Fabric shopping, yay!

After my whiny post yesterday about the lack of satisfactory damasks on eBay and elsewhere, I'm surprised to say that I found a fabric I love . . . at Joann Fabrics.

Sure, it's acetate flocked taffeta, and it bears no resemblance to probably anything in period, but it's gorgeous and more than good enough for Bristol. Compared to the ladies who strut around with their breasts perched as if on a platter, I will be the epitome of sixteenth-century fashion.

( Fabric No. 1 )

I also picked up these two fabrics.

( One striped, one . . . something )

I am actually more excited about the striped stuff than I am the flocked taffeta. Why? Because of this passage from Tudor Tailor:

Paintings rarely show the abundance of striped fabrics worn by all ranks of society, which is evident from documentary sources. Queen Elizabeth owned many gowns, petticoats and kirtles made of striped silk. There are 11 striped gowns in a list of lost items, of which one is a kirtle and bodies "of great bard velvet," suggesting that both wide and narrow stripes were known. A rare depiction is that of a pink kirtle with narrow red and green stripes, worn by a figure who is probably Jane, fool to Mary Tudor, under her branched damask gown (fig 6). A striped canvas doublet is mentioned in the will of an Essex gentleman in 1584.
p. 39

I cannot even tell you how debilitatingly excited I am about having a striped kirtle, that isn't usually seen in period images, but is supported through text. It will be nice and middle-classed, I think, with some matching solid green sleeves, a pretty coif, and a knitted flat cap.

( All three together )