahoo.com Subject: Re: [h-cost] More black ruffs? To: h-costume@mail.indra.com Message-ID: 189357.56892...@web53102.mail.re2.yahoo.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I just happened to borrow Strong's English Icon, so I thumbed through it looking for black ruffs. There aren't any all-black ruffs, but there are a few edged in black and a few more that are heavily embroidered with blackwork. I could only find three online: http://www.elizabethan-portraits.com/ThomasHoward1.jpg http://www.elizabethan-portraits.com/FrancisSidney.jpg http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/sca/tudor/blackmary.jpg If you'd like more pictures, email me privately and I'll see if I can get them scanned. Margaret Roe Any call on what the thingy on the floor by the feet of Francis Sidney is? It almost looks like a shield, except it is covered in the same fabric as her gown and kirtle, And lined with fur. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] What can I do with this fabric?
Message: 1 Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 16:38:57 -0700 From: Saragrace Knauf [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] What can I do with this fabric? To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 I missed a few posts. I am not sure which era you are looking for for examples; but here is one: http://saragrace.net/html/Arabella/Arabella.htm This has been a favorite of mine for years. I will make it someday!!! Thanks Saragrace, that is a lovely gown, especially for that era, which usually strikes me as rather graceless. However I'm looking a little later - 1660s, or the later part of the Stuart period. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] What can I do with this fabric?
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 23:28:24 +1100 From: Elizabeth Walpole [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [h-cost] What can I do with this fabric? To: 'Historical Costume' [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi everyone, I've been trying to cull some stuff from my fabric stash and I've hit a fabric that I love and would like to keep but I can't think of a use for it. It's a silk/cotton blend voile (it basically looks and behaves like cotton voile I think it's about 20% silk) in violet. From memory it's 130cm (52) wide and I have about 8-10 metres (I can't remember exactly how much but I remember I bought the remainder of the roll and I thought it would be enough for a decent gown). Anyway, my original plan was a Victorian (probably 1850s-60s) sheer dress but I so far I haven't seen evidence for a solid colours (not counting white) in sheer cotton dresses of that period. So what would you do with this? I'm open to just about any pre 1900 suggestions but I don't want to have to stretch the historic accuracy too much and I'd prefer to use the whole piece in one project (little fiddly projects are the reason I've never been tempted to try quilting). There is the dress described in 'Costume in detail 1730-1930' as being a Purple-black satin with matching gauze overdress, dating from the 1830's, and Currently in the Snowshill collection. That's quite a lovely dress (imnsho). There's also (and this is from memory as it's been a while since I looked at a Copy) a mention in 'The Cut of Women's Clothes' about a short trend in the 1660's For women to wear 'sheers' over their gowns (it was memorable for the quote from Charles II saying that he would be quite happy for the ladies to wear nothing Else). I've never seen any other evidence for this, particularly pictorial evidence, And I've always been quite curious as to whether it was true or not, and what such A thing might look like, given that the style of the time was quite rigid and structured. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] modest
Message: 1 Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:30:49 +0200 From: Leif og Bjarne Drews [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [h-cost] modest To: Historical Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Is there an english term of a piece of clothing called a modest? In a danish inventory there is the term of modester in plural, have never heard that word before. Its inventories from 1720 and 1730. Bjarne You know I'm sure I've heard the term 'modester' in an English costume context, but I really can't think where. It just rings bells. Is it possible the term uses 'mode' in the sense of fashion eg wasn't 'modiste' an 18th term for a women's tailor or seamstress? Claire/Angharad ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] 15th century surcoats etc
Hi all, I am giving a class soon (in the context of the SCA), entitled 'Cotes and surcotes: Alternatives to Cloaks'. The idea is to give a broad view of outerwear in Western Europe from the 13th to the 16th century, describing various alternatives to cloaks (which can be awkward and a bit useless if you're doing more than just sitting around). However, the 15th century is giving me a bit of trouble. The 13th century is awash in various kinds of surcoats, many of which carry through into the 14th, and the 16th century of course, has doublets and jerkins and cassocks and so on galore. But there seems to be nothing equivalent in the 15th century, especially for women. This seems a little curious, given that this was the start of the Little Ice Age, but then again, if one is wearing a houppelande why would one need anything else? So my question to the list is - am I missing something here? Can anyone point me to some examples of 15th century outerwear? Thanks, Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] crepines?
Message: 9 Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 12:35:54 -0400 From: Audrey Bergeron-Morin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] crepines? To: Historical Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Me again! It seems to be also a coif of some sort. It's also written crespine. I don't know if we have the same cr?pine as the one you're looking for, but in French, that's what it means. However... logically, it comes from cr?pe, or the verb cr?per, which can mean to ruffle or pleat in some instances, so I don't think it would be far-fetched to think it could mean a crinoline or something of the kind. I wish I had dictionaries with me here! Good luck! Audrey Could it be a ruffle to go around the bottom of the pannier? Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] What to do.
I have 1yd x 44 white silk gauze. What pre 1600s item can I make of it other than a partlet? I have 2yds x 44 cream silk netting. A portion of it will be for a partlet to go with a cream pre- 1600s gown. What would you make with 2 yds of silk netting? De You could make a little butterfly veil to go with one of those 'flowerpot' hennins from the latter half of the 15th century. As for the silk netting, even though I also have nowhere to wear anything other than pre-1600's, I would save it up towards making an Edwardian evening dress - one of those with multiple layers of satin and lace and net and hideous complicated fastenings. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Farthingale thoughts
michaela de bruce wrote: There's a nice book on Spanish costume, entitled [strangely enough] Hispanic Costume 1480- 1530 by R. M. Anderson (1979), where the author has pulled together artwork of the period and grouped it by garment type to show the development of styles. It's a great place to get started if you're interested in this era. And it's more than just a picture book;) There are samples of texts that collaborate what is seen in art. It sounds like that's the book to have. Textual analysis adds a world of meaning. There are examples real people wearing what the saints do in the artwork and vice versa- to a degree anyway, there are probably symbols in the costume to signify these are important people from the past. I have seen hoops on figures depicting real women but they had the four panel over skirt on top. And that brings us back to the question that started this discussion: Whether it was a popular fashion to wear the hoop skirt alone, rather than an underlayer. More hoops as per the Salome image: http://www.oronoz.com/leefoto.php?referencia=15099 Although this is another Biblical image, it does make me think that perhaps the key is not simply real vs. biblical/historical/allegorical, but also the nature of the setting and the mood the artist wanted to evoke. This appears to be a Birth of Mary image, and the scene takes place in the confines of a lady's chamber, with only other ladies in attendance. That's a circumstance where it might make sense for upper-class women to be without their formal overgowns. It may be that showing these women without overskirts reflects the artist's intent to show the intimacy of the scene. If so, the style might be real, but that doesn't mean it would be considered fashionable for women to have appeared in hoops without overskirts on the street, or at dinner, or at church. Among the handful of other images shown so far of women in hoops without overskirts was a camp follower (what some would call a laundress) with soldiers -- it was hard to make out detail, but perhaps she was deliberately portrayed as such to give the overtone of half-dress or intimacy (or lack of modesty!) I think there's very likely a layer of meaning here that viewers of the artwork would have understood -- just as people in some not-so-distant cultures would read loads of meaning in the presence and number of aprons a woman wore. Or think about styles for men of a century ago, and the difference between depicting one in a full suit, as opposed to with his jacket off and shirt-sleeves showing. In any of these contexts, artists could use the recognized implications of layers of dress to signify something about the setting or the characters. The 15th c. Flemish painters did as much with the recurring presentation of women in short-sleeved underdresses, worn without a formal overdress, with or without added sleeves to cover the chemise sleeves on the lower half of the arms. You never see this in formal portraits, but you do see the style on realistic working women, AND on upper-class women in private scenes (in fact, I can think of one in another Birth of Mary), AND also as visual code to signify certain Biblical figures (notably Mary Magdalen). Does Anderson say anything about the circumstances in which the hoop-alone style appears in artwork, or does she just refer to it as one option of wearing the clothing, without discussion of the context in which that would have been done? --Robin I couldn't help noticing in the early link with loads of images (http://jessamynscloset.com/15thgallery.html) that the Salome with outside hoops is from a Catalan picture, and the Salome with hoops on the underskirt is from Madrid (not Catalan). Further down there's another image of a fairly ordinary looking woman (dating from nearly 100 yrs later mind you) who also looks like she's got her hoops on the outside and is listed as being from Barcelona (ie Catalan). Catalonia has always been a pretty independent part of Spain (it was part of the Kingdom of Aragon at the time of the Salomes). Is it possible that the hoops on the outside are a Catalan fashion? Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] crochet 18th C
It could be very primitive crochet, or something else. There are certainly none of the usual crochet stitches (doubles, trebles etc), only chains. To my eye it looks like it has been worked horizontally (ie parallel to the skirt edges. Those two vertical lines are the top and bottom of the narrow strips and extra loops have been worked on the outside. I can't quite see what is going on with the edges though - I think there's chenille thread covering them, and there is some kind of wierd ruffly bit near the bottom of the petticoat which does not look like crochet at all. Claire Message: 10 Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 18:20:59 -0700 (PDT) From: Ann Catelli [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] crochet 18th C To: Historical Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 If it is mesh crochet, then the base chain has 5-6 chains between slip stitches, and the loops are 9 sts long; second and third rows are slip stitched to the fifth stitch in the previous row's loop. It is possible that chain stitch was stitched with a needle to make 5 stitch at the base chain and 9 stitch loops, rather than slip stitching. Or we could be witnessing the early use of actual crochet as a separate craft, not just tambour embroidery. Ann in CT --- Lynn Downward wrote: Wow, that looks exactly like a mesh crochet stitch. I would never have thought of it for something that early. Are we agreeing that since it's basically a chain stitch attached here and there, it's more than possible that this is really what we're looking at this early in the history of crochet? LynnD Katy Bishop wrote: ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Catching up
Message: 9 Date: Mon, 05 May 2008 10:42:52 -0700 From: Joan Jurancich [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] Catching up To: Historical Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed At 02:07 AM 5/5/2008, you wrote: I just sent another image to the web with a close-up of one medallion. Feel free to download it and zoom in to see the stitches. http://www.costumegallery.com/temp/P1030429A.jpg If using IE, place your cursor on the lower right corner, an arrow will appear, and click on it for the enlargement to see the stitches. I am open for discussion. Penny Ladnier, Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com www.costumelibrary.com www.costumeclassroom.com www.costumeslideshows.com It looks like embroidery to me, with needle lace around the medallion. Joan Jurancich [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi Penny - I have only ever seen it spelled filet, but the pattern you sent for 'lattice' looks like what I would call filet. However, Joan may be right about the lace medallions - when I first looked at them I wasn't sure they were filet, because of the irregular shapes in the upper halves. It's only really the lower parts of the meshwork that look like filet. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Italian Ren gowns and purses/pouches
Message: 8 Date: Sat, 3 May 2008 10:40:51 -0700 From: Cynthia J Ley [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [h-cost] Italian Ren gowns and purses/pouches To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain Hi all! Got a question I was hoping you good folks could help me with. How did Italian Ren women carry their pouches if not in hand? Did they wear a belt of some sort? Carry it under the gown, accessible through a dress slit? Any advice greatly appreciated! :-) much thanks, Arlys, clueless in An Tir My pet theory is that noblewomen didn't wear pouches at all, not the way we seem to want to in the SCA. They didn't do their own shopping for the most part, and they didn't go anywhere without people to carry stuff for them, so why would they need them? They didn't have spare change/car keys/mobile phones etc that they needed to keep close to their persons. Similarly, if you were of a class where you might be going to the markets etc you'd probably have a basket with you, so you could just put your purse in that. There are very few instances where women are depicted wearing purses or pouches (they're a bit more common on men), apart from the 13th century, where we're usually told that this are almonieres (or some variant spelling), used for dispensing alms. This is not very handy, of course, if you do want somewhere to carry your car keys around. In which case I'm also rather fond of the 'worn under the gown, accessible through a pocket slit' approach. There is a certain amount of evidence for this, although not really Italian Renn. evidence. Claire/Angharad ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Catching up
1. Image: http://www.costumegallery.com/temp/P1030368.jpg . This is a skirt section of a dress. The overdress has two panels hanging from the waist. They are gathered on the hanging end and married by a rosette. My questions: Is there a period term for these hanging panels? I know I have seen this same type of treatment for curtains. But I can not even recall the name for this type of curtains. 2. Image: http://www.costumegallery.com/temp/P1030429.jpg . These medallions are borders on a three-tiered net dress. My question: What is the name of the type of hand-crochet around the medallions? It is a cotton thread very similar what is used on doilies. I am so embarrassed that I can't remember this term. I have made this type of crochet so many times. It is made by using a double or triple crochet, then chain two or three and then repeat. There are three rows of this type of crochet around each medallion. Hi Penny, is it 'filet' you mean? Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Corset pattern 1895
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:13:25 EDT From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] Corset pattern 1895 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII In a message dated 4/10/2008 6:55:05 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: http://www.staylace.com/updatelogs/graphics/school_corset.gif *** That's a corset from Corsets Crinolinesbut I'm kinda intrigued to see if I can size it up with the method described using the printer. I looked at it and thought - isn't that corset in Corsets and Crinolines? From memory it's a bit earlier than 1898 too isn't it? I thought the spoon busk was most common in the 1880's? Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] nice hems
So I've finally decided I need to do something about my appalling hems. I'm talking about getting them level, not actually sewing them. Especially on dresses with large volumes of skirt (I'm rather fond of large volumes of skirt) that are floor length or longer. For instance, houppelandes or cotehardies with 6m or more hems. My dress dummy has a hem marker thingy, but it is not wide enough for such skirts. Mostly I try to find the shortest seam and trim round in line with that, which doesn't always work very well. Last time, with a kirtle with a 7m hem I tried hanging it up on a coathanger in a doorway, but the skirt basically just fell into a set of narrow folds, which still made it very difficult to judge what was level with what. There are probably some really simple solutions that I haven't thought of, but do the list persons have any tips about getting long hems level? Claire/Angharad ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Re: h-costume Digest, Vol 6, Issue 571
- Original Message - Message: 8 Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:45:59 -0500 From: Susan Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] removing blod stains To: h-costume@mail.indra.com Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; DelSp=Yes; format=flowed Quoting Leif og Bjarne Drews [EMAIL PROTECTED]: I remember i saw a tv programme from the workshop at Chanel where all the work of the couturieres was shown. It happened from time to time, that some of the ladies, stuck their fingers and bleeded on the haute couture creations, but then they had a lady they send for who emediately came and removed the blod stains. What do you think they used? I have often wondered about this, and also because sometimes it happens for myself two. What do you do? Soak it in salt water. Or just plain cold water, straight away. You will have to rinse it quite a bit though. If it's not something you can get wet maybe the red wine on the carpet trick would work - sprinkle liberally with salt and rub in. The idea is the salt soaks the liquid out. It would probably work with any other 'thirsty' dry material too - sugar, or cornflour. Whatever you do don't use warm or hot water as this sets the stain. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] sharp sewing needles
Message: 12 Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:36:37 -0600 From: Alexandria Doyle [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] sharp sewing needles To: Historical Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 There are some interesting pictures of the range of needle sizes within some of the common types here: http://www.colonialneedle.com/html/about-needles.html The page is called all about needles but it actually leaves off some of the things I most want to know, like what it means when a packet says the size is 4/8 or 7/9, or why you might want your needles gold or platinum plated, or how you can tell what length a needle will be. Perhaps someone on the list will enlighten me on those points? ;-) Best, Lauren I was told that the gold plating would keep the finishing from wearing off the needle. I didn't find it that helpful. I just find that no matter what I wear off the finish when I'm working on a project, I'm rather obsessive when I'm working which means a lot of hours close together on the project. It also probably makes the needle smoother (you sometimes see them with just gold around the eye) which helps to stop the thread from snagging or fraying. This is probably more important if you're using silk thread than anything else. As to the length, there are some stitches that are easier if you have a smaller needle, while others are better with a larger needle. In general I have found that the needle ought to match the size of the thread/floss/cord/ribbon you are working with. Larger than your thread and you can leave big holes, smaller that your thread and you fight to get it through. Some of the tougher fabrics to work on - like velvet or tight weaves, the smaller the diameter the needle the better. Also you can sew more quickly with a small needle (presumably the in and out action is quicker). When I first started sewing I read that tailors preferred to use sharps (ie small needles) and I always assumed that this was why. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Re: h-costume Digest, Vol 6, Issue 533
Another fan of late 15th century here too. I did a fairish bit of digging around into women's clothes of this period (sorry Julian not so interested in men's clothes) about 5 years ago. Actually it must be more than that, because I had no kids then and my eldest is six now. Anyway. There is a brief and distinctly English style between the Burgundian phase and what I like to call 'proto-Tudor'. This style begins in the 1570s and disappears very abruptly in 1485 when the proto-Tudor style comes in just as abruptly. It consists of a close-fitting, low waisted kirtle with a low round neck with a 'bertha' style round collar. The sleeves are tight and long, often going over the hand, and it is worn with a very distinctive style of long girdle. The trucated hennin (or flowerpot hat) was very commonly worn with this style. The proto-Tudor style is pretty much as you've described it. The train is often very long and pinned up to the back of the waist. Also the wide sleeves that are common with this style in France and the Low Countries are not unusual in England. The style seems to filter down very quickly to the middle and lower classes as many illuminations from this period show women with square necked kirtle and gowns. Curiously, some of them have an odd diagonal opening at the front that I've never quite figured out. There is not a lot of info out there for this period. Older books, if you can work around their flaws, were the best sources I found. eg Cunnington, or Kelly. Also books on funeral brasses and tapestries, which were at their peak during this period. Another source I found quite useful is an illustrated edition of the Canterbury Tales I have (it was very common here a few years ago) that draws most of it's illuminations from late 15th century illuminations and woodcuts. Claire Message: 2 Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:05:10 -0500 From: Sharon Henderson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [h-cost] Re: Henry 7 Fashion Trends To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hey Julian, I'm right there with you! My SCA persona, Meleri ferch Iasper ap Dafydd, is a follower of the beloved and darn-near sainted Earl of Pembroke, the Earl of Richmond's uncle and protector... :) I would love to see a good study of this period too! I'm sure the Burgundian influences remained because of the Yorkist duchess, but we must not discount the influence of Brittany (itself alas probably heavily influenced by Burgundy), owing to the Exilic Years of Henry and Earl Jasper. From the few pics we have of Henry and his queen, we do know the standard silhouettes were in operation: the skirted doublet and over-robe (chamarre, I think?), and that French-style round cap with the laced sides for the guys, and the kirtle along Burgundian lines but with a more lowered waist and less bulky skirt for the ladies, with the long, slim sleeves and the long-sided English gable hood... but there had to be more to it all than that! I know the excesses of Henry 8's reign and following, where the kid blew the budget Dad had left him, have taken most of the attention--and I'm good with that because I love the classic 1520s and 30s looks. But somewhere between the garb of the waning Yorkist rulers and the flash of Henry 8 there has to have been SOMEthing!! :) Any Lancastrians who wanna chat, drop me a note any time... :) My thesis is on Jasper Tudor so I'm a bit... focused. :) Cheers, Meli --Julian scripsit: Robin, sorry to have confused your message header - I came into this thread late and didn't read the beginnings of it. However, I'm delighted to have contacted you. I've seen your name on the Lists to which i subscribe many, many times, and know the esteem in which you are held by others whose particular interest is historic costume. My own theory about the apparent lack of study of the Henry VII period for English clothing is that there doesn't seem to have BEEN an English Fashion. By everything I've read, the general conclusion I've drawn from the works of others who've studied and researched far more deeply than I - is that - due to the social uncertainty arising from the power struggles of the WotR, England didn't have the peaceful conditions which would have allowed/encouraged the development of an English Fasjion. By everything I've read, - from about 1450, until the Accession of Henry 8th, - English fashions were heavily influenced by those of the most brilliant Court in Europe, that of Burgundy, ruled over for much of that time by Princess Margaret of York, from her Capital at Mechelin in Flanders. I won't try and drag you further into a discussion on this when you are concentrating on another topic, - but such a definitive book is still on my wish List. Regards, Julian Wilson, [in 2007] Matthew Baker [lifelong Liegeman to Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, and then King of England, - in the SCA] --
[h-cost] A crochet question
Not exactly a historical matter, but it's one of those 'if you guys don't know I don't know who does' questions. I just acquired some lovely Italian yarn for a very very cheap price probably because it is bright orange. Bright orange is not my colour, especially since I have in mind making something I might wear to work with it. I have no issues with dying it (it's cotton, so I'm not expecting it to felt, just maybe shrink a bit). So the question is, is it better to dye the yarn now (and how on earth do you go about drying 800m of dyed yarn if so) or crochet it and dye the garment? Oh, and look I just thought of a historical question. I know crochet dates from the 18th century (I have this idea in my head that it's less than a coincidence that it shows up around the time tambour embroidery (also done with a hook) was popular). And it was very popular for lace type work in Edwardian times. But when did it start to be used for heavy or close garments in the same way as knitting (eg for bedjackets, shawls etc)? I have found a 50's era pattern for a New Look style dress crocheted out of organza ribbon (so tempted to give that a go), so I know it was at least before then. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] OT: Standard American Diet
Message: 12 Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 09:59:15 -0400 (EDT) From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] OT: Standard American Diet To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii That being said - the science is clear - ALL fats are unhealthy. Basically they stop your blood vessles from dilating for hours after you eat any fat. It dammages the walls, makes the platlets more sticky. Know anyone with a heart bypass yet? Truth is all of their arteries are clogged. The Vietnam soldiers who died in their early 20's all had signs of arteries clogging. Based upon that you can assume that everyone living a western diet has clogged arteries and should be on a no-added-fat diet. Not entirely - you need some fats (fatty acids are essential for brain function) - even a little bit of cholesterol. For anyone with thyriod problems you really need to read what Dr. John McDougall has found in research. Slightly elevated thyroid hormone results in increased cholesterol and risk of strokes and heart attacks. You should treat before you are offically hypothyroid. Don't believe that soy brassica and other things (sea weed) have anything to do with it - there is no science behind that; not unless you are deficient in iodine and with the amount of (iodized) salt we get in our diet that ain't a possible. Interesting about the soy and brassica thing - I'd never heard that before. I read to avoid red meat and peanuts when I was first diagnosed. Yes, I am another one with autoimmune hypothyroidism. I developed it as an exceedingly healthy and essentially vegetarian 23 yr old. There is a genetic component, but not in my family. I acquired it in another common way to get autoimmune disorders, which is to have the 'flu. The immune system overreacts and starts thinking parts of you look tasty. This is more likely in people who were not ill much as children apparently - the immune system doesn't have a chance to calibrate its response appropriately. I was a classic case of this. I was hardly ever ill as a child, and when I was, I had the mildest possible case of whatever it was (in fact I'm still like this to a certain extent). This is so off topic, but since there are a few people out there with thyroid problems, what do you do about collars? I have always been one of those people who hate something close around their neck, and now I have a mild goiter from time to time, it is worse. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Re: h-costume Digest, Vol 6, Issue 380
Message: 4 Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 03:06:53 -0400 From: Penny Ladnier [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] Ironing (Was Linen Shir)t To: Historical Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1; reply-type=original I wonder if this cooling method comes from mothers who put out their laundry on the clothesline in the winter and the fabric froze. I had not experienced the freezing laundering syndrome until we moved to Illinois. My son's cloth diapers froze stiff on the clothesline. From all my years of living in the Deep South, I had not experienced frozen laundry until then. We didn't have a clothes dryer in our apartment and I had to iron his diapers. At the time, we were snowed in for a week. A friend of mine grew up in Nebraska. She told me that her grandmother ironed everything year round. I recall my mother ironing sheets and pillowcases. My mother was born in a coal-mining town. She said you never hung your washing out when the wind was blowing in certain directions because it would turn black! My grandmother was also a mad ironer (she probably still would be if she spent much time at home these days). She used to iron undies and tea-towels. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] What I (horrifically) wore
Aargh! I'm 5'3 and I can't wear more than 3 heels without seriously killing my feet. Mind you I do have small feet. In 3 heels I am pretty much walking on my toes. As to past fashion mistakes I did wear leg warmers in the 80s. I had a constant running battle with my mother over them. I wanted to wear them around my ankles like the people in Fame. She wanted me to pull them up over my knees (ie to keep my legs warm). Now that is a disturbing look Claire Message: 13 Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 13:51:42 -0700 From: Carmen Beaudry [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] What I (horrifically) wore To: Historical Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1; reply-type=original 8 platform shoes, -C. Oh my word! How on earth did you walk in them? High heels are such a foreign concept to me. I've been singing my whole life, and singers should never wear a heel over an inch high (throws off your balance, which throws off your breathing). But then, being 5'9, I never had to be concerned about being 'tall' either. ;) Arlys I spent a great deal of my live in musical theater, singing and dancing in 3+ heels. You need to learn how to stand, walk and dance, but believe me, you can sing in them, you just need to know how. I also did ballroom and latin dance professionally, with a dance partner who was 6'8. (I'm 5'2). My dance shoes had 5 heels, because otherwise we looked ridiculous. Even now, after a catastrophic car accident, back injuries and arthritis, I can wear heels, just not for every day, or all day. Melusine ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] RE: Off Topic: What's your day job?;
Message: 13 Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2007 20:55:43 -0400 From: Jennifer Byrne [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [h-cost] RE: Off Topic: What's your day job?; Was: robe a la francaise grande panier. To: 'Historical Costume' [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii 2 months is an impressively short amount of time for such a project! I get the sense from messages I have read that most folks on this list do not make/study/write about historical clothing for a living. Is this true? If so, what do you all do to fund your need to build historical clothing? I am a mathematician. I work as a government statistician. That plus three kiddies (I have a new little man, only 15 weeks old) take up most of the time I used to have for costuming. This is a shame, because before I had the job and the kids (they arrived more or less at the same time) I was a student, and had the time but not the money for costuming. Now I have money, but no time :-). Mostly I do 14th, 15th and 16th century English clothing. I have grand plans to delve into other eras, but I suspect they will have to wait until the kids are older. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Re: HBO Rome series - anyone else watching?
Is this the one that is subtitled Sex, Death etc or something? I watched one episode and no more, although they did the usual thing here and shoved it to a later time slot/took it off after it didn't immediately generate massive ratings. I thought that was quite surprising given the amount of skin on show. I didn't expect much out of the costumes and was pleasantly unsurprised (the mucky looking togas were particularly jarring), but it was the other little details that irritated me (why shouldn't we nitpick, it's so much fun) enough to switch it off. Claire Message: 8 Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 16:01:13 +1100 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] Re: HBO Rome series - anyone else watching? To: Historical Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Does the colour really matter? It is not a documentary. If we are gonna nit- pick over the clothes, we have to nitpick over the plaster walls, the forced perspectives and the obvious cycloramas. I am more pleased that a network would take an effort that was not ponces in togas and screen it at a decent time, (9:30 or 10:30) last year, -C. This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: http://www.netspace.net.au ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] plastic fabric conundrum
Sounds like it's principally a problem with friction, and if sewing as slowly as possible doesn't help then unfortunately it probably means the machine is just too fast at any speed. Is it possible to get more slippery needles? Stainless steel or chrome plated perhaps (I don't do much machine sewing)? Or to oil the needle? You'd probably have to stop frequently and reapply more oil as you went. Acetone is probably not helping as it may be eating into the needle a bit, making the surface of the metal rougher. You should try brand new needles, with as small a diameter as possible (ie fine ordinary needles, not ballpoint/stretch needles). Another suggestion is to make the fabric as taut as possible while sewing (eg put it in an embroidery hoop) as this will reduce the contact time between needle and fabric and may lessen the friction. Claire Message: 4 Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:31:34 -0800 From: Cin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [h-cost] plastic fabric conundrum To: h-cost [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Gentle costumes, I got a note from a friend about an odd fabric, and, hmmm, I dont have any help to offer at all. I've never seen this strange phenomena before. Perhaps someone on h-cost can make a suggestion? I'll be sure to pass your words along. --cin Cynthia Barnes [EMAIL PROTECTED] Here is a picture of the fabric that's melting on my needle... http://oort.com/goddess/temp/temp.fabric.jpg I bought a nifty fabric that shimmers, intending to make a shower curtain or curtains. It's a background of stretchy thin knit, with 1/2 cm squares of plastic all over it. (If you cut thin slices and pull them, they turn into the interesting snakes pictured in the foreground, which might make cute cat toys.) But when I tried to sew a simple hem, the thread kept breaking. Turns out, the plastic is melting on my machine's needle! I tried sewing slower, with bigger stitches, but that didn't help. I can sew about 5' when the machine is cold, before the needle is irrevokably gummed up. I tried sewing slowly, and occationally sewing through linen soaked in acetone to clean the needle, but met with limited success. Besides, I'm afraid I'll damage my new Singer. This puts a kink into plans I had to sew interesting things out of clear shower curtains, too! Does anyone have experience sewing plastic-y things who can give me advice on what to do? Otherwise it looks like hand-sewing is tne only answer! Best wishes, Renee (or Wendy) -- ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume End of h-costume Digest, Vol 6, Issue 76 __ NOD32 2056 (20070212) Information __ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] New Simplicity 1850s design
Message: 13 Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 21:34:32 +1100 From: Elizabeth Walpole [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [h-cost] New Simplicity 1850s design To: Historic Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1; reply-type=original Simplicity has just released a new mid 1850s pattern http://www.simplicity.com/dv1_v4.cfm?design=3855 (Simplicity calls it 'Civil War' but it's clearly a fashionable 1850s style) I'm not questioning the design (the basic design looks good though the one in the photo doesn't seem to fit the model all that well, but it wouldn't be the first time a good dress was let down by photographers who didn't know what it was supposed to look like) but I was wondering if anybody has heard of the designer, Deborah Woodbridge? just for curiosity's sake as given the 'museum curator' tag it looks like they plan to make this part of another set relying on the good reputation of a particular designer to counteract the fact that it's a big 3 pattern and most major commercial patterns should be avoided if you want accuracy. Elizabeth Elizabeth Walpole Canberra Australia ewalpole[at]tpg.com.au http://au.geocities.com/amiperiodornot/ -- Message: 14 Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2007 04:05:30 -0800 From: Carolyn Kayta Barrows [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: - [h-cost] New Simplicity 1850s design To: Historical Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed I'm not questioning the design (the basic design looks good though the one in the photo doesn't seem to fit the model all that well, I'd say the skirt's too big, but other than that I like it. I'd use that bodice and sleeves, add a peplum, and call it a jacket. Is it just me or does the back of the dress on the packet look like it was cut out of crumpled material? Perhaps the model is too small for the dress? Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Re: h-costume Digest, Vol 5, Issue 797
Message: 5 Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2006 15:10:15 -0600 (CST) From: Robin Netherton [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [h-cost] 1450 - pregnant? To: Historical Costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: By the way, was there such thing as a maternity dress in either this or the GFD era? Or did women loosen and adjust what they had? I haven't made a definitive search, but this is something I would have noticed if I had ever run across a reference. And I haven't seen or heard anything substantive about dresses made specifically for maternity -- e.g. in wills or other records -- and the idea of a specially-made dress would be counterintuitive in a period in which even a noblewoman might own only two or three dresses, and many women owned just one. My guess would be that women loosened, adjusted, opened seams and added extra lacings (I have seen a few instances of that) or borrowed something larger from someone else. Remember also that weight gain was likely rather less than we experience today, both because of nutritional factors and because women were more physically active in general. I'm currently 33 weeks pregnant, and I've been able to wear my fitted kirtle until relatively recently without any modification at all. This is not because I'm small - I'm huge with this one - albeit only in the belly - I don't tend to put on a lot of weight elsewhere when pregnant. What I find is that because the fullness of the skirt starts just at the top of the hips the kirtle 'rides up' over the belly without much discomfort or distortion. In fact it makes me look a lot more pregnant than modern clothes because it still fits the curve of my spine and my underbust area quite tightly. The lacing does not gape - it tends to look a bit more scrunched up than normal, so I'd say that gaps in the lacing is not at all indicative of pregnancy. Rather I'd look for a very obvious belly because, as I said - it does tend to make things look rather more obvious. Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
