Hm...Having fibromyalgia myself, I can tell you that the *weight* of the garment is as important as the fit. And 'dragging' along long lengths of fabric, no matter how pretty, really can cause the fatigue that makes the pain pretty darned unendurable. If you make a houppeland, make sure it's out of a fairly lightweight fabric. I used to wear italian ren, and then the gowns just got too heavy for me, and I just won't wear a italian ren without the right amount of fabric to get that 'shape and drape' that is so special.
Now most of the time I wear a nice tunic over a linen under tunic, that just skims the body so I don't even have to wear a belt. Anything I can carry has to go into a little basket, so I'm forced to not carry more than I have to. Anyhow, you are on the right track thinking about going tunic for her. Elena > My future MIL wants a period dress for the wedding > too. She is 5'-2" and wears a man's 2x shirt. Due to > fibromyalgia she will not wear anything very fitted, a > belt, or anything else that will create any pressure > or tension, especially on her lower back. She also > detests anything that might accentuate the bust. But I > don't want to make her look like she is wearing a tent > either. > > The period is 14th - 15th century. Her dress does not > have to be historically accurate, just look the part. > > I was thinking a houppelande would do well with most > of these requirements. I haven't really studied them > as to fit so I don't know just how fitted they might > be over the bust and waist. I wonder if making it less > so will create a tent-like appearance. > > Or perhaps a basic chemise and tunic type dress with > side lacing so that it can be gathered in a bit, but > not snugly. > > This picture from a series of German prints also gave > me some ideas. The woman on the right, but simplified. > http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE23AX.HTML > > Any suggestions or ideas? > > Thanks, > Annette M > > > > __________________________________ > Yahoo! Mail for Mobile > Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone. > http://mobile.yahoo.com/learn/mail > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
