Kathryn Parke wrote:
Could someone walk me through the process of belting a houppelande just below the bustline? How did they keep the belts there, without
> having it "walk"itself down to the natural waistline? Was it tacked > in places, and if so, wouldn't that interfere with the drape? And > how were they fastened in back -- buckled, tied, pinned?
All excellent questions. And all answers that we can only guess at, except for the last one.
There are some illustrations which show a buckle in the back, with a long tail hanging down from it. Some may have had short tails in the back.
How were they kept up there? This is all conjecture. You could definitely tack it in place while the belt and houp are on the body -- which would allow a way to keep all those pleats even. You could make belt loops -- that's what I've done for my husband's houp. The men's houp belts often seem to be at the hip, and you *know* men's belts wouldn't magically stay put there!
I belt my own houps tightly under the bust, and because I'm squishy, that works for me. But I am not sure it would work for everyone.
There's a marvelous illustration at the USA National Gallery which shows a closeup of the top of a houp from 1410, which I recommend to everyone because it's so fascinating. Her belt seems to float magically over the top of her houp.
http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg39/gg39-31.0.html -- Cynthia Virtue and/or Cynthia du Pre Argent "Such virtue hath my pen...." -Shakespeare, Sonnet 81 "I knew this wasn't _my_ pen!" --Cynthia Virtue _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
