" to buy costume related books? > > What may be misleading is that a large proportion of the people on this list > work in the medieval and Renaissance periods, so most of the people answering > have been mentioning books from those periods.
Perhaps a large proportion but not necessarily a majority. In a multi-era e-list, SCA members are usually the most vocal, therefore they often seem like a higher proportion of a group than they really are. Many of those people are in the > SCA, which is understandable given the size of the organization compared with > other "groups." So the impression may be more a question of the proportional > representation on this list than anything intrinsic to a specific group or > study of a particular period. I belong to almost 100 Yahoo lists for historic costume and reenactment, and have for some years. Though, admittedly, I do not receive direct email from the vast majority of them, and these days, don't have time to drop into their website archives more often than once every few months. However, my impression is that SCA members are the group most inclined to research and with the highest understanding of what research actually consists of. That is, they are the least likely to do things like assume that original sources are always 100% accurate and unbiased, that secondary sources are always useless, and so on. They are the most likely to assume that a multi-era e-group is "for them," often throwing out references to things like "Is X in period?" under the assumption that everyone on the e-list is always talking about some SCA period. However, they tend to be more interested in a variety of time periods and types of clothing within the SCA time frame. They tend to spend the most money on books, and buying the most expensive ones is a status symbol, as is buying other expensive things (such as fabric) that help in some way with an SCA "impression." Although I've had less contact with them, 18th-century reenactors strike me as the group next most interested in research and in books. Early 19th-century reenactors come third, with an interest in "original sources," but tending to confine them to sources approved by some group, and especially reprints of diaries and other personal accounts. The Civil War reenactors are a very large group but with few exceptions, tend not to be very interested in books or research. They seem to regard it as somehow virtuous to be conspicuously disinterested in everything beyond their immediate and very narrow time frame and geographic area, thus tend to lack a sense of context. They are conformist in ideas, and rely heavily on the system of one group "authority" reading a book and giving them a set of approved ideas to worth with. All reenactment communities do this to some extent, but the CW reenactors are the most likely to come onto an e-group and say, "What is OK for me to wear? I want to 'fit in,'" rather than doing any research or original thinking themselves. They also seem to have less formal education than the other groups, judging by how they write, spell, etc. > > I am not in the SCA or any other group, but I work only on medieval clothing, > so my answers reflected that. I have lots and lots of books. It's the nature > of my work. It's also the nature of Penny's work (she having started this > thread, and she also specializes in periods later than medieval -- which is > why she has lots of photos and magazines, and I don't!). I'm not in the SCA or any other reenactment group, but it's also the nature of my work to have lots of books and magazines, and I also collect vintage clothing. I don't have nearly as many photos as perhaps I should. They are mostly ones my parents bought at estate auctions, I haven't gone in for buying them myself. > > The nature of someone else's work might be served by a very narrow set of > references, depending on type of the costuming they do and the availability > of > sources. And very often it is. But because my lifelong profession has always been various aspects of writing, editing, and publishing, naturally I like people to want to read lots of books. Everyone working in publishing wants people to read lots of books. Not only for marketing reasons, but people who read a lot usually believe that reading is enjoyable, educational, and generally a good thing. > > And a lot of people have to choose between books and fabric. You can't get > fabric (or sewing machines!) from the library, so that often is where the > money has to go. It doesn't mean these people aren't using books. I admit, I not only think books are where the money should go, I would always rather own the book, if at all possible, than go to a library. I like things right at hand where I can reach them instantly. I have a lot of fabric and lace too, but only one sewing machine. I've always sold the old one when I bought a new one. I hate the idea of a serger. I understand that many people find them very useful, but I don't want one myself. I'm going to buy an embroidery machine, though, when we move to a bigger house and have room for one. I want one that will do big motifs and where I am not using canned patterns, but where I can create my own with an embroidery graphics program, one that interfaces with my PC. I'd like to scan in antique patterns from magazines and apply stitches to them with a graphics program. I understand that the ordinary graphics programs I use, which these days are mostly Corel PhotoPaint and Corel Draw, don't apply stitches to embroidery patterns. Corel has a special program for that which I have not really looked into, but I'm biased in its favor anyway because it's Corel's. I have not looked into the hardware all that much yet because buying a sewing or embroidery machine these days is partly buying a computer; and with a computer both the features and the prices change so rapidly, that it doesn't pay to research too far in advance. I'm open to suggestions though. I could either get an embroidery sewing machine--if it does big motifs and allows me to create patterns--and sell my current Husqvarna, or get a dedicated embroidery machine. I admit it, I want a low-tech knitting machine too, since I love knitted garments but have never cared for knitting. I used to crochet and I enjoyed it a lot, but there is something about hand knitting that has never appealed to me. Maybe it's just that I need to sit down and work on it some more, but having a knitting machine also appeals. It seems rather like weaving and though I quit weaving when we moved here and had to put the loom in the garage, since there wasn't enough room for it in my sewing room, I really loved the process. Fran Lavolta Press http://www.lavoltapress.com _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
