Re: [h-cost] slashing fabric
On Wed, 23 Jul 2014, Bonnie Booker wrote: As far as a chisel for cutting, a blade works better and is easier. I would think this is what they would use. Here are some webpages with pictures of tools used for slashing and pinking. Rather chisel-like, but quite specialized. http://thegoldenscissors.blogspot.com/2012/06/pinking-tools-on-ebay.html Includes a picture from 18th c. Diderot's Encyclopedia http://duchesstrading.blogspot.com/2011/06/cool-antique-tools-pinking-machines.html Pinking chisels as well as a 19th c. pinking machine From my studies of pinking in the 16th c., i believe the chisel-like tools are quite similar to those used then. ISTR a 16th c. painting showing the tools but am not finding it at the moment. Anahita ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Chinese peasant costumes... help?
I recall reading how shocked people were when they discovered that those pristine white marble Greek sculptures had been brightly painted. One thing to bear in mind is that artist's pigment palettes and dyer's palettes are often quite different. Another thing is that paint colors often are not available in dyes. The beautiful ultramarine blue so commonly shown on clothing in the various Books of Hours painted for the Duc de Berry in the 14th c. was a color unavailable in dye. Third, colors that are desirable in paint - for example, rare or expensive pigments - are often quite different from the colors that are rare or expensive in dyes. That ultramarine blue i mentioned came from lapis lazuli and was expensive and desirable in paintings. But blue in clothing came from woad or indigo and was not so desirable. One of the most desirable colors for wool and/or silk was the bright blue-red from kermes and other similar lac insects (and in the 16th c. from New World cochineal). There is a lake from a lac insect used in paint (alizarin), but it doesn't have the bright glow of the dye. Additionally, what mordants are used to fixed the dyes effect the colors that result. Using different mordants -- for example alum, tannin, and iron -- results in three different colors -- alum fairly bright and true; tannin browned a bit; iron saddened, i.e. greyed, a bit. Not to forget that mordants often weaken fibers so that they don't survive the centuries well. Further, what fibers are being dyed also effects that colors. Any cellulose fiber -- not just linen or cotton, but also various other bast fibers such as hemp, ramie -- do not take most colors well, so will be paler and fade more quickly. Whereas proteinaceous fibers such as wool and silk take colors very well. Silk tends to be reserved for the wealthy, but in many places common people wear wool, even in summer, if they have sheep, or other wool-type fiber bearing animals. Finally, unlike Euro-American artists of the 19th and much of the 20th centuries, in many cultures, artists are NOT painting from life, and this goes for the colors they use to depict garments. These points are true -- in general -- for many centuries and at least the continents of Asia and Europe, if not on other continents. I can't speak specifically to the Chinese issue, but it is worth reminding ourselves that art is not photograph, and just because something is painted a certain way does not mean that people wore those colors. Maybe they did, but to back it up, we need more input than just pieces of art -- surviving textile fragments, textual descriptions, etc. Anahita ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] red bridal gowns and book author
I cannot answer the question of red wedding dresses in medieval Sicily. But i would like to note that Sicily might be considered something of a special case. Sicily was settled by Phoenicians during the 10th through 8th c. BCE, and by 750 BCE by Greeks, who absorbed the indigenous Sicani and Siculi people. Carthaginian cities remained in the west of the island until the Roman Punic Wars, the Carthaginians being descendants of the Phoenicians. But even after Roman conquest the language was never completely Latinized, and Greek remained the primary language for most of the population. Various Germanic tribes invaded in the 5th c. but the Eastern Roman Empire (known to us as Byzantium) took control of Sicily in the 6th c. - also controlled much of Southern and Eastern Italy. Settlements still spoke Sicilian Greek long after Byzantine rule was driven out. Some scholars have argued that most Sicilians are descendants of Greeks, or at the very least are part Greek. The Fatimids began invading Sicily from North Africa during the 6th century, a mixed group of Arabs, Berbers, Andalusians, and others. They eventually conquered the entire island and established the Emirate of Sicily by the beginning of the 10th c. with Muslim culture and the Arabic language asserting a strong influence. A particular languge developed, Siculo-Arabic, commonly spoken in Sicily until the end of the 13th century, although definite linguistic influences remain. Yet during this time, a large Greek speaking population remained. The Franco-Normans followed the Arabs, and during their rule Arabic and Greek continued to be spoken there. The society was composed of Normans and Lombards, Muslims, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Greeks, and Roman Catholics working together. During this time there were also Provencal and Catalan cultural and linguistic influences. Sicily remained an independent kingdom until eventually it became part of the Spanish kingdom of Aragon in 1409 - in 1492 Ferdinand of Spain decreed the expulsion of all Sicilian Jews. It was again an independent kingdom from the beginning of the 18th c until 1816, when it became part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, with the merger of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples in 1816. It remained independent until the unification of Italy in the 1860. But the Sicilians were not really culturally fully Italian. And they considered the unification of Italy to be the conquest of the south by the north. And many Sicilians continued to be rebels and separatists into the 20th c. When Italy became a Republic at the end of WWII, Sicily was one of five regions given special status as an autonomous region. Linguists today say the Sicilian language, Sicilianu, is different enough from standard Italian to be considered a separate language, not merely a dialect. I mention all this because traditions in Sicily - which reflect Greek and Arabic influence to this day - will not be identical to those the rest of Western Europe. So, did medieval Sicilian women really wear red wedding dresses? I don't know, but i suspect that information about other medieval European cultures will not fully apply to Sicilians. Anahita ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Philly Metro Trip Advice
My daughter lives in Philly, but she's a vegetarian, and German cuisine is not so oriented, so sadly she has no German restaurant recommendations. Additionally, your hotel is outside of Philly and my daughter has no car, so she does not know those environs. However, we both recommend the Mutter Museum, a medical museum which is part of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, in Philly: http://www.collegeofphysicians.org/mutter-museum/ for both its historic appearance and its interesting and sometimes quirky content. Anahita who will be in Philly this evening ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Brassiere assistance sought
Does anyone know of a trustworthy bra building e-mail list? Some of my searches turn up rather... uh... inappropriately salacious boards. I would also like to find some of the materials needed to fix some bras or build new ones from scratch. I am in the US. Thanks Lilinah ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Meaning of breeches in late 16th to mid-17th c. English
I'm trying to determine what the word breeches meant - did it mean underpants only, or did it have other meanings, for example, knee-length or shorter trousers - from the late 16th through mid-17th centuries. I ask because visitors to Persia commented that the men wore no breeches and i'm trying to determine the implications. I have seen knee-length trousers called breeches in parts of 16th c. Europe - garments that could be outer wear. As certain details of European clothing are outside my expertise, i am asking the collective wisdom here. Thank you. Urtatim al-Qurtubiyya SCA ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] marking tools
For marking on dark fabric i use a Japanese chalk wheel, which is fantastic - draws a very fine line and brushes off easily - or very soft school kid's chalk in bright colors - makes a slightly thicker line and also brushes off easily. I have not yet found the perfect tool for marking on white and other very light fabric. I sometimes use soft school kid's chalk in a somewhat darker color (i tend to use a medium blue), but i worry about it staining the fabric. I also sometimes use a very soft graphite pencil when i am certain the lines will be hidden by the stitching. Anahita ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] marking tools
On 01/12/2012 03:02 PM, I wrote: I have not yet found the perfect tool for marking on white and other very light fabric. I sometimes use soft school kid's chalk in a somewhat darker color (i tend to use a medium blue), but i worry about it staining the fabric. I also sometimes use a very soft graphite pencil when i am certain the lines will be hidden by the stitching. Cathy Raymond replied: You do know that they make tailor's chalk in light blue, as well as white? The Joann's near me sells them in a two pack (one white, one blue) for less than $3.00. Perhaps my blue tailor's chalk is just too old, because it is very hard and barely leaves a mark, so i like the soft chalks. Ann Catelli wrote: For that matter, a chalk line is quite good marking for long straight cuts. Now THERE is a thought! I mostly make Near and Middle Eastern costumes, and they pieces are built on rectangles, almost triangular gores, and trapezoids, so a chalk line would be very practical indeed. Thanks for the idea! Anahita ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] How to stiffen rayon
I have some cellulose rayon fabric, the kind that looks and behaves a lot like cotton, but has a very soft hand. I would like to find a way to make it less drapey so i can turn it into an Ottoman entari. It is printed with a very hard to find pattern, chintimani, http://home.earthlink.net/~al-tabbakhah/cintamani.html which i have not been able to find in a more suitable fabric. The garment will be lined and faced. But i'm afraid the outer rayon fabric will droop away from it. A friend recommended starching the fabric which might be good before cutting it out, but the garment will need to be washed and the fabric may droop after washing. If i use an interlining, i'm concerned the rayon will gradually sag unevenly away from it. Is there some way to bond whole pieces of fabric to a soft interlining? Some bonding agents have been recommended, but i'm not sure that they are suitable for whole garments. Or any other suggestions on what i can do to maintain the fabric in a somewhat firmer state? Thanks, Anahita ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] 1960s hippie fashions
More on 60s clothes in the Mid-West As i said, i went to a girls prep school north of Chicago, 1965-67. We wore our own clothes. My advanced math teacher used to make negative remarks about my clothes and color combinations to the whole class. For example, I wore knee-high orange suede boots, a wide-wale burnt-orange corduroy hip-hugger mini-skirt, a wide burgundy leather belt, a magenta nylon knit turtleneck (really nice, fine, and silky), and a silk scarf that was all those colors and a few more, held in by a hand-painted wooden finger ring that was red-violet with tiny flowers of yellow and white dots with black centers. Pantyhose were not real common, and were boring flesh tones, and tights for adults didn't exist (in the US tights are quite opaque and usually colorful). I wore a garter belt and stockings. Sometimes i'd wear a different color stocking on each leg... Anyway, all senior girls were required to give a Senior Talk to the whole school. As i mentioned, i was often in trouble for non-conforming behavior. So i borrowed clothes from friends - and the day of my talk i was totally conservative and preppy: -- cranberry wool A-line skirt, -- cranberry and white striped long-sleeved button-down oxford cloth shirt, -- cranberry pull-over V-neck fine wool sweater, -- cranberry cable-knit knee socks, -- and cranberry suede loafers. The Head Mistress saw me walking into chapel to give my talk and told me not to. This was either late 66 or early 67. I was the only senior not to give a talk. Anahita ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] 1960s hippie fashions
On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 12:06 AM, Sylvia Rognstad syl...@ntw.net wrote: Here's a question for those (like me) old-timers out there. I may be going to a 1960s hippies style event and if so, need to wear a costume. My recollection isn't so good. Remember what they said: If you can remember it, you weren't really there?Anyhow, I'm trying to remember when long skirts and dresses came in. I can only recall wearing them in the 1970s, but my legs, not being what they used to be, definitely do not want to be seen in a mini skirt, which is all I can remember wearing in the late 60s. Along with bell bottom pants, of course, which is an option, but I prefer a dress. What do you early boomers recall? Sylvia R I had a couple of the long dresses in the late 1960s while i was in high school - i graduated in the spring of 1967. My family lived in the suburbs of Chicago. They were sometimes called granny dresses. One had a high standing collar and short puffy sleeves, a high waist, and a skirt that was ankle length and was not very full. It was made of red cotton with a small all-over print in black, of a sort Americans call calico. I got my granny dresses in 1965. Here's a photo of one (not mine) http://www.flickr.com/photos/37511...@n06/3524944584/ I was at an all-girls boarding school in northern Illinois. We did not wear uniforms except for certain school functions. We wore our normal clothes to classes. I wore a granny dress to class and got in trouble (i wasn't the only girl with them, but i was much more likely than any other to push the boundaries - i was in student court for something nearly every week). After some wrangling, we were given permission to wear them to dinner. After that many girls showed up in them to dinner. When the first Human Be-In was held (spring of 67), they occurred more or less simultaneously in several cities. I went to the one in Chicago in ?Grant Park?... i was even on TV (although not my face - but i recognized my dress) I was wearing an ankle length violet cotton dress with a somewhat scoop neck and a high waist. The sleeves were narrow on the upper arm and just above the elbow the lower sleeve was sewn in - it was fairly full. ISTR that the upper sleeve was pin-tucked and the front of the bodice may have been, as well. While the skirt was long, it was not particularly full. By the fall of 67 i was living in NYC. I had a dress of that new-fangled polyester knit with a swirly very Pucci-like pattern in black and white and turquoise and cobalt and purple. It was long and the skirt was a bit fuller than the other long dresses i've mentioned. It had a deeper scoop neck and wrist length fairly narrow sleeves. IIRC, it had center front and back seams as well as side seams. The front was somewhat fitted - it may have had bust darts, i don't remember. I used to wear it to clubs. One, the Electric Circus, would let a bunch of us in for free early, before it opened, so the Bridge and Tunnel crowd, coming from New Jersey or New York suburbs would find the hippies were already there. The Grateful Dead even played there at least once - i was there... Of course, by the spring of 1967 i had a nice selection of mini-dresses, most from Paraphernalia, a very hip fashion boutique. These were generally mid-thigh length with long sleeves of various interesting shapes. Some were puffed at the sleeve cap, with a somewhat tight fitting band around the middle of the upper arm, then belling from there to a bit above the wrist. So to my recollection, you have a choice: mini-dress with long sleeves, or long but not loose dress. I have noticed that many of the items of clothing being called 60s or hippie in retro revival fashion are either more 70s and disco or they are 60s, but actually mod - and more European fashion than hippie. Anahita ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Anyone Read Czech?
I was wondering if anyone on this list reads Czech. Part of my website is cited in a PDF i found on a Czech website: http://www.kostym.cz/Cesky/4_Odivani/osmane.pdf I can tell the PDF is about some aspect of 16th century Ottoman clothing, but I wonder what the exact title is in English: NASTIN ODEVU V OSMANSKE RISE V 16.STOLETI Ing. Martina Hribova Ph.D. (i removed accent marks since they don't always transfer in e-mail) I also wonder if there's any specific reference in the text to my website (and if it's unfavorable, i'm interested in the details, so i can make improvements). I am not asking for a complete translation. I mean, i'd love one, but i wouldn't expect anyone to go to all that trouble. Please contact me off-list: lilinah (at) earthlink (dot) net Thanks, Anahita SCA: Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM) ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Brassiere supplies
Most commercial bras never fit me properly. So I'm picking up what looks like a really good book on making brassieres, Making Beautiful Bras by Lee-Ann Burgess. This book is Australian, and i'm not sure if it lists sources for supplies in the US - i won't have it until Tuesday to double check. So i'm asking for suggestions here, since it's the only clothing oriented list i'm on. Also, if anyone knows of a legitimate list for making women's under things, i'd welcome the information. Thanks, Anahita ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] material for Russian coat in England
Regina wrote: Evidently the Beatles (there are people on this list that still remember the Beatles, aren't there? (whimper, feeling OLD today) got the silk that most of their wildest costumes were made from there as well. Well, clearly they are not entirely forgotten :-) American Idol had the competitors singing Beatles' songs the other night. Of course they were in a variety of styles, none like the originals. I don't watch that show, but was switching around during commercials and heard a few minutes. I don't have cable, so the only reality show i actually watch is America's Next Top Model (it's my guilty pleasure confession). Every once in a while there are some interesting garments or make-up. Last night, in one segment, they were wearing garments and accessories made of raw beef for a photo shoot in the huge refrigerator of a large commercial butcher. This part of the episode wasn't about the clothing but about modelling well in taxing situations. There was also a fashion show of incredibly boring stuff by some dull designer. Lilinah ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] 1968 SCA views of medieval clothing
Carol Kocian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Most SCA events are private - halls, parks and school property is rented for their use. I wouldn't quite call that private . . . not like, say, a Victorian costume ball, or a modern party, where only friends are invited. I'd call it organizational. Anyone can join the SCA as far as I know. It used to be possible to attend events without being a member, but I don't know if that's still true. Private in the sense that everyone there is in costume as a participant. While people don't need to pay their dues to the SCA in order to attend, a requirement is that they wear an attempt at period costume. SCA events are not private. While we have to rent someone else's property, all SCA events are open to the public. Most events have an officer present (Chatelaine, Gold Key, Hospitaller, etc.). who has clean garb to loan for free. Lilinah who has been that officer at Principality and at Kingdom levels in the SCA ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] fiber arts and making vs buying clothes
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Never was a goth myself, but had lots of goth friends (and still have a few!). Most of them wouldn't be caught dead making their own clothes - adapting maybe, but not actually making. Here in Northern California there were and are groups and mailing lists for Goths who are making and adapting clothing. There's no stigma accruing to those who make their own. Someone who can make cool Gothwear is appreciated. Lilinah ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] I don't know art but I know what I like
otsisto [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Renaissance Faires also would have a booth selling chainmail/chain headdresses. They range in size from cauls to long veils, a mix of chain mail, looped chains and jewels. Old techniques, old shapes (veils), but the product is modern. De:I always believed they stem from the Edwardian view of the Middle Ages and Camelot. But mostly I have seen the chainmail cauls in Erte's drawings. The only time I've seen one worn outside a historic (Renfair/SCA/LARP) context was that Anne Rice wore one during a television view. -Carol De: I've seen them in plays and Halloween and one Goth. She had white blond hair and the chainmail was black with red crystals. They have also been used in films. More than one chain mail jewelry vendor proudly displayed photos (in a book of their work) of their headwear - and chain mail hand jewelry - as featured in movies. This was especially true in the 1980s. They are also often worn at neoPagan rituals and festivals. Lilinah who has a matching head and hand set for festive wear ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
