Hi, Jean. I'm prefacing all of this with a big "I could be wrong, but...." 1. You're right about the laces. I don't know of any evidence of tape laces, let alone the other laces you mention at that time. The stuff I've seen from the 16th c (whether in portraits or pattern books, or actual samples) was primarily needlelace, or distinctly braided--very different from what you were describing. Although I do think I've got a picture of an Italian lace-edged hankie in one of my many costumes books that has squared corners. 2. The collar sounds very late Elizabethan or Stuart. Certainly, they had lace-edged ruffs, but it's hard to be more definite without a better idea of what you meant by a "collar," vs. what I might mean by the same word! <g> 3. The pocket....I know of one pair of breeches which have a "pocket bag" accessible through an opening, but they seem to be very rare, otherwise. A description of the whole garment (including the doublet) can be found in Janet Arnold's _Patterns of Fashion, 1560-1620_. The suit is dated to about 1600, and is described as "traditionally believed to have been worn by James I," although it is actually more likely to have belonged to someone from James' court. My guess is, the costumers or designers for the show just went for "pretty lace" without giving it much more thought. And the hand-in-the-pocket thing may have been an unconscious gesture on the actor's part--I certainly haven't seen any portraits from that time in which someone is so depicted, but it's a fairly common modern stance. Does this help? I'm forever being distracted by costumes, myself! <g> --sue
Jean Barrett wrote: > > Good morning All, > I am not a very learned lace historian, but any who has been making > lace for a few(!) years gathers a little of the history along the way. > I settled down to watch a production of Shakespeare's 'Richard II' > yesterday evening. It was from the Globe theatre, Bankside, London and > was being done in more or less Elizabethan costume. I wanted to see it > as this was the play we had to study for our exams at school and I > wanted to see how much I remembered (not all that much actually) but I > found I was being constantly distracted by the costume. They were very > good and very decorative, but within the first 2 minutes there was > Richard flourishing a lace edged hanky about 8 inches square and the > lace had worked corners. Surely it should have been bigger? Then what > about that lovely linen collar, edged with Bedfordshire lace? Most of > the laces I could not begin to put a name to and I hadn't thought to > tape it. Finally was a scene where Richard is shown with his hand in > the pockets of his breeches. I had a feeling that pockets were not > fitted into clothing until a later date. Help. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
