R-EP-Costume-art - 12/4/97

ÒResearching Early Period CostumeÓ by Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester.

NOTE: See also the files: East-Eur-msg, clothing-bib, Celts-msg, cl-Norse-msg, 
cl-Rom-Brit-art, clothing-books-msg, underwear-msg, p-shoes-msg.

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NOTICE -

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set 
of files, called StefanÕs Florilegium. 

These files are available on the Internet at:
http://www.florilegium.org

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author.

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be 
reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first
or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

                               Thank you,
                                    Mark S. Harris
                                    AKA:  Stefan li Rous
                                         stefan@florilegium.org
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Researching Early Period Costume
    --Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester
								
	Rather than give you an overview of all the minute details of costume 
construction and ornament over a six hundred year period,  I am going to keep 
things simple, discussing briefly the basic principles of cut and construction 
in this earlier period, followed by some general observations on the joys and 
difficulties in researching dress in this period.
	
	Throughout all of the period from 600 to 1200 (and indeed, up to about 
1350 or so), the main principle of cutting fabric was the straight line.  This 
means simply that instead of cutting the pieces into form-fitting, curved 
shapes, as is generally done today, the pieces were largely (more or less) 
triangles, rectangles, and trapezoids.   This method conserves fabric (an 
important factor in a day in which all fabric was hand woven and dyed) and 
produces a characteristic look and drape.  You may still see vestiges of the era 
of straight line cutting in the folk dress of many Eastern European and Indian 
subcontinental countries. 

Four general principles may be noted:

     1.  Sleeves are straight-set.  There is no curved armscrye.  Gussets may be 
         added under the arms for ease in movement.

     2.  To produce a flared look, gores (triangular pieces of material) were 
         added to the body of a garment.

     3.  To produce tightness, lacing and curved cuts were introduced, starting 
         around the end of the eleventh century.  The properties of the bias 
         (diagonal) of the fabric were used to produce the necessary stretch.

     4.  Layering of items was frequently used.

	It is important to keep these principles in mind if you wish to produce a 
garment that wears and hangs like a period piece.  But to create a garment that 
also looks authentic, you should remember the following:

     1.  Width of the fabric.  Period looms most often produced fabric that was 
         either 22-27Ó or 44Ó-45Ó wide.  Keeping this in mind will help you 
         understand why particular cuts or decoration patterns are used.

     2.  Colour.  It is not true that everyone in the Middle Ages wore dull 
         browns and greys.  It IS true, however, that the most brilliant and 
         permanent dyes were also the most costly to obtain.  Less costly cloth 
         was often quite colourful to begin with (simple vegetable dyes can 
         produce some vivid colours), but over time, faded with wear.  Better 
         quality cloth demanded better quality dyes, and so forth.  The upper 
         classes in the earlier periods seemed very fond of mixing bright 
         colours and patterns.  As a general rule, modern jewel-tone colours and 
         earthtones will best reproduce the available dyes.

     3.  Cloth.  Wool was the universal fabric of the Middle Ages.  Everyone 
         wore it, from the homespuns of the peasants to the fine weaves of the 
         nobility.  For undergarments, linen was the fabric of choice (cotton 
         being a luxury fabric in these days); it is important to note that 
         linen is difficult to dye and was almost always white or pale in colour 
         in period.  Hemp cloth was also available for heavier garments. 
         Finally, silks were always in demand for those who could afford them.

     4. Pattern and decoration.  Both twills (denim is a typical twill) and 
        tabbies (straight weaves) were known in period.  Some twills, such a 
        lozenge twill, produce dramatic patterns in the fabric;  stripes and 
        plaids were also known.  Brocading (in which a pattern is woven directly 
        into the fabric) became more common towards the end of our period. 
        Fabric could also be embroidered or stamped with a design.

Researching Early Dress
	You will probably not find all of what IÕve just discussed in any single 
costume book.  Many of our standard sources, in fact, barely discuss dress in 
the early Middle Ages.  From these sources, youÕd never have a clue that Vikings 
wore clothes.  This can be extremely aggravating for the beginner.

	Part of the problem is the paucity of surviving garments:  I can literally 
count them on one hand, though we have quite a number of tantalizing bits of 
cloth. Part of it is the relative disinterest of many costume historians in this 
period, which cut-wise was exceedingly conservative--if itÕs simple, it must be 
boring and not worth our time.  In fact, much of the research into early dress 
has been done by archaeologists and anthropologists, who have managed to 
reconstruct entire costumes from some threads in a brooch and some darker-
coloured bits of dirt where fabric has rotted away.

	Early period costume sometimes gets short shrift from those studying later 
periods, but in fact, doing research beyond getting the basic look down from a 
few pictures is considerably more difficult than it is for later periods.  If 
you decide to try it, youÕll find yourself becoming amateur historian, 
archaeologist, and textiles person all in one.  YouÕll find yourself ordering 
books in Swedish through interlibrary loan, just to look at the pictures.  
YouÕll find yourself playing and draping fabric to try to figure out how they 
did it. YouÕll find yourself looking at odd bits of sculpture, manuscript 
illumination, jewellery,  vats of foul-smelling period dyes, and other such 
things in order to try to flesh out the picture.  ItÕs difficult work--but if 
you like a good mystery, and donÕt mind libraries, youÕll have fun.

A Brief Bibliography to get you started...	

Burnham, Dorothy.  Cut  my Cote . Toronto:  Royal Ontario Museum, 1973.  Just a 
simple little booklet, but if you want documentation for early-period gore and 
gusset construction, look here.

Boucher, Francois. 20,000 Years of Fashion  (expanded edition).  New York: H.N. 
Abrams, 1987.  This book is most useful for its pictures, many of which are in 
colour.  The narrative tends to focus on French fashions, and the early period 
section does so exclusively.
	
Crowfoot, E., Pritchard, F., and Stanland, K. Textiles and Clothing c.1150-
c.1450.  London:  HMSO, 1992.  One of the few available books based primarily on 
archeological evidence;  you will learn a great deal about fabric and its 
manufacture in its pages.

Davenport, Milia.  The Book of Costume, 2nd ed. Crown Publishers, 1970.  Another 
great book for pictures, though most are in black and white.

Owen-Crocker, Gale. Dress in Anglo-Saxon England.  Manchester (UK) 1986.  One of 
the only books available which focuses exclusively on early-period dress;  
luckily, itÕs a good one (though not perfect). Relies mostly on text, rather 
than pictures.

Tkach, Yuri, Ukrainian Costume.  Melbourne: Bayda Press, 1984.  I throw this in 
for a little Eastern European content.  ItÕs in English, and gives you good 
proof that the basic Òearly periodÓ cuts apply (in slightly modified form) 
elsewhere.

Northern European WomenÕs Clothing  (from the Compleat Anachronist Series, 
available through the SCA Stock Clerk) is the best  book on early period costume 
IÕve yet to find.  All the examples are taken from actual archaeological finds, 
and invaluable information on textiles is included.  Here youÕll find the latest 
on the ÒViking apronÓ controversy.  Unfortunately, menÕs dress is not included.
------
Copyright 1996 by Susan Carroll-Clark, 53 Thorncliffe Park Dr. #611,
Toronto, Ontario M4H 1L1  CANADA.  Permission granted for
republication in SCA-related publications, provided author is credited
and receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in
the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also
appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being
reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	R-EP-Costume-msg	4