Survey (was Castellan)

[LIB_IMC at centum.utulsa.edu]

<Antoine D'Aubernoun<"\"Randy Shipp\"" <rshipp at molly.hsc.unt.edu>>
>> that effect) and promptly started dressing only in 12th Century (in 
>> order to put my money where my mouth was).  
>I remember the comment.  For as little as I know about period garb, I
>thought it sounded true...

I'm just pleased that it's as true for 1306 as it was for 1116 :)

>In fact, if I recall correctly, the lady who
>taught the beginning garb class at that same collegium showed off a nice
>white and purple early Byzantine tunic/dress that I thought was like 
>court garb...

Sounds like Mistress Jean-Maire.  From what I can tell, she is 
*definately* knowledgeable on this topic.

>...I'd give a sword for one nice tunic like that.

Better not say that, someone might take you up on it :)

>All of my garb is...how do you say? Newbie.

No,no,no, that's "scheduled for replacement"...

>  I'm dying for better clothes...even one good set appropriate 
>for my persona (see below), but neither I nor my lady are handy with a 
>sewing machine.  I'm afraid I may have to learn, as my efforts to get in
>touch with local seamstresses has turned up nil.

Well, while I make no claims to be anything resembling a costuming expert,
and I really lucked into marrying someone as authenticity retentive as
I am who can sew beautifully, I *do* remember the nightmare of trying
to make my own clothes back when all I wanted was a new tunic.  The
stuff that Stefan has stored away at his site may be of some help, but
since I can sympathize, I'll see if I can come up with something as well.

>My persona is 1280 Norman.  Know where I can get patterns or pictures?

Yes.  I'm going to suggest some sources that are, er, not pristine pure
from an academic standpoint, but if you are careful, will help you out
a lot.  The first is "Patterns for theatrical costumes" by Katherine
Holkeboer.  She also has one called "Costume Construction", but I haven't
actually read it.  If nothing else, this is a good way to see how these
things can be pieced together, even if the patterns aren't always
absolutely correct (as with making shoes, sometimes you just have to
take the knowledge you have on hand, and make a blind guess as to a 
pattern).

I'm about to make a suggestion that will likely get me sneered at, and
I'll expain why in a minute.  See if you can find a series of books called
"Costume and Fashion" by Herbert Norris.  Many people don't care for
this set of books (even though his material on Ecclesastical Costume
is, I believe, a standard text in that area).  He doesn't cite his
sources and there *are* accusations that he makes things up at times
(although I have yet to see anyone offer examples or citations to support
the accusation).  Keep these in mind when you read the books, and be
a little cautious (it's sort of like eating cheese that's got moldy bits
-- you can easily just throw out the whole thing, but if you are careful,
most of it's still perfectly good :) ).

You will notice that I do use him in my Shoe document, and I also will
try and supplement that where I can with other, more reliable material.

These should get you past the initial "Ok, so how do I do this?" stage.
Later, you can progress onto the inner mysteries of costuming (or so 
my wife tells me :) ).

>I'm sure you are... I don't crave adornment, just proper, well-fitted
>period style.  Also, where do you get (or how do you fashion) your hose,
>if they are indeed appropriate for your persona?

The pairs of hose I currently have are "scheduled for replacement" as 
soon as possible (I have the wool for them already set aside)  They are 
based on (I believe) patterns in the Holkeboer book, and were made for 
my Elizabethan.  They are joined hose, which is incorrect for 1300, and
are made from a slightly stretchy cotton (something like t-shirt material).
The wool I have for them is a fairly simple weave, so it should stretch
on the bias (I think the plan is for bias-cut/single seam hose).  The
real trick will be the Brais, but since this IS a public forum...

If you haven't seen it yet, the footed hose designs in my shoe document
are based on the hose patterns I have seen elsewhere (although these are
for joined hose).  The only difference is that many earlier (by which I mean
up to the 14th century, I believe) hose were made with "stirrups" (since
that means that you won't be wearing out holes in the feet of your hose, and
always having to replace them).

Diarmuit