From: Gretchen Miller Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 19:46:29 -0500 (EST) Subject: H-Costume Digest, Volume 60, 2/24/94 The Historic Costume List Digest, Volume 60, February 24, 1994 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 For archives of this digest, send mail to close@lunch.asd.sgi.com Thanks and Enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------- Topics: Middle Eastern costumes More bios Fashion and Dancing How DO you wear a priest's collar? Cuff links and the Ashley Book of Knots ---------------------------- Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 15:30:57 EST From: "Kathleen A. Moore" Subject: Middle Eastern costumes Title:Art Library, UofL Phone:(502)852-6741 If anyone out there has info to share on pre-17th century Middle Eastern women's costumes, especially for the ghawazee and/or gypsy-dancers, would they be willing to share? I work in a university art library, and have seen lots of manuscript illustrations of women, but not many of dancers. I've also seen the Jennifer Scarce and Alev Croutier books. THANKS--Kathy kamoor01@ulkyvm.louisville.edu Bridwell Art Library, 102 Schneider Hall, Belknap Campus University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 ---------------------------- Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 15:42:45 -0500 (EST) From: Gretchen Miller Subject: semi-lurker bio Hi! I guess you could call me a lurker, since I haven't posted much. Lets see, current history: I maintain the h-costume list with Diane Close, and send out the digest daily. My Background: I've always loved to play "dress-up", though I haven't always created my own costumes. When I was 6, my favorite "toy" was anything out of the $0.25 bin from the local thrift shop. Beyond that, the closest I came to historic costuming was a collection of sunbonnets acquired on the annual vacation to the Smoky Mountains. In 5th grade, I wrote, directed, and made costume recommendations for a play of "the creation of the world according to greek mythology", and I was hooked on the theatre from that point on. After several moves, I ended up doing everything I could backstage for high-school theatre -- hammer, paint, sewing machine, props, lights -- the same for college. While I didn't learn much about costuming, per se, I learned a lot about what works on stage and why. (things like don't use green fabric for night scenes, chances are the lighting will make the green glow in the dark. Course, this can also work to your advantage, one of the funniest scenes I ever costumed was a hen-pecked husband in an apron on the back porch at night. The apron had big green and red radishes all over it, and the glow in the dark effect made it look twice as silly) Shortly after college, I was told "hey come to an SCA event, you'll like it, we'll get together beforehand and make a costume". One event, and I was hooked. Here was a place I could play all the backstage games I had played in amateur theatre, without the incredible time investment. I've done men's elizabethan, a burgundian dress, a renaissance gown from a medieval miscelleny pattern (which, IMHO, was a wasted effort in historical costuming. I found the original picture that the dress was based on, and the pattern doesn't reproduce it very well. Nor are there complete instructions, and the construction method is incredibly inaccurate as far as I can tell) and a few sets of peasant clothes for me. My best set so far is based on some Brueghel drawings of peasant women near Bremen. Got the look right, (including the back), got the fastenings right, got the seams in the right places. Next time, though, I'll have to make it out of the correct fabrics..... Right after I construct the Elizabethan shirt and smock from the Janet Arnold article. Peasant clothes are my favorite, since I'm also very involved in historic cookery (i.e. I spend most of my dress-up time in the kitchen, and need garments that function well as working clothes) Got the fan costume bite too -- and had to make it (sortof) historic. Entered my first SF masquarade last year as "Polly from Planet Picasso" Made a t-tunic out of white cloth, painted the garment like a picasso cubist portrait, and built a full head mask based on several women's busts sculpted by Picasso. The topper was the shellaced piece of french bread with a melted clock face on it. That was my Salvador Dolly. Won the local equivalent of the costume con Spazzy for that one.... I've really enjoyed this list; I've learned an incredible amount, and hope to apply much of it soon. So, that's me in a very large nutshell! toodles, gretchen (h-costume list maintainer and list lurker) ---------------------------- Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 13:15:03 PDT From: Cindy Subject: Fashion & Dancing For those of a more scholarly bent ... but a fair warning. Dancing with Richard is the equivalent of a good aerobics class! Costumes admired but not required! July 3 - 8, 1994 - Vintage Dance from A to Z (Richard Powers, Stanford) The 6th Stanford Historic Dance Week - to be held July 3 to 8, 1994 at Stanford University, featuring live music by San Francisco's Brassworks Band and the Paul Price Society Orchestra. VINTAGE DANCE FROM A TO Z - For the first time, Richard Powers will lead a grand tour through the entire spectrum of 19th and early 20th century social dances, from Regency and Romantic eras to Ragtime and the 1920s. The schedule will include daily review sessions, along with illustrated presentations on dance history, costuming, period deportment, dance research, performance practices and guidelines for teaching vintage dance. Tuition will be $190, with various on and off-campus housing options. The course runs basically 9AM - 4:30PM and then 7-11PM daily including July 4. Location probably Roble Dance Studios on Stanford campus. Gender balance will be maintained, with a limit of only 60 participants. Deposits of $75 are being accepted now, payable to the Stanford Dance Division at 375 Santa Teresa, Stanford, CA 94305, Attn: Marcella, (415) 723-1234. You may also write or call to receive a preliminary schedule of classes, seminars and evening events. --cin ---------------------------- From: jsargent@hmg.com Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 12:12:07 Subject: Doctor of Divinity Hello All, I've been noodling about the idea of getting a Doctor of Divinity certificate from the Universal Life Church, and wondered if anyone knew if there was an "orthodox" uniform for the position, say, circa 1900? Collar forward, or back? Is it a shared position, and should I specify "catholic", "prod", or whatnot? jes curious. -jls ---------------------------- Subject: Re: Middle Eastern costumes Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 16:25:59 -0500 From: Elizabeth Lear Newman >If anyone out there has info to share on pre-17th century Middle Eastern >women's costumes, especially for the ghawazee and/or gypsy-dancers, would >they be willing to share? I work in a university art library, and have >seen lots of manuscript illustrations of women, but not many of dancers. >I've also seen the Jennifer Scarce and Alev Croutier books. Sure, I'd be happy to talk about it, since I make Middle Eastern dance costumes for people in the SCA. There's even a reasonably good series of patterns put out by 'Atira's Fashions' for Middle Eastern dance clothing (including Ghawazee coats) that can be adapted for period styles. They are based on 19th century examples, but it's not too hard to work them backwards into what is shown in period art. Here are some good books to look at: Serpent of the Nile: Women and Dance in the Arab World Wendy Buonaventura The Art of Arabian Costume (mostly Bedouin) Heather Colyer Ross You can order these books and the patterns from Wandering Moon PO Box 420 Ashfield, MA 01330 413-625-9667 (Visa/MC) They also sell music, scarves, dance belts, etc. One of the owners is a dancer in the SCA. ...eliz ---------------------------- Date: Thu 24 Feb 1994 13:41 PT From: Catherine.Keegan@EMC2NCAL.IBMMAIL.COM Subject: Middle Eastern Costumes If you're interested in Persian-style costuming, there are a lot of dated Persian manuscript illuminations showing women. Some even show women dancing. I have quite a number that purport to be 15th and 16th century. There are a few Venetian woodcuts that depict Turkish women. The Bodelian Library puts out a small booklet of a description of the Ottoman Empire which has several nice woodcuts of women...none of anyone dancing, though. Good Luck Catherine Keegan ---------------------------- From: Mirabelle Severn & Thames Subject: Re: Middle Eastern costumes Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 14:34:30 PST I, too, would like to see such information. Naomi ---------------------------- Date: 24 Feb 94 12:50:05 EST From: "Gina Balestracci" Subject: cuff links I brought my Ashley Book of Knots to work today so I could quote chapter and verse on button knots. All of chapter 5 is about button knots, and all it says is that "The Chinese Button Knot is worn throughout China on underwear and nightclothes. Buttons of this sort are more comfortable to lie on and to rest against than common bone and composition buttons, and they cannot be broken even by the laundry. "A Chinese tailor ties the knot without guide, flat on his table. But one may be more quickly and easily tied in hand by a modification of the sailor's method of tying his Knife Lanyard Knot. The two knots are tied alike, but they are worked differently." Back in my flower child days it was considered quite trendy in parts of southeastern Massachusetts (specifically New Bedford, home of Moby Dick,) to wear a monkey's fist knot as a necklace. It's the same knot as the cute little cuff links, and once you get the hang of it, it isn't all that difficult to tie. At one time I made many pairs of cuff links for various friends--I'm a musician and black or white tie is often required--even when we were all flower children. The Ashley Book of Knots is a wonderful resource written by a fellow New Bedfordite--albeit many years older than myself (his uncles were whaling captains--but I knew somebody who did know Mr. Ashley :-). It has lucid instructions with wonderful diagrams for tying close to 4,000 different knots, splices, hitches, bends, etc., with anecdotes about how they were used, history (nothing too academic, but as above), and other goodies. I've used some of the flat knots as braid decoration on costumes and other clothing. The only time it's come up short is on the Fret Knot, a knot used to tie frets onto viols and lutes, and I already knew how to tie that one--I was just checking to see if it was in there. Here's the citation: Ashley, Clifford W. The Ashley Book of Knots. Doubleday and Company, Inc. 1944. ISBN 0-385-04025-3 I've seen it recently in bookstores, so it must still be in print. gb ---------------------------- End of Volume 60 -----------------------