[h-cost] Victorian corset on UK TV
Any UK list members see Jeremy Paxman's series on the Victorians last night? He spoke to a lady who collected Victorian ladies' costume, and much was made of the discomfort/restriction of wearing a corset. She then appeared in Victorian underwear and got Jeremy to lace up her corset, supposedly to show how a lady couldn't dress herself; however, in close-up you could clearly see the hooks in the front that should have enabled her to do so! 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 info...@derby.ac.uk The policy is available here: http://www.derby.ac.uk/LIS/Email-Policy ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Victorian corset on UK TV
Any UK list members see Jeremy Paxman's series on the Victorians last night? He spoke to a lady who collected Victorian ladies' costume, and much was made of the discomfort/restriction of wearing a corset. She then appeared in Victorian underwear and got Jeremy to lace up her corset, supposedly to show how a lady couldn't dress herself; however, in close-up you could clearly see the hooks in the front that should have enabled her to do so! Kate Bunting Librarian 17th century reenactor. Exactly what I thought! Beautiful corset though! Viv. ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] what people wore when
What does anyone think about this book as a reference? Thanks, Patty What People Wore When: A Complete Illustrated History of Costume from Ancient Times to the Nineteenth Century for Every Level of Society by Melissa Leventonhttp://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?ATH=Melissa+Leventon ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?
Cin wrote: It's Oscar weekend, theater season, it's almost spring. There must be something! A mantle of dust trimmed with a fringe of silky black cat hair. :( Dawn ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?
Ooooh - we match!! -Original Message- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Dawn Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 11:38 AM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing? Cin wrote: It's Oscar weekend, theater season, it's almost spring. There must be something! A mantle of dust trimmed with a fringe of silky black cat hair. :( Dawn ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?
1770's stays, pocket hoops made of striped ticking, calico petticoat, and yards or ready made quilted silk that I am trying to wrastle into a quilted petticoat, without it adding 6 to the waist measurement. The only way it makes sense is to take a ginormous dart from waist to hem - not authentic, but then neither is ready made quilting! Suzi ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?
On Mon, 23 Feb 2009, Dawn wrote: Cin wrote: It's Oscar weekend, theater season, it's almost spring. There must be something! A mantle of dust trimmed with a fringe of silky black cat hair. :( Dawn Isn't the pet hair an assumed? All my embroidery frames end up with a silky fringe of cat fur, in various colors (I have a tortie and a Holstein, so they contrast with Everything). :-) Jen ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?
Not to be a naysaying jerk or anything, but actually ready-made quilting is authentic, per se; that doesn't mean the stuff we can get now is the same thing. But professional quilters in Europe did petticoat panels that were sold, including exported to America. So no need to feel like you're cheating with the ready-made. The trouble with trying to fit a quilted petticoat under a 1770s gown is of course that the gown is open from waist to hem, so you can't do what they did when quilted petticoats came back into fashion amongst the Victorians and sew a quilted lower half to a plain upper piece. But in period the quilting might have started at the knee, so you could take the stuffing out of the top part, thus less bulk. They also appear to have been less gathered and more shaped than standard petticoats -- so not a ginormous dart but a slightly more A-line cut than your usual 1770s petticoat. I mean, I'm sure you thought of all this already; I'm just in one of those compulsive-helpfulness moods. Too little sleep. Right now what's on my dummy (I still don't actually HAVE a dummy but what's all over my workroom) is income taxes. But then I have a yummy yellow-and-red shot taffeta to make a crispy petticoat from. Lauren - Original Message - From: Suzi Clarke s...@suziclarke.co.uk To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 11:55:46 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing? 1770's stays, pocket hoops made of striped ticking, calico petticoat, and yards or ready made quilted silk that I am trying to wrastle into a quilted petticoat, without it adding 6 to the waist measurement. The only way it makes sense is to take a ginormous dart from waist to hem - not authentic, but then neither is ready made quilting! Suzi ___ 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
Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?
Can you cartridge pleat in the extra? -Original Message- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Suzi Clarke Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 8:56 AM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing? 1770's stays, pocket hoops made of striped ticking, calico petticoat, and yards or ready made quilted silk that I am trying to wrastle into a quilted petticoat, without it adding 6 to the waist measurement. The only way it makes sense is to take a ginormous dart from waist to hem - not authentic, but then neither is ready made quilting! Suzi ___ 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
Re: [h-cost] Victorian corset on UK TV
When I wear my corset, I first hook up the front, then I get someone to tighten the back laces. You can just wear it without tightening, but it won't be as fitted and often you need the tightening to get the girls to be held in the right place so they don't slip down.:-) However, this year at Dickens Fair, I just wore it as hooked and didn't tighten it except for when I wore my fancy dress, which has a smaller waist. Sharon C. -Original Message- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Viv Watkins Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 2:31 AM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] Victorian corset on UK TV Any UK list members see Jeremy Paxman's series on the Victorians last night? He spoke to a lady who collected Victorian ladies' costume, and much was made of the discomfort/restriction of wearing a corset. She then appeared in Victorian underwear and got Jeremy to lace up her corset, supposedly to show how a lady couldn't dress herself; however, in close-up you could clearly see the hooks in the front that should have enabled her to do so! Kate Bunting Librarian 17th century reenactor. Exactly what I thought! Beautiful corset though! Viv. ___ 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
Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?/quilted petticoat
At 20:46 23/02/2009, you wrote: Not to be a naysaying jerk or anything, but actually ready-made quilting is authentic, per se; that doesn't mean the stuff we can get now is the same thing. But professional quilters in Europe did petticoat panels that were sold, including exported to America. So no need to feel like you're cheating with the ready-made. The trouble with trying to fit a quilted petticoat under a 1770s gown is of course that the gown is open from waist to hem, so you can't do what they did when quilted petticoats came back into fashion amongst the Victorians and sew a quilted lower half to a plain upper piece. But in period the quilting might have started at the knee, so you could take the stuffing out of the top part, thus less bulk. They also appear to have been less gathered and more shaped than standard petticoats -- so not a ginormous dart but a slightly more A-line cut than your usual 1770s petticoat. I mean, I'm sure you thought of all this already; I'm just in one of those compulsive-helpfulness moods. Too little sleep. Right now what's on my dummy (I still don't actually HAVE a dummy but what's all over my workroom)Â is income taxes. But then I have a yummy yellow-and-red shot taffeta to make a crispy petticoat from. Lauren 'Tis done, and although I says it as shouldn't, it really looks rather good. I though about putting it on a basque, but can't match the silk, and don't, as you say, want it to show. So I did take the equivalent of huge darts, which effectively shaped the thing into an A-line and cut away the surplus. The thought of unpicking the quilting didn't bear thinking about - too much and very concentrated pattern, although really similar to patterns I've seen. Thanks for the help though - good to know we were thinking along the same lines. Sharon - cartridge pleating never even crossed my mind once I thought about reshaping the skirt. Something to bear in mind for the future thanks! Suzi - Original Message - From: Suzi Clarke s...@suziclarke.co.uk To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 11:55:46 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing? 1770's stays, pocket hoops made of striped ticking, calico petticoat, and yards or ready made quilted silk that I am trying to wrastle into a quilted petticoat, without it adding 6 to the waist measurement. The only way it makes sense is to take a ginormous dart from waist to hem - not authentic, but then neither is ready made quilting! Suzi ___ 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
Re: [h-cost] Victorian corset on UK TV
I follow much the same procedure but I tighten the laces on my own corset, it's easier than teaching somebody else (as nobody else in my house is a costumer), I've told people before if you can do up your own bra you can lace up your own Victorian corset (although other eras with a higher back are trickier, because it's difficult to reach much higher than your shoulder blades). Elizabeth --- Elizabeth Walpole Canberra, Australia http://magpiecostumer.110mb.com/ -Original Message- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Sharon Collier Sent: Tuesday, 24 February 2009 8:50 AM To: 'Historical Costume' Subject: Re: [h-cost] Victorian corset on UK TV When I wear my corset, I first hook up the front, then I get someone to tighten the back laces. You can just wear it without tightening, but it won't be as fitted and often you need the tightening to get the girls to be held in the right place so they don't slip down.:-) However, this year at Dickens Fair, I just wore it as hooked and didn't tighten it except for when I wore my fancy dress, which has a smaller waist. Sharon C. ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing?
- Original Message - From: Suzi Clarke s...@suziclarke.co.uk To: Historical Costume h-cost...@indra.com Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 11:55:46 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [h-cost] What's your dressmaker's dummy wearing? 1770's stays, pocket hoops made of striped ticking, calico petticoat, and yards or ready made quilted silk that I am trying to wrastle into a quilted petticoat, without it adding 6 to the waist measurement. The only way it makes sense is to take a ginormous dart from waist to hem - not authentic, but then neither is ready made quilting! Suzi I would separate/remove the batting/quilting for about six seven inches from the waist - depending on where you'd like that extra to burst into life - so that you are only gathering/pleating one layer of fabric without the batting to the waistband. it's what I've done working with quilted fabrics at seams where I didn't want bulk, trim away batting and extra layers as needed. alex -- So much to do and so little attention span to get it done with… ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Victorian corset on UK TV
Just my $0.05 worth... I agree about doing up your own corset.. if your laces are long enough (and they should be) just cross the laces over, hook them over a door knob, face the door and then you can exert some pull on the laces as you step backwards, working the laces from top to bottom... putting on a corset should be an easy process... granted the Elizabethan styles that are laced right up to your shoulder blades would be interesting to try.. Elizabeth, you are in Canberra?, where do you by you corset supplies from (spiral steel and busks)? Sidney Brisbane On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 8:49 AM, Elizabeth Walpole ewalp...@grapevine.com.au wrote: I follow much the same procedure but I tighten the laces on my own corset, it's easier than teaching somebody else (as nobody else in my house is a costumer), I've told people before if you can do up your own bra you can lace up your own Victorian corset (although other eras with a higher back are trickier, because it's difficult to reach much higher than your shoulder blades). Elizabeth --- Elizabeth Walpole Canberra, Australia http://magpiecostumer.110mb.com/ -Original Message- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Sharon Collier Sent: Tuesday, 24 February 2009 8:50 AM To: 'Historical Costume' Subject: Re: [h-cost] Victorian corset on UK TV When I wear my corset, I first hook up the front, then I get someone to tighten the back laces. You can just wear it without tightening, but it won't be as fitted and often you need the tightening to get the girls to be held in the right place so they don't slip down.:-) However, this year at Dickens Fair, I just wore it as hooked and didn't tighten it except for when I wore my fancy dress, which has a smaller waist. Sharon C. ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Medieval Clothing and Textiles, Vol. 5
I have just received my author's copy of the 2009 volume of Medieval Clothing and Textiles journal. This is rather earlier than we expected! I understand that orders are now in the UK warehouse and are being shipped, and will be at the publisher's US branch shortly. Contents of volume 5: Clothing and Conflict in the Icelandic Family Sagas: Literary Convention and the Discourse of Power, by Kate D'Ettore Obscure Lands and Obscured Hands: Fairy Embroidery and the Ambiguous Vocabulary of Medieval Textile Decoration, by Sarah-Grace Heller Failed Censures: Ecclesiastical Regulation of Women's Clothing in Late Medieval Italy, by Thomas M. Izbicki Cutting a Fine Figure: Costume on French Gothic Ivories, by Paula Mae Carns One Quilt or Two? A Reassessment of the Guicciardini Quilts in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museo del Bargello, by Sarah Randles French Hoods: Development of a Sixteenth-Century Court Fashion, by Melanie Schuessler Who Was Cesare Vecellio? Placing Habiti Antichi in Context, by Tawny Sherrill ...as well as reviews of recent books on medieval dress and textiles. You can order through the publisher, here: http://www.boydell.co.uk/43834510.HTM or through the usual online sources. Right now it looks like Barnes and Noble has the best price, but that tends to vary over time, so it's worth checking around. Also, people attending the Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo can get it there at a substantial discount. --Robin ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Corset Supplies in Australia (was RE: Victorian corset on UK TV)
For my current corset (made about 3 years ago) I bought the hardware from Farthingales in Canada, but more recently I've bought hardware for a cage crinoline from A Rare Notion in Melbourne http://www.ararenotion.com.au/ and I was happy with their service. Elizabeth --- Elizabeth Walpole Canberra, Australia http://magpiecostumer.110mb.com/ -Original Message- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Sid Young Sent: Tuesday, 24 February 2009 10:25 AM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] Victorian corset on UK TV Just my $0.05 worth... I agree about doing up your own corset.. if your laces are long enough (and they should be) just cross the laces over, hook them over a door knob, face the door and then you can exert some pull on the laces as you step backwards, working the laces from top to bottom... putting on a corset should be an easy process... granted the Elizabethan styles that are laced right up to your shoulder blades would be interesting to try.. Elizabeth, you are in Canberra?, where do you by you corset supplies from (spiral steel and busks)? Sidney Brisbane ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] FW: bleeding fabric
_ I bought a scarf--green on one end, indigo in the middle and bright turquoise on the other end. It was a bit stiff, so I decided to rinse it in cold water to get out whatever was making it stiff. The green and indigo are colorfast, but the turquoise runs like anything, so much that I'm afraid that if I wear it and it gets wet in the rain, it will bleed all over whatever else I'm wearing. Any suggestions on what I can do? Soak it in something to set the dye? Or should I just return it to the store? Sharon C. ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
