Chopine Research

Several weeks of social obligations doesn't leave much time for blogging, so I'm going to update briefly on a project that's been running in the background. 

For a long while I've wanted to make myself a pair of chopines - that is, the original Italian high heel. I didn't really know where to start to find out information on them, despite numerous online articles I wanted to be able to verify some of the information for myself. I turned to my local library and ordered anything that seemed even remotely historic footwear related. Unfortunately, this wasn't terribly successful, but I did find out a few things from the books that turned up.

The Seductive Show: Four Centuries of Fashion Footwear by Jonathan Walford, Thames & Hudson - alas, this is the four centuries I'm not currently interest in, and gave only a brief mention of chopines and 16th century footwear. I could see myself coming back to it if I wanted to look into 18th or 19th century items in more detail.

Shoes: The Complete Sourcebook by John Peacock, Thames & Hudson - Filled with colourful illustrations followed by line drawings and a brief description, this might be a good book for someone who wanted ideas for what style to go for. But this book surprised me by having no references for the shoes that were studied. I had been hoping for something rather solid, a museum reference perhaps for pieces examined. Granted, there is a "sources for shoes" bibliography in the back which can lead me further on in this quest, so at least I have that.

A History of Show Fashion by Eunice Wilson - this was a little more interesting. This book had a whole (10 page) chapter dedicated to chopines and their evolution. It also had an interesting little snippet that has me rethinking what I thought I knew about chopines:
"most had mules attached into which the stockinged foot slipped; but others had real shoes attached which fastened over the instep. This was largely the difference between the chopine and the patten..the latter was held on by straps fastening over a separate shoe".
Chopines as footwear without a separate slipper? Now that is a completely different approach to one I had considered before, but makes an awful lot of sense.

This is clearly only the tip of the iceberg for these shoes - I'd still like to see some definite cork examples given how much I've seen the phrase "wood and cork were used to make chopines", especially as I have cork blocks waiting to be carved for my own shoes. And to see some more ideas on the slipper or no slipper idea.

Norse Shenanigans

When I first set out to make myself a set of Norse garb, I said to myself that this would be a throw away project; I was going to make something that had the look, but I was not going to put time and effort and research into it, because damnit, I didn't have any... and here's what I found so far...

I didn't have time for original research, drawing my own conclusions from finds, but there's a hell of a lot of information available as it is. Firstly, and unsurprisingly, there are many different flavours of Norse wear. Between Hibernian-Norse, Saxon-Norse and the many flavours of Scandinavian Norse, each has it's own subtle differences that lends each a unique look, once you know what you're looking for. I already knew that with the fabrics I had available for this project, I wanted an underdress with apron dress arrangement, so I wanted to look for something that matched what I had in mind, and see how much project adjustment would be needed to get it right. 

This site came in very handy for that. Unfortunately many of the links on that site are broken, but if you have an idea of what you're looking for in Scandinavian Norse garb, it's still a very handy reference tool to compare the list of your ideas with the commonly worn garb from each settlement. From this, and from other sites I happened across, I initially thought I was leaning towards a Birka style garment, specifically the more fitted apron dresses of the 10th century. 

That was until I read this article from Tournaments Illuminated 186 about garments from Hedby, which seemingly had a much more fitted apron dress or smokkr through the use of tailoring, than the smokkr worn at other settlements. Another article,Viking Women: Aprondress By Hilde Thunem also compared the Birka and Hedby style smokkr's, while going into great detail regarding grave finds, so I was able to conclude I was on the right track for what I wanted to achieve. In mundane clothing I very much prefer clothing to be fitted, or at least not loose about my midriff, so a fully tailored apron-dress sounds ideal.

So I was decided, an underdress of exact pattern yet to be determined, and a tailored Hedby style apron dress. Now, I have seen a couple of references to a third layer, that or a tunic, short or long sleeved, which went over the linen underdress, and under the apron dress. However, due to fabric constraints, I've decided to just make the two layers for the moment. The third layer I can add in later on if I come across a nice fabric. 

When it comes to constructing the underdress, it comes down to personal preference of which particular tunic you want. A friend of mine has made great progress in research into and development of the Moy Bog Dress, but I want something fairly simple. I came across a couple of articles which have various methods of underdress construction, some with styles and patterns broken down by region or era, such as: 

• Viking Dames Tunieken
• Simple Viking Clothing for Women by Duchess Marieke van de Dal, which gives a couple of options for underdresses, as well as an overview of all of the items needed to complete your outfit (there also exists the Duchess' handout for Viking Clothing for Men for those that need it)
• Viking Women: Underdress By Hilde Thunem, the complimentary article to the one mentioned above, and also goes into great detail.  

When it comes to the apron dresses themselves, even though I've decided on my format, I thought I'd share a couple of the links that I came across along the way.

• Viking Apron Dress gives a good overview of a few different styles of smokkr and guides on how to construct them.  
• Viking Costume – women by Mistress Barbara Atte Dragon also gives a good overview of all the things you need to complete your costume.  
•  Reconstructing a Viking Hanging Dress from Haithabu by Peter Beatson and Christobel Ferguson, a blog post of another Hedby smokkr construction, so I have something to reference in my own attempts.  

When it comes to my own construction attempts, I'll mostly likely try a combination of my own pattern drafting, draping and the old fashioned winging it. Even though this is a new project, I'm going to start on it in the spirit of the Drachenwald 30-day challenge, where you take 30 days to learn or improve on a skill. I've never attempted Norse clothing before, and I've an event in October I hope to attend, so I'm going to use the challenge to see how much of the look I can complete within the month. Though yes, I've already been working on the najlbound socks...

Partlets & Politics

This was supposed to have been my entry for the HSF #11: Politics of Fashion challenge, but I'm not entirely sure it qualifies. I haven't so much found a Here's my thoughts. 

Initially I thought about making myself a new partlet. It was something I needed for my court gown as well as being an extra accessory in the Peacock Challenge. So I got thinking about it, and well, it's an unusual garment. Unlike the Tudor style of partlet which is a heavier piece which fits over the dress and would warm the shoulders, the Italian partlet is a piece of sheer fabric that seems to draw attention more than it inspires modesty. The Anea Costumes website has a fantastic series of images (scroll down to the partlet entry) that show a simple evolution of the Italian partlet, from simple sheer shawl-like garment worn over the dress, before moving under the dress and being gradually more elaborately embroidered and decorated.In the evolution of this garment, off cited is a decree from Florence in 1464 the generous decolletage of the Italian style of dress be covered, and thanks to this website, I've finally been able to link that reference to Dan Brown's Virtue and Beauty: Renaissance Portraits of Women, 2001.

But here's my thinking on the issue. Italy of the 15th and 16th centuries was a collection of city states, all with a certain amount of independance from the other. Yes, the fashions of the various cities often followed each other closely, but why would a decree passed in Florence directly influence the city-state of Venice? And that got me thinking about sumptuary laws - laws introduced in various parts of the world to try and control the spending and fashion and hence the people. My initial research has found references to some laws, but mostly belonging to Florence or other northern Italian cities. And I just can't let this lie, I need to know more! Despite the fact that I don't speak the language (but I've already have offers of help with that), I've decided to try and follow this up. I may be in for a fools errand, and certainly it's going to take a while but I'm curious to see what I might find.
 
Oh yes, I did indeed make up the partlet, using some pre-embroidered old-gold coloured organza, with a golden-yellow ribbon whip stitched into place to fasten it. I based the pattern on my previous partlet, but modified so it would leave an open section to line up with the opening of my bodice. Unfortunately the first attempt wasn't quite right (and has also highlighted my need for period, supportive undergarments), but I have plans to make up more, a nice little collection of the pieces, just as soon as I have time...

After a weekend of fun and excitement, learning new sword fighting techniques and the occurrence of injury (not mine and not serious thankfully, though I did have to drive an unfamiliar car on a four hour journey home), I'm finding myself still quite shattered. This has meant that I've made very little project progress, but on the other hand, I've done plenty of research.

The picture on the right is Paolo Caliari's 1560 Portrait of a Woman and was my primary inspiration for my SCA court gown. Well, it start out as inspiration, but somewhere along the way I felt myself drawn to wanting to recreate it. Details like the sleeve cutwork and the necklace and brooch I've already completed, but I still have to teach myself bobbin lace and improve my reticella needle lace to make the cuffs and camica trim.

I plan to submit the gown as a whole as an A&S entry towards the end of November. That will involve completing a few more details and just one more piece - the partlet. It can be hard to see in this portrait, being almost sheer and with the lines of pearls covering the edges, but enlarging the image shows a simple embroidery pattern of stem stitch lines and stitched holes. I've selected some off white chiffon from my stash and have the pattern pieced out in my mind, so now I'll just have to find time to start it.

In longer term research, I've started looking into soap making in the pre 17th century. The first step in this is going to involve making my own lye, and for that I'll need hardwood, preferably apple wood. I've contacted a local fruit supplier to see if I can tickle their interest enough into supplying my needs, but if that fails, a friend has offered to let me ransack his wood stack. One way or the other, this project has a green light.

And in a last minute find of chance, I came across this beauty on the fabulous Anéa Costumes website. When trying to decide on garb for fencing tournaments, I decided on a plain style of Venetian trousers, but I was lost for a doublet idea until I came across a line drawing of a leather jerkin from the late 16th century in Florence in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion v3. Line drawing are all well and good, but seeing the extant examples really adds flesh to the bones. And this picture is the jerkin! I'm delighted to have come across this (even while kicking myself that I didn't think to check Anéa's site sooner).

I had some beautiful fabric put aside for this project, but on seeing this example I'm wondering if I shouldn't make it of leather instead? Or maybe I should make two, one for the fighting, and one for looking fine when entering and leaving the field.

I know now why I was putting off the next step of the plague doctor mask. It was the part that was intimidating me the most - setting the glass lens.

I shaped a piece of leather in the manner of 14th century glasses and soaked it overnight to make it more pliable. I could believe the difference the soaking made, it was so easy to shape the leather around the purchased glass discs. It's just a shame I procrastinated while sewing, meaning the second eye piece, the one on the right, had mostly dried out by the time I sewed it down. The eye pieces I think will need a little more shaping to finish them off, though I'm wary of trimming too much and having the lens fall out of their settings.


So now the mask is mostly done! I'll need to apply straps and buckle to secure the mask around my head, possibly with another across the top of the head for comfort. Plague doctors of the 14th century believed in the strong scents of flowers like roses and carnations, herbs and spices, or even vinegar soaked sponges to keep at bay the miasma or bad air that was believe to cause disease. The nose will need a muslin bag I think, as I don't want to end up with cinammon scented rose petals trapped for all time at the end of the nose.

And now it's time for me to get in a little quick baking, because home baking always makes long car journeys go quicker. Especially when they involve getting up at stupid-o-clock in the morning on a saturday.

This week I had that most frustrating of experiences - a dead end interwebs search. I was searching for an Edwardian era walking skirt or corset skirt of a particular style, but despite bringing to bear my personal researcher and asking a community of dressmakers: no joy. It's forced me to realise the internet does not have everything. It lied to me. 

So I took the only resonable course of action and bought more fabric than I strictly need right now. Some people buy comfort food. I buy comfort craft. And ice-cream.
The purple brocade is a stretch fabric, but I plan on using it for a sew-along I'll be starting at the end of the month. The green fabric is taffeta, my absolute fabric fabric. At 4 metres for only €20 I couldn't pass it up.

In the mean time, work on the plague doctor mask has been progressing nicely. I have the beak assembled and have learned not to store arkward shapes like spools of thread there anymore. The glass circles have arrived, so all that's left is the shaping of the last face piece. I've been reassured that the stitching I've been using is period (pre 17th century), so very shortly I'll have to start putting together my documentation.