Of course there were all shades of blue, but i didn't think they were indigo. Or perhaps is it that while the dye was called indigo, it was only common in shades of blue because a blue hue is more a washed out version of true indigo (which is more violet than blue)? Obviously the rich could afford to have the fabric dyed repeatedly to reach those deep rich shades, but was out of the price range for the commoners?
And Sweeny is set in 1846, long before aniline dyes were thought of. It's also a huge stretch to bring that vibrant if a purple that early in the century, especially on a street performer/barber trying to look his best. And if a show is period in nature, then I do whatever I can to make it true to that era and realist as possible with the given budget. Michael Deibert OAS AAS LLS Sent from my iPhone On Feb 1, 2011, at 21:22, annbw...@aol.com wrote: > By the 18th century, indigo blue was one of the most ubiquitous colors. > All kinds of working clothes were solid blue, or blue and white checks or > stripes. I grant that the very dark blues may have been a tad more > expensive, though, as they had to be dipped several times. And yes, indigo > is fast. > > What year was your "Sweeny Todd" set in? I thought it was late 19th > century, and any time after about 1870, one could have had a brilliant purple > > (by then dyed with aniline dyes) for not too much money. > > Ann Wass > > > In a message dated 2/1/2011 6:20:28 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, > michaeljdeib...@gmail.com writes: > > Sorry I ant include exact dates as I'm at work and it's a hassle to look > it up on my phone! > > Indigo dyes were around for a long time. However, they were made from > extracts of plants. This process was extremely costly for the plants > themselves, it took multiple baths in the he in order to reach that deep rich > color > that was desires. Because of this expense, only the upper class, nobility > and the clergy were able to afford garments in these colors. I also believe > that that dye was by colorfast. > > In the 1760's, the first synthetic dyes were discovered, though it took > tip about the turn of the century till the process was refined. Because it > wa > now synthetic, the lower classes could finally afford garments in this > color range. > > Again, while I cannot pinpoint my sources by memory, I had looked into > this last spring while costuming the musical Sweeny Todd where the director > wanted a vibrant purple waistcoat for Pirrelli's character. Because of the > year it was set, there was no way He could have afforded that color but > unfortunately my research went unheaded. > > Michael Deibert > OAS AAS LLS > Sent from my iPhone > > On Feb 1, 2011, at 18:04, Marie Stewart <maric...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi folks. >> I must, respectfully, disagree with Ann on a point about the color > Prussian >> Blue Prussian Blue is defined as absorbing wavelengths about around 680 > nm, >> causing it to appear in visible light as approximately 700 THz. Which > is a >> lovely strong blue leaning towards the violet end of the spectrum, not > to >> the green/yellow end. >> (Methods of Chemical Analysis, 1998) >> >> I will agree with her that I misspoke when I said it was and aniline dye, >> its a cyanometalate. I would have been more accurate to say that > Prussian >> blue was one of the first chemically synthesized dyes. Thanks for the >> redirect on that one. >> >> (navel gazing: We know that the dye was in the painters sphere in the > early >> 1700s (18th century), but when did it move to the dyers sphere? Was it > in >> the mid-1700s, thanks to Macquer's experiments with reduction, thereby >> giving an easily transportable salt? Or was it used popularly, or > rarely >> before that. I'm going to go have to go research this. Fascinating >> topic. >> >> As a nifty side note, and a easy visual reference (although I got it from >> Wikipedia, so take it with a big grain of NaCl) the midnight blue crayon >> was once colored with and called Prussian blue. >> >> Mari >> _______________________________________________ >> h-costume mailing list >> h-costume@mail.indra.com >> http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
