I'd agree with you here. It kinda makes sense that it would develop that way- Started out as just a frill on a cuff or neckband and then got increasingly more complicated.
I have made them both ways - for very different looks. I made a reproduction of this gown http://www.phxart.org/slideshow/index.html#/COL/72157606055619396/2650051503/ and sewed the pleats into place. At the time I wondered if they would have done it that way - not sure how or if they would have laundered it. I also used "horsehair" braid in the edge to maintain the shape since it was made out of silk organza - I wouldn't count this approach out. Horsehair braid really was made out of horsehair at some point - (some interfacing still has goat hair in it.) And one of my favorite quotes from a professional historian is: "If you thought of it, they probably did too"!! (I also sprayed it with acrylic spray rather than starching it - it was going to the museum, and I figured it would be better from a dust standpoint....) I think in the POF book they showed this type of ruff in one picture where there were two different methods used. One where the attachment to the neckband was cartridge pleated and butted up to the band, and one where it looked like the pleats were flattened and attached into the seam line. You could tell because the latter provided more space for the wearer. Sg > Date: Thu, 9 Apr 2009 16:09:29 -0700 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [h-cost] Stitching on ruffs > > IMHO, they're not folded and stitched onto a wide neckband till the early > 1600s. I cite as evidence those portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots, which > show her ruff from two different angles. I think earlier ones are tightly > gathered at the seam at the top of the neck band, heavily starched, and > goffered into place with a hot iron. That's why the earlier ones are > narrower at the neck edge, and why the later ones are so "head on a plate". > > On Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 12:55 PM, Hanna Zickermann <[email protected]>wrote: > > > Not really read, but it´s the technique described in "Period Patterns for > > Stage and Screen". I always liked the way the ruffs turned out, but I´m > > beginning to doubt the historical accuracy of the technique, so I thought > > I´d ask here. > > > > Hanna > > > > > > At 21:18 09.04.2009, you wrote: > > > > This is curious - someone else mentioned to me the other day that they had > >> read in Janet Arnold's "new" book, POF4 that the ruffs were never stitched > >> to hold the folds in shape. (She cited the back part of the book where > >> starching and shaping was described.) > >> > >> I reread that section and could see that the ruff they were working with, > >> indeed was not sewn with stitches, but I didn't see anything that said they > >> were never sewn. > >> > >> Are you citing something you have read? > >> > >> Sg > >> > >> > Date: Thu, 9 Apr 2009 20:39:41 +0200 > >> > To: [email protected] > >> > From: [email protected] > >> > Subject: [h-cost] Stitching on ruffs > >> > > >> > Hello, > >> > > >> > has anyone ever seen a ruff that really had the stitching along the > >> > outer edge to keep the "8"s in shape? "Period Costume for Stage and > >> > Screen" even suggests embellishing the ruff with beads on top of > >> > these stitches, but I feel they are just a theatrical neccessity as > >> > the ruffs are not properly starched and must keep their shapes in > >> > nylon material. > >> > Or is there evidence that these stitches would have been used as a > >> > decorative feature as well and that they are documentable? > >> > > >> > Thank you, > >> > Hanna > >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > 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 > >> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > h-costume mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > > > > > -- > Carolyn Kayta Barrows > -- > Blank paper is God's way of saying it ain't so easy being God. > -- > _______________________________________________ > 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
