> Subject: Re: [h-cost] looking for scan of Alcega Scholar robe > > > Is it only men's clothes? > Sharon > >
No. Both women's and men's clothing. Again, this is middle class Spanish, not the Infanta's. Although they were probably similar in cut and construction, Royal clothing certainly utilized items that most well to do people did not. There are patterns for what we call a farthingale that are put together quite differently than we do now. They are also fairly narrow. Remember that Spain stayed with the cone shaped silhouette while England went for the bum roll and pleated looks late in the century. The patterns consist of drawings of various widths of fabric with pattern shapes laid out on them. Usually 3 patterns to a page. This shows you that they are quite small. I measured them, checked the measurement chart (doesn't look like anything you have ever seen before) and drew full size patterns on pattern making muslin (gingham which has such nice even squares on it). More than anything else, this book will show you what the pattern pieces looked like; how they were placed on fabrics of various widths that were available then (none in the 60" woolen widths we are used to). Once you have the hang of what Master Alcega was trying to put across to men who were already familiar with the craft of sewing garments, you will love the book. The first part of it is a facsimile of the original Spanish book. The second part is the translation with each of the patterns done again. The measurements are not translated, but there is a page at the front of the translated section that discusses what the markings mean, and how wide fabrics were believed to be from various countries. Regina _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
