From: owner-h-costume-digest (H-Costume Digest) To: h-costume-digest@lunch.engr.sgi.com Subject: H-Costume Digest V4 #38 Reply-To: h-costume Sender: owner-h-costume-digest@lunch.engr.sgi.com Errors-To: owner-h-costume-digest@lunch.engr.sgi.com Precedence: bulk H-Costume Digest Monday, February 19 1996 Volume 4, Number 38 Compilation copyright (C) 1995 Diane Barlow Close and Gretchen Miller Use in whole prohibited. Individual articles are the property of the author. Seek permission from that author before reprinting or quoting elsewhere. Important Addresses: Send submissions to: h-costume@lunch.engr.sgi.com (or reply to this message). Adds/drops/archives: majordomo@lunch.engr.sgi.com Real, live person: h-costume-request@andrew.cmu.edu Topics: Re: Wedding Hankie/Baby cap Re: filling pin cushion Re: Amish men's clothes Mardi Gras costumes Military trim Lace, Hair and The old Accuracy Hassles software demos Re: Re- Braveheart fashions Anglo-Saxon Costume- course review (long) Re: software demos Re: software demos Re: Fabric Selection Query ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 13:49:48 -0500 From: LBowlby@aol.com Subject: Re: Wedding Hankie/Baby cap I have a poem for the wedding hankie/baby cap, but I don't have any instructions. Since it has been 15 years since I have used it I don't remember how the cap was made, but I remember it was really very simple. I'll ask around to see if any of my friends know how they are made. The poem I have goes like this: I'm just a little hankie, As square as square can be. But with a little stitch or two A bonnet I will be. I'll be worn home from the hospital. Or on my christening day. And after tha, be neatly pressed And carefully put away. Then on that fateful wedding day, So we've always been told, That well dressed bride must Always wear something that is old. So what could be more fitting, Than to look up little old me. And with a few stitches snipped A wedding hankie I'll be. And if per chance it is a boy, Someday he'll surely wed. Then to his bride he can present The hankie once worn upon his head. Linda ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 11:12:15 -0700 From: claning@igc.apc.org (Chris Laning) Subject: Re: filling pin cushion I make a new pincushion for my ordinary sewing every few years, when I get tired of the old one. I filled all the early ones with bran, and they worked very well, but at least one of those pincushions was destroyed by little brown beetles who ate holes in the fabric cover -- the sort of beasties you find in your kitchen cupboard in that overlooked two-year-old box of pancake mix... The most recent one I filled with sifted (fine) cedar sawdust, of which I got a ten-pound bag free for the asking from a local lumberyard. That *should* be considerably less edible. In my experience, BTW, the best way to fill a pincushion is to leave an opening just big enough to insert an ordinary funnel. Add the filling through the funnel, a little at a time, and pack it firmly with the blunt end of a pencil or chopstick. Continue till the cushion is full and just a *little* harder than you want the finished project to be. Remove funnel, sew opening closed, clean any spilled sawdust off the outside, and then roll and thump the pincushion firmly to distribute the stuffing evenly. I've also filled small [and decidedly modern] pincushions with scraps of polyester quilt batting too small to use for anything else. Shredding it first helps it pack more evenly. ____________________________________________________________ O Chris Laning | + Davis, California ____________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 11:12:30 -0700 From: claning@igc.apc.org (Chris Laning) Subject: Re: Amish men's clothes I haven't seen patterns, but you can get Amish broadfall work pants from Gohn Bros., Middlebury, Indiana (there is more to the address, but that much will get it there, it's a small town). I can't locate my catalog at the moment to tell you what else they have, but someone else will probably jump in and tell you. ____________________________________________________________ O Chris Laning | + Davis, California ____________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 18:19:46 CST From: mlbroom@saumag.edu Subject: Mardi Gras costumes I'm interested in discovering the history of costumes associated with the various balls and parties and parades having to do with the celebration of Mardi Gras. Can anyone give me some leads? thanks Marla ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 20:49:36 -0500 (EST) From: RMITCHELL@washjeff.edu Subject: Military trim TWO Catalogues I have recently discovered which seem to carry supplies suitable for military projects are: Braid Winners 146 Merrick Road, Lynbrook,N>Y> and Grey Owl's, also in New York.The latter carries Indian craft supplies but has hard to find buttons for reinactment garments, too. Hope this helps. KSM of "the needle in the foot" Rmitchell@washjeff.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996 13:50:51 +1100 From: "Gillian Richards (02) 716 3712" Subject: Lace, Hair and The old Accuracy Hassles Greetings, good gentle folk, 1) Lace - Emily Reigate wrote a lovely and very informative book on lace, its history, sources, etc. Unfortunately, I can't find the name of the book. I cannot claim no connection as she is a family friend and a real Lady (as in manners, although she is the other as well), but others have mentionned it before. 2) Hair - some years ago I saw a tall hat in an antique shop that looked like one of those traditional Welsh ladies' hats, only it was made of what looked like netting. I was informed that it was a Korean Scholar's hat, from about 1890, and that it was made from plaited and woven hair. I cannot remember now whether that was human or horse hair, but it was certainly black enough to be long Asian hair. I wish I had touched it! 3) Pet Peeve - reading a "historical" novel, and up to now, (about 3/4 of the way through), things have been pretty good - historical references about dress, hairstyle, manners, etc. It's set in London about 1790. Then suddenly, they're in a ball-room, and they're dancing a WALTZ. Now, according to the Brittanica, the Waltz "did not arrive in England until 1812". Bummer. That's what you get for choosing the one with the swooning female, the hunk male and the glitzy gold writing on the front. On the subject, I remember reading once that in England in the mid-1880's, the waltz was considered "shocking" due to the body-to-body contact - is this correct? About the shocking bit, not the contact, that is. Enough blabing Gillian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gillian Richards . Once upon a time is the last Multicultural Ed Unit . thing the elves left us, gillian.richards@tafensw.edu.au . the gift of truthful lies and TAFE NSW - (02) 716 3712 . travel in time and space ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Feb 1996 15:07:00 -0500 From: vsimpson@headwaters.com (vandy simpson) Subject: software demos Greetings. At one point you had made available the demos for pattern-drafting software.I had requested one when I was on the PC, but due to the limitations of either the computer or myself, never managed to decode it. Having now switched to a brand new smart Mac, I was all set to try again; I really do want to own one of these programs, but wanted to see them "in the flesh" so to speak. However, for whatever reason, my request to fetch failed.I then followed the instructions and sent for the file list.I no longer see anything listed that sounds like these files.Are they no longer available? I realize that the demo disks are mail-orderable, but the instant gratification factor combined with my inability to use real post with anything approaching efficiency had led me to hope... Any advice, comments, info welcome. Thank you, Vandy Simpson either vandy simpson or darrell markewitz, of the Wareham Forge, depending on which of has actually SIGNED this! *Don't blame me for him!* (or should that be "I made him what he is today"..?) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996 09:25:44 -0600 (CST) From: c578168@showme.missouri.edu Subject: Re: Re- Braveheart fashions On 16 Feb 1996, Carole Newson-Smith wrote: > I would suggest that French portraits, prayer books and books of hours from > that era would also be helpful. If you've never seen a reproduction > of the Tres Riche Heures of the Duc du Berry, I think you'd enjoy > looking through one. Actually, if you're looking for reproductions of clothing c.1300, the Tres Riches Heures is a little late (before 1416), but it is always a pleasure to look at. While there are early books of hours dating to this period, you would probably have more luck with private psalters. If you aren't too concerned with exact accuracy, the Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux dates to around 1325 and is absolutely beautiful (although the grisaille technique doesn't necessarily lend itself to costuming). Michelle Powell-Smith c578168 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Feb 96 14:32:54 GMT From: jennyb@pdd.3com.com Subject: Anglo-Saxon Costume- course review (long) I went to Bristol last Saturday for a course on Anglo-Saxon costume, I thought there might be people on this group interested in a course report? There was a Dr John Hines from the University of Wales who gave a fascinating paper on work he's done with analysing Jewellery. Some academics believe that the Vikings arrived in England around the 8th century having had no contact with the country before because until teh 8th century their ships hadn't advanced sufficiently to make it across the North Sea. Other academics contended that this was a load of rubbish & pointed out that polynesians could cross the pacific on rafts, so why on earth couldn't vikings make it across a tiny little bit of North Sea when they'd had boats better than rafts since at least the bronze age? Problem is there was very little to prove anyone's theories one way or another, so it was all just so much academic arguement. Then John Hines came along & for his doctoral thesis compared English jewellery with Norwegian & found rare types appeasring simultaneously in England & Norway. he also found decorative elements on brooches that appeaerd simultaneously in England & Norway which provide pretty good evidence for links between teh two countries in 5th & 6th centuries. He followed up this part of his talk with a load of pictures of Gold foils showing men in long coats with diagonal crossovers at the front, & showed us pictures of the dancing men from the Sutton Hoo helmet who wear similar coats. Next he went on to describe early Saxon dress accessories, which included a pair of small pins linked by a fine chain which he keeps finding at the neck in female burials, he thinks they may hold on some sort of head-dress. It is very rare for one woman's grave to produce the "full set" of dress accessories, usually some item is missing, newnham croft produced a complete set of pins & chain, wrist clasps, annular brooches & festoon of beads, cruciform brooch. Then he told us about his current research which is identifying different ethnic groups in Anglo-Saxon Britain by their dress accessories. Apparently in the 1st century when Tacitus described the tribes to the east of the Rhine in free Germany there were very many tribes with names that nobody today recognises. However by teh 4th century other Roman chronicles mention far fewer tribes: under pressure of their war with Rome the Germans seem to have consolidated into a few larger tribes, and their names are ones which sound familiar even today: Franks, Goths, Danes, Turingians, Saxons.... The saxons came from an area just t0o the west of the bottom of the Jutland peninsula (the peninsula is modern day Denmark). Many brooch types found across Anglo-Saxon England appear here intermixed. Perhaps the many brooch types are a result of many diverse tribes each with their own distinctive style being forced to amalgamate into one group which the Romans called Saxons? Traditionally 3 groups from this area are identified as colonising England: the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. The Angles got East Anglia & parts further to the west, The Saxons got the home counties (the counties around London) & the Jutes got Kent with the Isle of Wight. The Jutes came from the Jutland Peninsula & generally most Jutish material looks like any general scandinavian material, such items would not look out of place in Norway or Sweden, but when they are found in Kent we assume they are Jutish. (There are some distinctibe features which crop up identifying material as Jutish, but an equal number of Frankish or Roman features appear). The Angles aren't the most prominent group in the archeological record because they practiced cremation so we omly have metal artefacts surviving in tehir cremation urns, but still we can identify distinctive features in their brooches, particularly a type with a cruciform top & spatulate foot. Dr Hines has been excavating a cemetary at Edicts Hill, Barrington. he has a new technique for putting graves in chronological order which he wanted to try out at this site. Basically the graves all have slight differences from each other: here a decorative line has shortened, there a brooch has a slightly different outline, at another place a different item has been deposited. You work out how many differences the graves have from one another & a computer can put them all on a graph with similar hraves close together & different ones far apart. This should give you a timeline of graves with early ones at one end & late ones at the other. Dr Hines got his curve allright, but when he dated some of the graves from evidence like coins he found that he had early graves at both ends of the curve & late ones in the middle, not at all what anyone expected. He quickly realised that what he actually had was two curves: two different ethnic groups had used the same burial grounds, over time they had grown together & the differnces between the groups vanished where the curves finally met. When the same analysis was tried on other Saxon cemataries the same curves were found. Eventually Dr Himes managed to identify four different groups: group A are the most distinctive wearing saucer brooches & never having wrist clasps. Groups B, C and D are distinguished by different types of cruciform brooches & group D also uses annular (ring shaped) brooches. in the 6th century groups B, C, and D merge, whilst group A with the saucer brooches stays seperate. At Edicts hill there was a group of graves in a line, all with women of similar status & buried awqay from the rest of the cemetary. It was assumed that these graves were a family group, but all the costume types are distinct! there is one pure A one pure C one pure D and one mixed. What could the explanation be for one family having women of different ethnic groups? Of course they could not be from one family, but the identical status & separate location does make it likely. Dr Hines thinks that the practice of exogamy may explain these graves. Exogamy is the practice of Women being married away from their homes. Up to the last century in Germany when women were married all the posessions they would need for their married life were loaded onto a cart & they drove off to anpother area totally away from their family. whereas the men stayed put tied to the land which was passed down generations through the male line. If this happened in 4th - 6th century Englanmd then it would explain why one family group might have women from distinct ethnic groups within it, and would also explain why the different groups were co-existing: they were intermarrying & exchanging women. It would be interesting to see how the man's equipment compares with that of the women, but the early Saxon Men are not buried with brooches or other jewellery, so it is not to easy to analyse their ethnic groups. Maybe some work might be done on knife, sword, spear or shield boss types? I don't know enough about this area to know if there are enough distinct types to make a useful analysis possible. When Dr Hines had finished Gale Owen-Crocker gave a talk, I've heard her before, so a lot of the talk wasn't news, but she had one interesting observation: all illustrations of men with their tunics either split at the side or hitched up at the side so their thighs show are barefoot too. Maybe the split side tunics are underwear & when they strip down to that level they also take off their shoes, or maybe the split side tunic is a low status garment worn by people who can't afford enough cloth to make a flared tunic & also can't afford shoes. Gale Own-crocker mentioned that all Saxon sites which yield 3 shaft twills also have signs of Roman influence, such as a Saxon Woman buried in hob- nailed boots (popular with Romans, incredibly rare amongst Saxons). She believes this may be because on sites showing strong Roman influence the Roman 2-beam loom survived in use & was not superceded by the warp weighted loom. Brian Weightman gave a talk on tablet weaving & showed some stunning reproduction samples. Having taken a degree in Archaeology & studied archeological finds of tablet weaving he now makes a living supplying reproduction braids & jewellery, he handed out sample books with explanations of the techniques used in the sample braids, these must have taken ages to produce, it was really good to have a sample of the braids to refer to as he was demonstrating with scaled up equipment which totally failed to convey the quality of the originals. Similarly slides of finds do not convey the original colours or the scale of the weaving as well as the reproductions. He gave demonstrations of many tablet weaving techniques, but teh one I found most interesting was an Icelandic technique which was new to me: Two wefts are used to give a double cloth. The tablets are threaded through the two holes on one side with one colour and the two holes on the other side with anothercolour. The tablets are just moved forwards & backwards being left on their points so there are two sheds for the two wefts. This gives two tabby weave cloths one above the other, with each cloth in a different colour. Then the tablets can be flipped over occasionally, this brings the opposite colour to the surface as the two colours of warp exchange. As the two colours of warp exchange they also stitch the two tabby weave bands together. I'm afraid I'm giving an awful explanation of the technique, it's really difficult to describe without pictures. There was loads more but I don't have time to type it all in, still I thought you might be interested in hearing about the bits I have got time to type. I'm afraid it's not a complete report as it's biased to teh stuff that was new & interesting to me, I hope it's new & interesting to someone else out there too! Jennifer Bray jennyb@pdd.3com.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996 11:10:35 -0800 (PST) From: close (Diane Barlow Close) Subject: Re: software demos vandy simpson wrote: > At one point you had made available the demos for pattern-drafting > software.... > However, for whatever reason, my request to fetch failed.I then followed > the instructions and sent for the file list.I no longer see anything listed > that sounds like these files.Are they no longer available? For Vandy and anyone else looking for the PC and Mac pattern-making software demos: they were removed from the h-costume archives in December, because hardly anyone was requesting them, so I figured I'd save some space for other stuff and remove them. However, they are still available through the Wearable Art Clothing mailing list's archives, and anyone who's on h-costume can get them from there too. Here's a listing of the file names in the wearable archive called DEMOS: DEMOS: CONTENTS.demos fsmacdem.uue.pt5 fswindem.uue.pt3 pcpat.uue.pt3 TOPICS.demos fsmacdem.uue.pt6 fswindem.uue.pt4 pcpat.uue.pt4 fsmacdem.uue.pt1 fsmacinf.uue.pt1 fswindem.uue.pt5 pcpat.uue.pt5 fsmacdem.uue.pt2 fsmacinf.uue.pt2 fswindem.uue.pt6 pcpat.uue.pt6 fsmacdem.uue.pt3 fswindem.uue.pt1 pcpat.uue.pt1 pcpat.uue.pt7 fsmacdem.uue.pt4 fswindem.uue.pt2 pcpat.uue.pt2 To request a file, you'd say: get wearable DEMOS/filename sent to majordomo@lunch.engr.sgi.com. If you want the file called fswindem.uue.pt4, for example, you'd say: get wearable DEMOS/fswindem.uue.pt4 Remember, files with "mac" in the name are MacIntosh files and files with "win" or "pc" in the name are IBM-pc files. You need all the parts of a particular file in order to complete and use the program. - -- Diane Close I'm at lunch all day. :-) If a Canadian Had Said It First (The Globe & Mail): "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance plus GST." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996 13:43:34 -0600 (CST) From: Deb Subject: Re: software demos One of the SEWING news groups had some conversation saying the Fittingly Sew is now out of business. If so, one would not want to become enamoured of that demo, only to find it is unavailable. However, the demo itself can be somewhat useful (I played with it for a while). Deb Baddorf baddorf@fnal.gov ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996 15:49:51 -0600 (CST) From: Teresa Shannon Subject: Re: Fabric Selection Query Thank you very much for the information. I will try and track them down. By and large I would advise people to stay away from upholstery fabrics as they are inappropriate for medieval replacements, although there isn't much choice out there when trying to reproduce some looks. Upholstery fabrics are always (warning *generalization) treated with formaldahyde and other chemicals, frequently mixed with synthetics, or are entirely synthetic, often have rubber or chemical backings or facings, and are woven so as to give no breathing to the fabric. Silk should almost never be found in upholstery fabrics since light exposure destroys silk, and carpet beetles love them, and linen only sometimes turn up. There are some nice wools though- if you can find them. But alas, upholstery offers similar patterns to what we seek so we look for there for it. But at THIS time in my life I want real brocades! I want silk, linen, and wool-no synthetics, no finishing with horrible chemicals (modern) patterns as close as possible, breathing fabrics. If I can get these with real gold and silver thread so much the better. I have used La Lames ecclesiastical brocades and have paid for the real metal thread-gorgeous stuff, but rayon with the gold/silver, and at this point, if I pay $75.00/yd, I want silk, wool, or linen! I just don't know where to find them. It would help if I lived in New York, London, Paris or Rome, or even Madrid, but I don't. So I implore anyone who does live there with connections to ask around. If you give me a telephone number and name (and warn me what language), I'll follow it up and try to get a catalog or order form. Thank you. Teresa ------------------------------ End of H-Costume Digest V4 #38 ****************************** A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, send the command lines: unsubscribe h-costume-digest subscribe h-costume end in the body of a message to majordomo@lunch.engr.sgi.com. Thanks and enjoy the list!