Any possibility that the line of trim is what we would call a waistband, attached to the vertical pleated skirt, the whole worn over the horizontally pleated underdress?
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Susan B. Farmer Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 11:43 AM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] girdle? was:] Photos Quoting Marie Stewart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > There are many, many theories about bliauts. I have a few myself. > However just to stick with the question... is there docs on the > horizontal lines on the bliaut ever being a separate piece from the > garment? > > Some say yes. Some say no. I used to be in the "probably no, but it > is vaguely possible" camp... until Nancy's photos showed me something > new. > > look at the photo called PDRM0061in the Chartres collection. Look at > the belt knot, then look just above the belt knot. There you will see > a repeating decorative pattern, that resembles trim, either woven or > embroidered. Now... notice that the "trim" appears to lie flat and > follow the curve of the body, lines above it run in the horizontal > direction, lines below it run vertically. You can also see this line of trip just above the belt on some statues from St. Loup de Naud. This is a large scan (ca. 1 MB in size) so that you can see the details quite nicely. http://epee.goldsword.com/sfarmer/SCA/Paintings/stLoupDeNaud_LeftPortal-deta i2l.jpg or http://tinyurl.com/6qse5 The other thing that is telling to me is the "knife-pleats." Look at how they disappear behind the neckline trim ... look at how they "reappear" out from under the wide trim above the belt. IMO, this is the source of the garments that we see in later symbolic art where the woman has on a hip-length "vest" or "corsage" or whatever you want to call it. > > To me this is really starting to suggest a separate layer. Could be. > Can I be positive, not yet, but I am intrigued. > > Could this be the "corsetum" mentioned in the English inventories of > the early 1300s, which was fashionably "behind the times" - or an > ancestor of that garment? Are the two even linked at all? Well, wasn't France leading the Fashion World (tm) at that time? I don't have a problem with the English lagging behind. > > Some folks might postulate that the trim is a product or a decoration > to highlight construction of the garment. Covering the joining of a > bodice to a skirt... Personally I find that theory to be too > speculative for me, and not in keeping with examples of garment > shaping of the day. But some people do advocate that style of > construction. Yeah, I think that's a little too sketchy for me too. Susan ----- Susan Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] University of Tennessee Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology http://www.goldsword.com/sfarmer/Trillium/ _______________________________________________ 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
