On Mon, 25 Dec 2006, Sue Clemenger wrote: > If I recall correctly, through the mists of time and cold medicine ;o), I > remember you pointing out (at the workshop in Boise) that the different > silhouettes we were coming up with during the fittings were appropriate to > different decades/time periods. The one I got, which was a smoother, > rounded, slightly lower version, was, I *think* a slightly older style than > that achieved by the younger/slimmer/perkier types. Suits me just fine, > though--with the size of my chest, something really perky gives me a > horizontal shelf right below my chin!
The fitted seemed to start with a relatively high neckline and fairly even compression of the bust, around 1350 (you see this in manuscripts, brasses, and sculptures); over the next 50 years the neckline went lower and the bust was raised higher. (In the lecture I demonstrate how lowering the neckline works physically to raise the bust.) When the bust goes up, the balance of the figure changes too, making the spinal curve more extreme, and this too became more exaggerated over time, reaching an extreme in the 14-teens or so. > I don't remember you talking much about the skirt fullness, although the > weekend was so chock-full of details and bits, that I may just have missed > it. Do the skirts getting increasingly full as the decades pass, or less > so? Narrow in the 1350s, noticeably and suddenly wider by 1380 or so; it doesn't seem to be a gradual increase but rather a change in technique that creates a more abrupt shift to a wider skirt. In the lecture I talk about a couple of practical reasons for this related to changes in cut on the back and side seams and also availability of certain fabrics -- too much detail to go into here. > I'm grumpy, though...I've misplaced my fitting shell. I'm really > keeping my fingers crossed that it's in the storage unit. I will be > almightily peeved if it's not--there's no one here with the right > skills to help me make another one! All this time and you haven't made that dress yet? ;-) I certainly hope you *do* find it, as I was very very pleased with how that looked on you. (When we closed it up on her for the final time and she stood up, everyone in the room applauded. It really looked splendid, perfectly firm and smooth and stable.) --Robin _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
