cl-Elzabethan-msg - 5/25/13

Clothing of Elizabethan England. Pattern sources.

NOTE: See also the files: Elzabethn-Gwn-art, codpieces-msg, clothing-books-msg, cl-Anglo-Saxn-msg, corsets-msg, hoops-msg, hose-msg, ruffs-msg, underwear-msg.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: ewright at convex.com (Edward V. Wright)
Date: 16 Oct 91 23:17:37 GMT
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA

Well, there are indeed people interested in sources
to confirm the period use of pockets, so...

The best source on this subject is Janet Arnold's
Patterns of Fashion, Vol. III: The Cut and Construction
of Clothes for Men and Women c. 1560-1620.  Arnold shows
photographs and detailed pattern reconstructions for
nearly all the surviving garments from this period.
There are examples of pre-1600 trunk hose and pluderhosen
with pockets.  There is also a pair of venetian hose, or
venetian breeches, which have pockets in the seems at the
side.  These date from 1615-1620; however, I see no reason
to doubt that earlier Venetians would have had pockets also,
since other types of hosen clearly did.  There is also a
*doublet* with a pocket: It is the leather doublet worn by
Nils Sture when he was murdered in Upsula Castle in 1567.
The doublet has a short skirt that covers the lacing strip
for the points that attached the pluderhosen, with a pocket
set into the front of the skirt on the righthand side.  The
pocket is covered by a flap that is closed by three small
buttons which match the buttons that close the front of this
doublet.  There is a matching flap on the opposite side, but 
no pocket underneath it.  (I am currently making a copy of this
doublet.)

Arnold also quotes a story from John Bulwer's "Anthropometamorphosis:
Man Transform'd or the Artificial Changling" (1653) referring to
an earlier time whne "the Law was in force against wearing Bayes
stuffed in their Breeches."  A man with "breeches very full" was
arrested and brought before a judge, where he "drew out of his
breeches a paire of Sheets, two Table Cloaths, ten Napkings, foure
Shirts, a Brush, a Glass, and a Combe, Night-caps, and other things...
saying... your Highnesse may understand... I have no safer a store-house,
these pockets do serve me for a roome."

A similar story is told by a period song, a recording of which was
brought to dance class some weeks ago.  The song, whose title I
unfortunately do not know, tells the humorous story of a man who
believed his breeches were full of devils: it turned out that the
breeches, in which the man stored cheese, had become infested with
rats. :-)  The breeches in both these stories were probably trunk
hose, a highly padded style popular in the second half of the 1500's.

In "A Yorkshire Tragedy," an Elizabethan play of uncertain authorship
sometimes attributed to William Shakespeare, the character Sam enters
in scene 1 with "an almanack in my pocket, and three ballads in my
codpiece."  This by itself would not be very strong evidence, however,
since the Oxford English Dictionary says the word pocket first meant a
bag or sack.  The example usage given for 1570, however -- "He bare always
about hym, in hys bosom or pocket, a little booke contayning the Psalmes of
Dauid." -- might be taken to indicate a doublet with a breast pocket.

A pair of wide breeches, called galligascons after their origin in Gascony,
made in England for the Court fool in 1575, were recorded in Egerton
Manuscript #2806 as having "pocketts, poyntes & a peire of netherstockes
to them."  It seems unlikely that pouches would have been recorded as
part of the breeches.

There is also strong negative evidence that comes from examining
Elizabethan-era portraits: pouches are seldom, if ever visible. It
seems reasonable to assume, then, that the men who wore these costumes
had some hidden means of carrying small personal articles.  Interestingly
enough, the only leg wear in Janet Arnold's book that does not have
pockets is the pair of pluderhosen worn by Nils Sture, who had a pocket
in his doublet.  Based on this evidence, it seems that, from about 1560,
a man's suit that did not have a pocket somewhere would be the 
exception rather than the rule.


From: ewright at convex.com (Edward V. Wright)
Date: 18 Oct 91 20:13:59 GMT
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA

After posting the requested information on pockets in Elizabethan men's
clothing, the question occured to me, "Did women have pockets also?" 
So, last night I opened up Janet Arnold's book and started looking
at the female costumes.  Sure enough, there is a skirt or petticoat
in the Nationalmussel in Copenhagen that has a slit in the side for
a pocket (although the pocket bag is now missing).  This particular
skirt dates from c. 1615; however, women's fashions changed slowly
during the early 17th Century, so it seems reasonable to think they
might have been used before 1600.  

Another possibility is pockets in women's doublets.  These were virtually
indistinguishable from male doublets not only to modern eyes (the
one example Arnold shows was originally misidentified as a boy's
doublet) but to Elizabethans as well:  There are numerous period
writings commenting on this fact, one of the most famous being
Stubbes's "Anatomie of Abuses."  Since a small minority of men's 
doublets did have pockets (as proved by the surviving specimen
which belong to Nils Sture), some women's doublets may have had 
them as well.


From: j_mohler at wmc34c.wmc.edu (Jason)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: How do I make a ruff?
Date: 8 Jun 1996 03:48:55 GMT
Organization: Western Montana College, Dillon MT

My wife suggests you check out the book "Elizabethan Costuming for the Years
1550-1580" by Janet Winter & Carolyn Savoy published by Othertimes Publications
in Orlando, California.  It has a whole section on different kinds of ruffs.

Erik Blackwood


From: urthmomma at aol.com (UrthMomma)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Date: 09 Aug 2001 03:53:49 GMT
Subject: Re: Elizabethan on the Cheap

Robert,

The health of your finances depends on what class of an Elizabethan persona you
wish to portray. A courtier's outfitting can break the budget, but if you wish
to portray a man at arms or tradesman, the dress is much more modest : linen
and wool and leather shoes. Sumptary laws were in effect at the time, although
it was a mark of status to afford to pay the tax.

Linen shirt, woolen hose, woolen breeches or slops, a leather jerkin a woolen
cap and leather shoes is the basic ensemble.  Do a Google search for "
Kentwell" "Tudor" and you will get a number of hits for  a Tudor reenactment
with over 200 in costume at an English country house. All clothing is handsewn
and period fabrics. Lots of school groups go through and take lots of pictures
which end up on the Web.  Not  a primary source, but great for getting a
general idea of what the non gentry class wore in the 16th century.

Ellin Richardson


From: "james rich" <7152 at cableone.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Elizabethan on the Cheap
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 16:14:30 -0500

Inexpensive Elizabethan *can* be done.  A few years ago, at one of our
events, we had a competition category "Elizabethan Garb: under $20.00".  It
had to be documented not only as to style, but as to cost. ( Reciepts,
etc. )  We had several beautiful entries.  I can tell you that most found
their fabric at Thrift Stores or bargain tables, or cannibilized other
clothing.  Ingenuity is everything.
AElfwenna

"Learn from the mistakes of others.  You won't live long enough to make them
all yourself."

Robert A. Uhl <ruhl at 4dv.net> wrote in message
news:slrn9n3ulk.8so.ruhl at latakia.dyndns.org...
> Well, I've been playing a Saxon for awhile now.  Mundane
> considerations have lead me to shave my beard, leaving naught but a
> goatee and mustache.  Since this is more appropriate to an Elizabethan
> than to a Saxon, I've been thinking of putting together the
> appropriate garb therefor.
>
> The problem is that every instance of Elizabethen garb I have seen has
> been extraordinarily complex and expensive.  Granted, that is the
> nature of the beast.  OTOH, it would be unpleasant were I not able to
> have at least _some_ of the leeway I have when cutting tunics &
> trousers.
>
> So my questions are these:
>
> 1) what's a good site for basic Elizabethan patterns?
> 2) how cheaply cna one put together such garb?
> 3) what hints/tips/advice can one give towards this end?
>
> I want to do the style as right as possible.  I also want to be able
> to buy food, and have time for other things.  So I am in something of
> a quandry.
>
> The poss. of having an immense codpiece, of course, doesn't enter into
> the equation at all:-)
> --
> Robert Uhl <ruhl at 4dv.net>


From: "Tanya Guptill (Mira)" <tguptill at teleport.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Elizabethan on the Cheap
Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 22:32:18 -0700

> "Robert A. Uhl" wrote:
>
>  1) what's a good site for basic Elizabethan patterns?

Try http://www.vertetsable.com/ --- it just keeps expanding and getting
better and better.

Mira Silverlock
An Tir


From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Elizabethan on the Cheap
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 17:50:55 -0400

Margospatterns.com just released one heck of an elizabethan
pattern set - 3 different ones covering different portions of
garb. Well worth the money and impeccably researched.
margali


From: Mary Temple [mtemple at primemedical.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 1:08 PM
To: bryn-gwlad at ansteorra.org
Subject: RE: [Bryn-gwlad] Elizabethan Persona

>I am looking at merchant class.  I have champagne tastes, so I tend to like
>some richer fabrics.  LOL  I also have questions about the heat here.
>Luckily, in Germany, we were able to wear heavy (heavenly) fabrics because
>it was cold (sometimes extremely so), so I'm going to have to rethink some
>of my outfits.
>
>Lady Grace

You might try the Elizabethan Costuming page as well -
http://www.costume.dm.net

Drea's done an amazing job with it.

Mary/Katerine


From: Lord Phelippe Descors [descors at sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2002 12:44 AM
To: Ansteorra
Subject: [Ansteorra] Fw: Elizabethan Gentleman's Wardrobe Pattern:

I haven't seen this on the list so this is forwarded from the Rialto.

	Phelippe Descors

"Margo Anderson" <margo at margospatterns.com> wrote:
> We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting advance orders
> for the Elizabethan Gentleman's Wardrobe Pattern. Featuring the same
> quality, content, and support as the already reknowned Elizabethan
> Lady's Ensemble, this pattern will include patterns for doublets,
> jerkins, slops, Venetian breeches, canions, and shirts.  A 100+ page
> instruction manual will also be included. Expected to ship in
> November.
>
>  To see technical drawings and to order, go to
> http://www.margospatterns.com


Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:38:37 -0400
From: Devra <devra at aol.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Janet Arnold #4 is now ready! - commercial plug
To: ICG-D at yahoogroups.com, jeanine at woollycat.net, cloak at ziplink.net,
	md at mdwordsmith.com, ecmami at hotmail.com, sca-cooks at ansteorra.org,
	ostgardr at panix.com

The new Janet Arnold (#4 - Cut & construction of linen shirts, smocks, 
neckwear, headwear and accessories for men and women c. 1540 - 1660) is 
now available!

Cost is $49.95 plus $3 postage.

128 pp, 14"x10", 433 color photos, 178 b/w photos & line drawings; 86 
b/w patterns and detail.

Available (as soon as I get my shipment) from:

Poison Pen Press
627 E 8th St
Bklyn NY 11218

or you can call me at 718-853-8121

Devra (and they told me December! Of course, it would make a lovely 
Yule gift...)


Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 10:59:33 -0400
From: Marie Stewart <maricelt at gmail.com>
To: AEthelmearc List <discussion at aethelmearc.org>, 	Atlantia -
	MerryRose <atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org>
Subject: [MR] Research Resource: the wardrobe warrants of Queen
	Elizabeth I

Drea Leed has finished her republishing of the inventories of Queen
Elizabeth. She just released her work on the wardrobe warrants of Queen
Elizabeth I, and has published them in their entirety, in a searchable
website!!

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/qewu.html

From the MEDTC Discussion list --
"The Warrants: MS Egerton 2806 (1568-1588)

Few monarchs of the past are as iconographically powerful as Queen Elizabeth
I. Gloriana. The Virgin Queen. With her halo of red hair, ropes of jewelry
and parade of fabulous gowns, she is defined by her clothing and accessories
to a greater extent than almost any other English ruler.
A fascination with her costume, and the dress of her era, has remained
through the 18th century, Victorian times, and to this very day. Many books
have been written about it, including the comprehensive and detailed
masterwork by Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd.

This book was based, in part, upon the extensive analysis of Queen
Elizabeth's wardrobe accounts, specifically upon the manuscript MS Egerton
2806 held by the British Library. Unfortunately, though Arnold had
transcribed the manuscript for her own use, it has never been
published...until now.

Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Uploaded holds the transcribed contents of MS
Egerton 2806: The complete record of what Queen Elizabeth's tailors made,
altered and bought between the years 1568 and 1588. I have spent the last
several years transcribing the manuscript from microfilm, proofing it, and
building a web database application that I have loaded it into, to
facilitate searching and browsing.

After much consideration, I have decided to make the manuscript freely
available online to other researchers, rather than publishing it in
hardbound form. My hope is to encourage and help others, across a wide range
of disciplines, who are doing research on the dress and material culture of
this area by making the text of these warrants available in easily
searchable and browsable form.

Areas of the site are still being improved. The glossary is being expanded
and fleshed out. Synonym searching, which makes it easier to search the
whimsically spelled accounts of 400 years ago, is being improved. In
addition I am currently working on transcribing additional wardrobe accounts
from 1588-1603, which I plan to add as they are finished."

Franchesca

Happy Hunting.
Bridgette


Date: Fri, 6 May 2011 17:16:27 -0400
To: "Atlantia"  <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>, "Atlantia?AnS"
	<Atlantia_AnS at yahoogroups.com>
From: Liz Clark <freya46 at gmail.com>
Subject: [EK] Fwd: [Ealdormere] Drea Leed publishes Elizabethan
	costume book online 

Snagged this from SCAtoday via the Ealdormere list.

Freya
--------------
Costume historian Drea Leed has recently published the wardrobe inventories
of Queen Elizabeth I. Her work is available online in a searchable format.

Leed writes:
A fascination with her costume, and the dress of her era, has remained
through the 18th century, Victorian times, and to this very day. Many books have
been written about it, including the comprehensive and detailed masterwork by
Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd.

This book was based, in part, upon the extensive analysis of Queen
Elizabeth's wardrobe accounts, specifically upon the manuscript MS Egerton
2806 held by the British Library. Unfortunately, though Arnold had transcribed the manuscript for her own use, it has never been published...until now.
Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Uploaded holds the transcribed contents of MS
Egerton 2806: The complete record of what Queen Elizabeth's tailors made,
Altered and bought between the years 1568 and 1588. I have spent the last several years transcribing the manuscript from microfilm, proofing it, and building a web database application that I have loaded it into, to facilitate searching and browsing.

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/qewu.html


Date: Fri, 06 May 2011 16:12:55 +1000
From: "Tig" <tig at fastmail.com.au>
Subject: [Lochac] Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Uploaded
To: "Shambles" <lochac at lochac.sca.org>

New free search function for the wardrobe warrants of Queen Elizabeth I,
by Drea Leed, from Janet Arnold's transcription of the Egerton
manuscript.

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/qewu.html

and it works beautifully!  Try typing 'coif' for example...

~ Tig


From: countessdulcia at gmail.com
Subject: Re: {TheTriskeleTavern} Tudor Patterns
Date: December 14, 2011 7:35:22 AM CST
To: the-triskele-tavern at googlegroups.com

<<< And I just got Norris's "Tudor Costume and Fashion" which is a Dover Book. I'm reading up on Tudor myself--Anyone know how good a resource this is?  >>>
You need to be very careful with all of Herbert Norris' costume books.  In spite of the modern publication dates in the front of the books and listed on websites like Amazon.com, Herbert Norris was a late 19th and early 20th century costume designer who died in 1950. He designed historically inspired theater costumes and stage sets for plays, films, and pageants.  He worked in an era when archaeologists simply were not interested in clothing remains and deposits.  

Unless the clothing remains were both expensive and mostly preserved, textiles found in archaeological digs were boxed up for looking at later (which rarely happened) or simply disposed of.  The 1959 excavation of the so called "Queen Arnegunde" grave by archaeologists Michel Fleury and Albert France-Lanord marked and important turning point in the treatment of textile remains because it was one of the first excavations where the archaeologists did make some attempts to study the textiles and draw some conclusions from them.  Of course, since this kind of study was in its infancy and they weren't really focusing on the textiles, a lot of the conclusions they drew (and published) have later been found to be partially (and sometimes fully) incorrect.  They also boxed up the textiles "for further study".  The cardboard boxes full of completely decayed and destroyed textile samples were found in a pile in Michel Fleury's non-climate controlled office after his death in 2002.  The boxes hadn't been opened since they were stacked 40+ years before.  New textile experts have been trying to glean more information from the scraps, but that's a different discussion.  =)

Back to Norris... His work was for the theatre and movies and his goal was to produce outfits that people of the time visually identified with the period in mind, but also found attractive in to their modern sensibilities.  If you think about what that means, the most obvious thing is that all figures are redrawn to the ideal figures of the time.  Think about Elizabeth Taylor playing Cleopatra, or any other actress then or now.  They are more interested in being attractive and "sexy" than they are in really looking like they live in whatever period of history, and it shows in the costuming.  

He was also working for theatre construction techniques - how to replicate a look quickly and easily, NOT how it was actually done in period.  In general his diagrams are not only wasteful of fabric, they rarely really work to create a truly comfortable, long wearing, and properly fitting garment.  He also doesn't give enough pattern diagrams to help most beginners, and non-beginners should be beyond what he provides. Many times I have found his observations and suppositions about things to be not just incomplete but just plain wrong.  Then again, he wasn't worried about getting it "right", just how to make it look close enough.

He doesn't provide any photographs of original works of art - everything is redrawn  (which makes it secondary and tertiary sources at best), and if you put his re-drawings next to the originals you'll find that he not only changed the proportions of the figures (so that all the women look like they are wearing a Victorian or early 20th century corset and all the men are thin with broad shoulders and narrow waists!), but he changes many elements of the costumes and accessories as well.  He claims to base everything he says on period evidence, but he rarely provides the sources for that evidence.  He is also notorious for taking a few pieces of evidence that support his pet theories, ignoring other evidence, and drawing elaborate conclusions.  He is not clear about when and where his evidence stops and his suppositions begin though, so you have be careful.  I've heard it said that you just have to know where he is correct and then avoid using all the parts where he's not.  In my opinion, if you already know enough to know when he's correct and when he's not, you don't need his books, and if you don't know that much, you sure aren't gonna' figure it out by reading Norris.

On the other hand, Norris does have his uses.  I own the three books that apply to the SCA timeline (Ancient, Medieval, and Tudor).  I find that they are most useful when used as a tool for narrowing down when a particular fashion appeared, or for helping new people choose a period, by flipping through all the pictures.  On the other hand, I have a number of other books that are also really only useful for that as well (Racinet, Holkeboer, Hill & Bucknell, Braun & Schneider, etc... there are a lot of them!). What makes Norris more useful in that sense is that he spends time on the transitions from one fashion high point to the next, whereas most of the gloss sources only hit the fashion high points.  You can find the general period of something (as long as it's English, French or occasionally German or Spanish) and then know which of the better sources to look in, or the timeline of art you need to look at.

So...  glean what you can from it, but check EVERYTHING against good sources.

Just my opinions based on my experience,

Dulcia  


Date: Thu, 2 May 2013 05:10:30 +1000
From: Zebee Johnstone <zebeej at gmail.com>
Subject: [Lochac] 16thC book of costumes
To: "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list"
	<lochac at lochac.sca.org>

Date
1573-1575

http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_28330

" illustrations in ink and watercolour of historical and contemporary
dress including a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533,
d. 1603) (f. 4r), with her royal arms (f. 1r).The subjects of the
drawings are:f. 1r: The royal arms of England, Scotland and Ireland at
the time of Elizabeth I.f. 4r: Portrait of Elizabeth I of England.f.
8v: Two Ancient Britons.f. 28r: Three men: an aristocrat, a knight and
a baron in dress of the 15th century. f. 29r: Two barons in dress of
the 16th century. f. 30r: Three men in robes of the Elizabethan era: a
Lord Mayor, an Alderman and a liveryman.f. 31r: Three man in robes of
the Elizabethan era: a member of the Parliament, a knight of the Order
of the Garter and a guardsman.f. 32r: Three Englishwomen in dress of
the 15th century: a rich burgher?s wife, a devout burgher?s wife, a
noblewoman. f. 33r: Four Englishwomen in dress of the Elizabethan era:
a wife of a citizen of London, a wife of a wealthy citizen of London,
a daughter of the London's citizen wife, and a country-woman.f. 34r:
Four inhabitants of Ireland in dress of the 16th century: a
noblewoman, a burgher's wife, and two wild Irishmen.f. 36r:
Stonehenge."

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	cl-Elzabethan-msg	Page 10 of 10