On Wed, 1 Mar 2006, Susan B. Farmer wrote: > I have *no* clue! It's rows of "alternating" trapezoids -- /\/\/\/\ > is the apparrent arrangement of the pieces
Actually, the trapezoids do not alternate. They are all placed with the short side up, so that they contribute to the flare of the skirt. (This is much clearer in person, on the painting, than in any reproduction.) The trapezoidal shape becomes less pronounced further down the skirt, where the shapes are both larger and closer to rectangular. There are I think five trapezoid rows, separated by horizontal strips (four in all) maybe two inches wide, forming essentially an alternating tiered pattern of stitching. There are also strips placed vertically alongside the lacing opening. We have had long discussions of this on the list before ... let's see, here's a post I wrote on July 26, 2002: http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/Fashion/index.cgi?l=hcos02&s=15th%20century%20female%20dress&Cmd=Match+2 This wasn't the first time we talked about this. Aha, here's an earlier thread, from January 2000: http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/Fashion/index.cgi?s=van+der+Weden+&l=hcos00 See in particular my post on Jan. 23, and the ones following that, which is where we talk about the skirt. But IIRC we also talk about pin-on sleeves and the "Fram air filter" hat in that thread. (Both of those topics keep coming up, every year or so, as the list population changes and new people come in.) The theory about the skirt that I find most interesting was, I think, Teddy's: That these may not be separate pieces of fabric arranged together, but rather stitching lines from the fur lining. --Robin _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
