From: "Philip Edward Cutone, III" Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 13:21:47 -0400 (EDT) Subject: H-Costume Digest, Volume 299, 5/10/95 The Historic Costume List Digest, Volume 299, May 10, 1995 Send items for the list to h-costume@andrew.cmu.edu (or reply to this message). Send subscription/deletion requests and inquiries to h-costume-request@andrew.cmu.edu Please note that I am not the usual maintainer. If there is a problem with the digest please let me know (and forgive a few blunders.... :) this digest covers all messages through May 7, not appearing in previous digests. Enjoy! Filip p.s. sorry for forgetting the topics on the last two... ------------------------------ Topics: 1950's German Hosiery Amish clothing Muslin quotes Help with documentation Scottish shirts Renaissance Veiling Wool cycling clothing and health Muslin? Lingerie? Return of the Fabric Wars.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 01:31:34 -0500 (CDT) From: Melanie Jo Schuessler Subject: Re: Help with documentation On Fri, 5 May 1995, Writan Consulting wrote: > How about white lead powder, or belladonna eyedrops? What effect do belladonna eyedrops produce? How deadly is this (isn't belladonna poisonous?)? Melanie ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 11:37:36 +0100 (BST) From: Dorothy Stein Subject: Re: Scottish shirts There is an essay on the history of the kilt in 'The Invention of the kilt was invented by an English taylor. Poverty-stricken highlanders were in the habit of winding a length of cloth about themselves and belting or tying it in the middle. So maybe they didn't wear shirts. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 11:42:42 +0100 (BST) From: Dorothy Stein Subject: re:Muslin? Lingerie? Return of the Fabric Wars.... Muslin meant many things. One derivation is from 'mezzo-lain' (Sp?), fustian. The business about pulling a length of fine cloth through a ring pops up so often (it was said of Egyptian material that was called 'woven wind'; and also of fine Indian cotton, also called something like 'woven air' or 'breeze cloth') that I'm beginning to think it was simply hyperbole. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 21:03:39 +0800 From: writan@iinet.com.au (Writan Consulting) Subject: re:Muslin? Lingerie? Return of the Fabric Wars.... Muslin hasn't changed its name in Australia (and probably the UK as well) - A language shift seems to have occurred - it would be interesting to document when it happened. In Australia we get US and UK books, so you have to be bilingual to figure out what the author means. What you call 'muslin' now, we call calico, or sometimes unbleached calico - a bit unnecessary, since it's never sold bleached. All the heirloom-type fabrics seem to have the same name in the US and here, though. And Caroline - Australians still have 'household linen', which is sadly never linen - it's usually poly cotton. I hate to think how many baby polyesters died to cover the beds of Australia ;-). /anne... >Sent by:"Gail DeCamp" > >Hi,everyone. > >Regarding muslin gowns: I seem to recall reading somewhere that >"muslin" then was not the same fabric we know as "muslin" now--in the >U.S., the cheap undyed unbleached cotton fabric that we use for >slopers and pockets and patterns and mockups etc. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 12:06:00 -0400 From: Joaquinaz@aol.com Subject: 1950's German Hosiery When I was around 12 years old, I attended a boarding school in a small town with the very different clothing of my German classmates. To birthday parties back home, I had worn polished cotton, petticoated dresses with white anklets. These girls wore fine wool dresses which had a distinctly less frivolous air, some with detachable white pique collars, and they wore beige cotton hose, which to my admiring eyes looked much less childish than the anklets. The hose were held up either by garter belts OR by a torso-length camisole from which hung the garter hooks! It is this last item that I would like to bring to the attention of my fellow costume history fans. Is anyone else familiar with this item of clothing? It was the old fashioned peach color. What was it called? Was it in use anywhere else but Germany? Only by little girls or also by women? Joaquina ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 12:28:17 -0500 (CDT) From: BPH3213@ACS.TAMU.EDU Subject: Muslin quotes Here's what a few sources I have near me say about muslin: Thomas Spense 1775: "a sort of fine stuff made of cotton" Thomas Sheridan 1780: same as Spense Isabel Wingate 1979: "Muslin is one of the oldest staple cotton cloths and was first made in Mosul, Mesopotamia, where it derived its name" Florence Montgomery 1984: "A fine cotton textile first made in India". She also quotes a 17th century travellor as saying those from Calcutta were "made so fine you can hardly feel them in your hand, and the thread, when spun, is scarce discernable". By the 1690's at least 25 varieties were being imported to England. They were being printed and woven in stripes and checks (17th- 18th c.). They were made in all qualities. Wadsworth and Mann 1931: Quoting Barnes of the 1750's: "A few years ago the India company brought over a fine parcell of fine cotton yarn, which was bought by some weavers of London, with which they made as good muslinage as any made in India of that sort of yarne.." If I come across anything more interesting, I'll post again. (But I'm doing research into linen today). Bryan ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 06 May 1995 13:34:23 -0500 (CDT) From: Captain Elvis Sputnik Kid Subject: Re:Help with Documentation I remember hearing (from my girlfriend to be exact) that it was the fashion in they sparkled. I'm sure I could dig up the documentation of it's needed. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 19:51:11 -0700 From: Chris Laning Subject: Amish clothing To-hc@ Saturday, May 6, 1995 I haven't researched the subject, but because she knows I'm interested in stuff like this, my mom sent me a book called _Why_Do_They_Dress_That_Way?_, by Stephen Scott. It will probably tell you more than you need to know about the small differences between the dress of innumerable current Amish and Mennonite groups (and he mentions several other less known groups who wear "plain dress") *but* he does also discuss some of the history. It's not very detailed, but he mentions a number of specific styles and dates, and there's a brief history at the beginning of the book. And there's a whole lot of other stuff that I (at least) find fascinating (maternity clothing, choice of colors, underwear, and a chapter called "Common Objections to Plain Clothing"). He doesn't have much to say about buttons, apparently they aren't a big issue for anyone except the most conservative groups. Coats seem to be the first place where the rule about using hooks and eyes gives way, which makes sense with all the heavy material, as hooks and eyes tend to come undone more easily if they're not under a slight tension than buttons do. Generally most groups seem to use buttons where they are the most practical method of closing an opening, though again in the most conservative groups, even women's dresses hook or snap up the front. Generally the impression he gives is that each group basically makes its own decisions about which garments and where on the garment buttons are okay and where they are not, and it does vary quite a bit. And yes, there often are different standards for men's and women's clothing; in many of the less conservative Mennonite groups, men in a casual setting look just like everyone else except that they all wear beards and no ties, while the women may still be wearing "cape" dresses. The book is "People' Place Booklet No. 7" and is available from People's Place Booklets, Main Street, Intercourse, PA 17534. People's Place is an arts and crafts educational center specializing in Amish and Mennonite life. The ISBN # is 0-934672-18-0, my copy is a paperback with no price on it, and it's dated 1986. I really enjoy this book. Hope it helps. ____________________________________________________________ O Chris Laning | + Davis, California ____________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 22:56:44 -0400 From: Jacobite@aol.com Subject: Re: help with documentation--belladonna "Belladonna" (atropa belladonna) known commonly as Deadly Nightshade is narcotic and anti-spasmodic in very small amounts. It was used as an eye drop by the ladies of "society" to give their eyes a dark sensuous look by dilating the pupils. It was a very dangerous "look" to achieve! Petal ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 22:10:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Heather Rose Jones Subject: Re: Help with documentation On Sat, 6 May 1995, Melanie Jo Schuessler wrote: > On Fri, 5 May 1995, Writan Consulting wrote: > > > How about white lead powder, or belladonna eyedrops? > > What effect do belladonna eyedrops produce? How deadly is this (isn't > belladonna poisonous?)? Belladonna eyedrops enlarge the pupil irrespective of incoming light stimulus. This is what the optometrist put in your eyes during eye testing as a kid when you had to wear the sunglasses all day afterward. So obviously, occasional small doses are considered fairly harmless (with proper care -- if you didn't wear those sunglasses, you might do some damage). The problem is that if you're using belladonna to obtain large, luminous eyes, you aren't likely to be protecting them carefully with tinted lenses until the effect wears off! The name of the plant comes from this "cosmetic" usage: bella (beautiful) donna (lady). Heather Rose Jones ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 95 23:37:23 -0700 From: Anne Paulson Subject: Wool cycling clothing and health You should take anything you find in a 19th Century medical text with a grain of salt. A great deal of what they "knew" was nonsense. Most physicians, for example, advised that bicycle [riders] must always wear "a suit of wool" -- winter *and* summer -- to avoid a dangerous chill. While this must certainly have been more aesthetically pleasing than the current neon spandex, I find it hard to believe it had any medical benefits whatsoever. I say this is great medical advice. In the 19th century, they didn't have synthetics, so the alternative to wool cycling clothing would presumably be cotton. I doubt that cyclists would be wearing silk or linen. Cotton is truly a terrible fabric for cyclists. You ride hard, you sweat, the cotton gets wet, cold and clammy. Then if the weather is cool, or it's raining, or you have a long downhill, you can easily get dangerously hypothermic. Wool, on the other hand, stays warm when it's wet. I have plenty of lycra cycling clothing, but I also have a wonderful wool jersey and two pairs of wool tights, and I wear them frequently when riding, winter and summer. Then, also, if the "suit of wool clothing" included long sleeves and a brimmed cap, you'd have good sun protection. A cyclist out for a long ride can easily get fried by the sun. -- Anne Paulson ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 May 1995 21:55:57 -0400 From: MarieD0108@aol.com Subject: Renaissance Veiling I am wondering if anyone has information on the length, composition, and/or Specifically, I am looking to put this on the pillbox-style hat. I already have a length of gold tulle, and want to make a spectacular veil. Thanks! Marie in Wisconsin ------------------------------ ------------------------------ End of Volume 299 -----------------------