Whether the pleats are sewn into place with a stay tape or not is entirely a personal choice - it basically comes down to whether you can be bothered to pleat it, and have somebody check it / pleat the back for you every time you put it on. An internal stay tape is a perfectly valid option, as is pleating anew with every wear. The only time it wouldn't work, of course, is when you make one to pull over the head with no fastening, as then it wouldn't go over your shoulders. I've never seen any evidence for a back fastening version (though naturally nobody can claim to have seen every piece of evidence out there - if they do they're either lying or deluded!!). Although it's possible, I'd have to agree with Suzi that in the picture you've linked to it looks as though it's decoration of some sort - possibly the same (fur??) trim that's at the neckline (it seems to be the same colour). As to the fastening method - either nothing, leaving it to be closed by the belt if the fabric is stiff enough to allow that (with some fabrics it will get a bit floppy with no fastening). Or hooks and eyes (remember to alternate them so they don't fall open continually), or buttons, or points.... If you're copying from a particular picture and you can't see any fastening then it's either hooks, or nothing. In a message dated 15/11/2008 19:00:55 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Message: 5 Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:38:06 +0000 From: Suzi Clarke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [h-cost] Houppelande fastening question To: Historical Costume <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 11:49 15/11/2008, you wrote: >Hi, > >I'm about to do a short version of houppelande or burgundian-style >men's doublet, however you call it. The style seen on this picture: >http://www.virtue.to/articles/images/1468_claricedegasconne.jpg > >My question is, are the pleats sewn fixed together or are they just >folded into the waistband? >I think they must be fixed somehow because the pleats are always so >regular, but I'm absolutely unable to figure out where would be the >fastening and how exactly would it work. > >In this picture, it looks as the fastening was in the back, but it's >very unclear to see. >http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/5435/img7348wr5.jpg > >I've searched some books on this topic but I never found a >satisfying answer. Adrien Harmand talks about fixing the pleats, but >as my French is so bad, I didn't figure out whether she said >something about the fastening. http://www.florentine-persona.com/Reviews/review_birbari.html In this book there is a picture of a man lying on the ground, with his "houpplande", for want of a better description, lying open under him. It is clear that the pleats are stitched to a band which is at the waist, and which, in my opinion, appears to have no fastening. The belt worn over such a garment would probably be sufficient to hold it fastened. However, it could be hooked closed, or tied with points. Although the book contains Italian pictures only, the garments are very similar, and I have used the internal belt system satisfactorily on them for Northern European clothing. I have not seen anything that fastened at the back, and I wonder if your picture is showing a seam, decorated with ?braid? rather than an opening? Suzi _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
