Elizabethan Wired Caps Preview

Posted by Trystan on January 29th, 2012

The heart-shaped cap most famously worn by Mary Queen of Scots goes by many names and its construction has been up for debate. The style was not just worn by this queen — it was common among upper-class women of the late 16th century in England and France. While modern costumers may know it as an “attifet,” Elizabethans knew it as simply as a wired cap or wired coif, and this form of headgear is closely related to the common linen coif worn by all classes of women since the Middle Ages. This Elizabethan cap is related to Flemish/Dutch/Netherlands wired caps of the late 16th and early 17th centuries as well.

At the SCA West Kingdom June Arts & Sciences Tourney XLVII on June 15-17 and at Costume College 2012 from August 3-5, I hope to offer a hands-on workshop where students will learn to sew an Elizabethan wired cap for themselves. I will provide a pattern, instructions, millinery wire, and starch, plus copious historical documentation and references.

Students must bring:

  • 1/2 yard of lightweight white linen (I like the 3.5-oz linen from Fabric-Store.com & the 3.8-oz linen from Dharma Trading Co.), make sure to prewash & iron your fabric!
  • 1 & 1/3 yards of white cotton cord or plain white ribbon, no wider than 1/8″ or 4mm
  • Scissors for cutting fabric
  • Hand-sewing needle
  • White thread
  • Straight pins
  • Optional: 1 yard of white lace trim, this can be added later

The cap will be entirely hand-sewn, so students must have at least intermediate sewing skills — hand-sewing a running stitch and a whip stitch will be required. This will be a limited-attendance class with a small fee.

At the SCA event, students may be able to join the class on the day of the event, but for Costume College, advance sign-ups are required and are done through Costume College itself. For membership and more info, please go to the Costume College website.

Take a look at these images of wired caps for ideas of what this workshop can make.

Posted in 16th Century, Articles, Costume College, SCA Tags: , , No Comments »

If it walks like a duck…

Posted by Trystan on January 23rd, 2012
Holland countrywoman by Lucas de Heere, late 16th c. (image source: University of Ghent)

Holland countrywoman by Lucas de Heere, late 16th c. (image source: University of Ghent)

The Flemish gown research has become an excuse to make funny hats. YAY!!!! Because there are few things I love more than wearing crazy things on my head. First, I thought, oh sure, I’ll need some nice little linen cap. Then it looked like maybe a new type of wired cap a la Netherlands (because, oh yeah, did they go nuts with wired caps in the 16th century! see: barbels on the Facebook Elizabethan Costume community).

But what really caught my eye was this cap-cloak thingy with a duck-bill shape on the head that’s in the Lucas de Heere book. I mean, wtf is going on there? It’s awesomely bizarre. I don’t know, but it’s fucking crazy & I may need to make that just for the hell of it.

Is the duck bill to keep off rain or sun? Rain seems likely because of the curled brim, except that the most likely materials (starched &/or wired linen &/or buckram) wouldn’t be rainproof at all. I guess it could be a canvas, maybe waxed or oiled to repel water, but I don’t know how common that was used in hats in this era.

I need some contemporary written descriptions, not just images, & who writes about country-folk clothes at that time? I know where to find descriptions of upper-class clothes, but not the lower folk. Hrm…

I did find two more images, a woman in one of those “catalogs of what women of Europe are supposedly wearing in the 16th century” & a man…

The oddest is the man in Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting “Netherlandish Proverbs,” which is also called “The Blue Cloak” due to the central image of a woman putting a blue *duck-billed cloak* on a man. This image is supposed to represent a wife cuckolding her husband, according to every online analysis of the painting (& presumably lots of offline theses as well, which I need to get access too when I can hit up the library). What is unclear to me is if the meaning of cuckolding comes from the blue color of the cloak, the act of putting a cloak on one’s husband, or if the duck-bill shape of the cloak’s hood has any connection. Nobody says.

None-the-less, I’m obsessed! So once I finish the gown, I’m totally making one of these things, & I promise not to put it on my husband or make it in blue. However, I might quack (damn you).

Posted in 16th Century Tags: , , , , 8 Comments »

An Introduction to Copyright for Bloggers, Especially Costume Bloggers

Posted by Trystan on January 18th, 2012

By Trystan L. Bass

Notes and Caveats: This is written based on my nearly 20 years of professional experience writing and editing on the Web. For the last decade, I’ve been an editor in the central editorial department of Yahoo!, and before that, I worked in similar capacities at a digital music startup and an alternative newspaper. Dealing with copyright issues has been an important part of my career. However, I am not a lawyer, and nothing I say here should be construed as legal advice. Nor does this article necessarily reflect the views of my employer, past or present. But I will try to cite my sources while providing an overview of the most important information bloggers need to know about copyright. Note also that I’ll be addressing issues of United States copyright law, because international regulations are outside my experience.

Here are the three most common myths about copyright, as noted in the Yahoo! Styleguide and seen all over the Internet:

  • The work is online, it’s public, so I can copy it and use it however I like.
  • I can make a copy of any work I want to, as long as I provide credit to the work’s creator.
  • If I don’t see a copyright notice or © symbol, the work is in the public domain.

None of these are true! Read more to get the facts about copyright. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Articles Tags: 12 Comments »

Feeling Flemish

Posted by Trystan on January 16th, 2012

And not just because I’ve had a head cold for the past week (yeah, Flemish, not phlem-ish, har har).

I started a little sewing this weekend. Kendra gave me an old project of hers, when I bought a bunch of wool from her last year. It was originally her 1560s nuremburg dress from ages ago, the bodice & skirt in pieces. I tried on the bodice & found that if I took up the shoulders a few inches, it would fit pretty well. Worn over my Elizabethan stays, it had an inch or two gap at the center front (the bodice is entirely unboned).

So I unpicked the shoulder seam, which was a bit fussy since the edges were piped. I took the seam in, re-stitched, & hand-sewed the piping down, which turned out reasonably neat, if a smidge bumpy. At least it’s all in the back. Pity it’s not like house plumbing where the pipes can be joined with smooth fittings.

Then I thought about how I’d wear this. With the velvet guarding in along the front of the bodice & at the center-front of the skirt, it might look odd to have a front-laced gap. But opening the side seams & adding a strip there for width just so the fronts meet edge-to-edge would be a huge PITA, plus I’d have to match the piping again, causing weird bumps inside the armscye. Ew.

So I started looking around for images. And conveniently I had the nice, fat Lucas de Heere illustration book in PDF on my iPad that Kendra posted about recently. Wherein I found several images, mostly Flemish, with that typical front-laced bodice. Duh! That reminded me of Drea Leed’s Flemish dress article & Jen Thompson’s further research into the topic. Lots of lovely images there…

Well then. The wool gown from Kendra could work as the Flemish laced overgown. I’ll add lacing rings along the center front of the bodice, then shorten the skirt & attach it to the bodice. I just need a kirtle underneath this gown. And I already have a black velveteen over-partlet I made to wear as Mistress Fockett, along with one of my various ruffed smocks. Add some pinned-on sleeves made from the extra wool that matches the overgown, & then I can make some crazy-fun Flemish cap in linen (yay, moar caps!). Ta-da, easy Flemish working outfit.

Which is also plausible as an English working woman, or, in my case, a Scottish gentlewoman working on her own estates in the absence of her husband. Then I can fit it into my SCA persona & it’s not some random deviation like this Italian stuff has been :-)

Posted in 16th Century Tags: , , 2 Comments »

1560s Black & White Gown, Inspired by a Portrait of Isabella de Medici

Posted by Trystan on January 9th, 2012

Here is the finished gown, in photos taken by Wendi Koble, right before Sarah’s Laureling ceremony at the SCA West Kingdom 12th Night 2012.

The only thing I’d change is that the silver, black, & pearl girdle I made ended up a few inches short (but I swear, I measured!), so I couldn’t wear it that day. This will be fixed soon. Everything else felt & looked pretty darn perfect to me.

Posted in 16th Century Tags: , 4 Comments »

Silver Accessories

Posted by Trystan on January 4th, 2012

I couldn’t help but add a few more little bits to my 12th nite outfit. First, some new pearl-drop earrings because all my 16th-century-esque ones are gold-based. That took about 10 minutes.

Then, a silver, black, & pearl girdle. I had bought this silver beaded necklace on eBay to use for parts — look at those big, fat, filigree beads! All for eight bucks, more than enough for a girdle. I added black glass beads from The Stash & some glass pearls that didn’t make it onto the gown itself.

I may use this black enamel & pearl cross brooch at the center-front point of the bodice, where the girdle ends. When I first got it off eBay, I’d planned to wear it a the neck of the bodice & have several silver & pearl necklaces hook over it a la the Isabella de Medici portrait. I’ll probably fuss with it on the day of the event.

Posted in 16th Century Tags: , 1 Comment »

More pieces fall into place

Posted by Trystan on January 3rd, 2012

I hemmed the 12th nite gown on New Year’s Eve before the obligatory visit to a party (followed by champagne in the hot tub at home ;-). However, I took the cheater’s way out on that hem — my pal, Steam-a-Seam. Aw yeah. Because done is better than perfect.

corded petticoat

corded petticoat

Which also left me time on New Year’s Day to make the rather essential corded petticoat to hold out the petticoat-that-shows (which I’d made earlier on NYE day from that black & white embroidered silk). I scrounged some cherry-colored faille from The Stash & used the Spanish farthingale pattern from The Tudor Tailor. I’d already scaled this up to make an actual farthingale for my 1580s gown years ago — the pattern works pretty well, although it’s came out a touch long on me (bad math), so I fixed that in this rev.

Otherwise, I made it up the same way, just using cotton rope from Orchard Supply Hardware instead of the heavy steel cables I used in the farthingale. And somehow I ended up with three rows of cording instead of four, but whatever, it works. I used black grosgrain ribbon for the casings instead of pleating the cord into the skirt, as is often done on Victorian corded petticoats — this went a hell of a lot faster & looks kinda cool, imo. A few pleats in the front & back of the waistband, ribbon waist ties, & she is done. This item should come in handy for other outfits too, so I’m glad I had time to make it.

I also made some random braided hairpieces decorated with pearls. I’m still not sure how I’ll do my hair for 12th Night, but I figure braids will help. I know English 16th-century hair, but not Italian, so I’ll throw myself on Kendra’s mercy. And bring my pornstar hair as backup!

Hmm… wonder if I’ll have time / inclination tonight to make a new girdle? Let’s not get carried away…

Posted in 16th Century Tags: 2 Comments »

So close…

Posted by Trystan on December 31st, 2011

Kendra came over yesterday, & we sewed, sewed, sewed. We worked on skirts for our gowns & got to the point where we could sit on the couch, watching “Elizabeth R,” hand-sewing vast piles of black silk whilst drinking cocktails. Good times!

Well, I cartridge-pleated the skirt & attached it to the bodice, so the gown is essentially done. It just needs to be hemmed. Oh, & I could add some pearls along the center-front, but that’s gravy.

medici gown, almost done

medici gown, almost done

Now I need to make a corded petticoat to wear underneath & then the black & white silk petticoat that shows under the split skirt of the gown. And I need to make a braided hairpiece. And I have to finish up Sarah’s banner. All in three days before I go back to work after the end of this holiday break. Eeek!

Posted in 16th Century Tags: , , No Comments »

They worked!

Posted by Trystan on December 26th, 2011

I was a little bit surprised when I sewed up the sleeve side seam, turned it right-side out, & *ta da* the sleeve looked liked I’d hoped & planned it would look all along. Sure, there were some fiddly bits to fix like trim not lining up perfectly & basting lines still showing, but those were easy fixes. The concept worked in the end.

Finished medici sleeve

Finished medici sleeve

However, I did have to sew the sleeves to the bodice by hand. I thought I’d just baste them in, then sew by machine. But as I pinned the sleeves in, it became quickly apparent that these were going to be too thick to get into the machine without a struggle. What the heck, sew it by hand, double thread, lots of back-stitching.

Next up, skirts…

Posted in 16th Century Tags: , 5 Comments »

Overcomplicated Sleeves Are Overcomplicated

Posted by Trystan on December 21st, 2011

I’ve spent a week on these sleeves, & they’re still not done! Took three nights to trim them (piping, two kinds of trim by hand, then pearls), & a full day to figure out the stiffening for the panes & the best way to attach them. Then I redid the white silk taffeta inside puff twice so it was big & puffy enough, & I still don’t think it is — needs to be stuff like a Thanksgiving turkey. Moar organza inside, pls.

Medici sleeves in progress

Medici sleeves in progress

Still need to add the second trim below the puffs, plus cuff trims & trim along the seam after I stitch the sleeves closed. AND set the sleeves into the bodice. Ugh.

Closeup of sleeve trims

Closeup of sleeve trims

Posted in 16th Century Tags: , 6 Comments »
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