Some time ago, my good friend Sarah collected some historical images documenting 16th-century women wearing crowns, because it often seems like a rare thing. We see queens & female nobility of earlier eras decked in towering regalia, but crowns / coronets / tiaras / diadems & the like almost go out of fashion for the
When you’re just starting out in this wonderful world of costuming, you tend to use what’s easy and fast. This is no crime, we’ve all done it, that’s to be expected. If you want to lace up a garment, you need to reinforce the lacing holes so they don’t wear out, and you find some
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
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 a decade, I was 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
This article is an accompaniment to a lecture and demonstration class I taught at the SCA West Kingdom’s Collegium Occidentalis XLV in November 2010 and at Costume College in July 2011. It’s intended as a practical lesson in how to recreate the look of upper-class hair fashions of late 16th-century England. The first half of
By Lady Violet Ruthvene in the SCA This is an accompaniment to a lecture and demonstration class I taught at the Province of Southern Shores’ Newcomers Tourney in May 2011. This is intended as a guide to help those starting out in the Society for Creative Anachronism to improve their costumes in easy, budget-friendly
By Lady Violet Ruthvene in the SCA, written to help the West Kingdom prepare for a masked ball Two great medieval traditions made mask-wearing popular among the citizens of the Republic of Venice: the festival of Carnevale and the Commedia dell’ Arte theater. Between these, you have a variety of mask styles to choose from,
This is the presentation to accompany the lecture I gave at Costume College 2009. The topic was the “macaroni” subculture in 18th-century England, particularly as shown in satirical caricatures of the period. Call It Macaroni: The 18th-Century Fop – Costume College 2009 class PDF In addition to numerous prints found online via the British Museum,
By Lady Violet Ruthvene for the SCA West Kingdom Arts & Sciences Tourney 2009 Resources Larsdatter.com Pouches & Purses: Excellent collection of image links, including extant pieces and artwork. Museum of Bags and Purses: A Dutch museum with a nice photographic timeline of purse history. Also has a catalog book, sometimes available at
These are the instructions and pattern to make a small, metal-framed purse, for a class I taught at Costume College 2008. Metal-frame purse instructions PDF — Complete details for making a purse with a metal “kiss clasp” frame. This style of purse is accurate from about the 1400s to the present day, and you can