> 'Mary of Hungary gown' is 14th century isn't it?) and a whole lot of > educated guesswork or trial and error.
1520s. The thing is when you "know" so much about an era you then start getting pickier about other details, so it's not just a question of "oh there's more info so it's easier." In later periods you are also looking a larger population and indeed some rather more subtle differences in clothing by region, month of the year and indeed time of the day and occasion. Also age appropriate. It's still quite difficult for me to work out why a garment is considered more appropriate for an older woman than a younger. It's often not about colour, though darker and duller shades are often listed as more seemly, not is it always about ornamentation (sometimes plainer is too severe..) . On another discussion list (message board) someone queried the use of a bustle in 1880-81. The answer is not as simple as yes, wear a little one. The answer was not as simple at the time either. While there is more information, there are also more decisions to be made because the rate of fashion changes really do increase to the point you have seasonal fashions in the mid-late 19thC especially. Also while there is more opportunity to directly copy, there is ever so much more to research if you want to know why and how. One of my favourite eras covers the years from 1875-1885 and there certainly is a lot of photographic evidence, but a lot of of it is undated and it can be very tricky getting a good date because like now people cling on to older fashions and use local fashions that may not appear in the usual books. The usual rule to find the latest fashion and date from there doesn't always work either, because that can either be a completely random item that is ahead of its time or still be worn a few years before the image was taken. So more information doesn't always mean an easier task;) I recreate and create costume from many historical and media sources. The only easy way for any of them is to just start creating immediately without doing the reasearch, or at least saying "enough! my brain will explode if I take up any more information!";) There is always more to learn. I started going mad with my Valois because of the amount of information I could look at (weaving types, stitch types where the cloth was woven.....) michaela de bruce http://costumes.glittersweet.com -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.6/111 - Release Date: 23/09/2005 _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
