I've just come back from the Sealed Knot's August Bank Holiday muster at Basing House (the ruins of a large house in Hampshire which was owned by a Catholic nobleman and was besieged by the Parliamentarians during 1663-4). On the Sunday evening Stuart Peachey, the expert on 17th century life, gave a talk on lower-class 17th century costume. He spoke without amplification in a crowded beer tent, but I was (literally) sitting at his feet so I could hear very well.
Someone on the Martin Luther thread mentioned front-opening skirts. This is a century later, of course, but Stuart told us that 17th century working women commonly wore a sleeveless front-opening gown, and always covered it with an apron (practical or decorative) to hide the part of the opening below the waist. Other points of interest:- Contemporary illustrations, even when supposedly portraying an incident of known date, can't be relied on for costume details of a specific decade. Often the same figure with minor changes appears in prints or woodcuts from different dates and even different countries. The woman with a broad-brimmed hat and a muffler http://www.learnnc.org/lp/multimedia/6851 appears, on foot and on horseback, in numerous pictures. No evidence has been found that 17th century coifs had a gathered projection at the back; it's thought that this appearance is derived from tying a tape round the "bun" of hair over the coif to hold it in place. I asked about drawstring necks on women's shifts, which we have discussed here. Stuart confirmed that there was no evidence for these; the gathers were sewn to a neckband. Kate Bunting Librarian & 17th century reenactor. _____________________________________________________________________ The University of Derby has a published policy regarding email and reserves the right to monitor email traffic. If you believe this email was sent to you in error, please notify the sender and delete this email. Please direct any concerns to [email protected]. The policy is available here: http://www.derby.ac.uk/LIS/Email-Policy _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
