the way I heard it, a ZILLION years ago, so probably SCA-fantastic, was that the Landsknecht started out as mercenaries, who would loot the baggage as well as the bodies... and would want to wear as much of that loot at the same time, as possible as advertisement! (see how much I've collected, how successful -- wouldn't YOU want to hire me too?)
and that while slicing the layers might make it possible to climb into more of them, the slashing and pulling was how you would SHOW that you had different colors and fabrics under the outer layer! and of course, be EXTREME CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION, which is why it caught on with the upper classes eventually. hmm, I always thought the slash-n-puff moved UP the social ladder, from the mercenaries UP to the upper classes... it MIGHT have moved down as well, if it did start as a Conspicuous Consumption practice of the upper classes... Wiki article on Landsknecht says the particular mercenary companies that evolved into the LK were organized by Maximilian around 1500; but there are lots of upper class pics at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500–1550_in_fashion show slashing AT THE SAME TIME. On the other hand, the LK slash-n-puff engravings show something very bulky, almost like padded fabric armor! chimene & gerek On Jul 22, 2014, at 12:53 PM, Julie wrote: > I saw this on another list and I thought I'd check with the wise folks on > this list. I've never heard this before. Truth or myth? > > " I took a history of fashion class in college (design major) and the > decorative cutting of clothes goes back to the 16th century if not earlier. > It started with the german warriors who would take the fine silk clothing > of the people they bested in battle but the clothing was too small (these > were evidently big guys) so they cut the pants up in decorative slashes so > that they could still wear them. (look up "landschkinects") This was of > course before the invention of the washing machine so the fabric didn't > disintegrate like it would now with modern washing practices. And the > fashion spread throughout Europe. The frayed edges of the cuts were > definitely part of the design element of it to the extent that there were > some fabrics woven to look like they had been decoratively cut...the frayed > edge duplicated with an overlaid weft that was severed after weaving (like > velvet, only in spots) and there were special chisels made for the tailors > to do the cutting with." > > Thanks for your wisdom > Julie > > > > On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 11:00 AM, <h-costume-requ...@indra.com> wrote: > >> Send h-costume mailing list submissions to >> h-costume@mail.indra.com >> >> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >> http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume >> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >> h-costume-requ...@mail.indra.com >> >> You can reach the person managing the list at >> h-costume-ow...@mail.indra.com >> >> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >> than "Re: Contents of h-costume digest..." >> >> >> Today's Topics: >> >> 1. LonCon Membership for sale (cc2010m...@cs.com) >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Message: 1 >> Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 16:06:49 -0400 (EDT) >> From: cc2010m...@cs.com >> To: h-costume@mail.indra.com >> Subject: [h-cost] LonCon Membership for sale >> Message-ID: <8d1733670fc8cbe-f04-12...@webmail-m257.sysops.aol.com> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >> >> Hello, >> I am selling my membership to LonCon, the world SF con in London. I am >> asking $100, which is what it cost me at ChiCon. >> Henry Osier >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> h-costume mailing list >> h-costume@mail.indra.com >> http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume >> >> >> End of h-costume Digest, Vol 13, Issue 62 >> ***************************************** >> > _______________________________________________ > 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
