The postillion was struck by lightning

nuranar recently contacted me to ask me for research suggestions/inspiration for a friend of hers that is interested in starting to make historically accurate clothing for a middle class woman in Elizabethan England. I asked Ginger if she minded me asking my friends list, since so many of you do make 16th-century clothing for middle-class people in England and are way better at it and more well-informed than I am. And she said yes! So . . .

Dear LJ brain trust,

What books, websites and dress diaries/blogs do you recommend to a beginner who is interested in creating historically accurate clothing for middle class people in Elizabethan England? I believe I'm correct in thinking that nuranar's friend already has some sewing experience, perhaps considerable. If you do other eras or geographic areas, please feel free to weigh in with research strategies!

What I've recommended is under the cut. I've added and refined my earlier suggestions, nuranar!

( What I've recommended )

Anybody else have any suggestions? I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of things I should have in there! I am trying to stay away from modern sewing pattern suggestions, since those aren't actually as helpful as texts/websites if you're trying to do research yourself.

Sixteenth century friends: I'm trying to remember something about the persecutions of Protestants and Anglicans under Mary Tudor in the 1550s. I seem to recall an, uh, anecdote about a pregnant woman being burned for heresy who gave birth to a son in the flames, and the baby was then flung back onto the fire.

Ring any bells? Is that even the right time and place? It might have been a French witch burning, too. And the baby might have been rescued from the fire.

I bet ciorstan would know.

I stumbled across this website while looking for pictures of 16th-century milkmaids. It's an encyclopedia of the history of work, and seems to be exclusively European. I haven't run into anything that isn't from Western Europe, yet -- that is, nothing from Russia or Eastern Europe.

There are engravings from the 16th and 17th centuries there, of various professions. For example, this plate by Jost Amman of a cook at work (16th century Germany). I will note that the cook is really, ridiculously burly. Look at his left arm. What the hell, Herr Amman?

I've been looking through the NYPL image archives, because I decided I needed some Renaissance icons. The I decided I needed some Shakespeare icons. So I've been looking up pictures related to productions of Shakespearean plays. (See the icon with this post? Yeah, I made that. With my mad mouse clicking and dragging skills.)

This has led me to realize how very spoiled modern people are when it comes to costuming for Shakespearean productions. Compared to what was going on in the Victorian era, The Other Boleyn Girl is impeccably researched.

Like this. This would never happen today. You just do not see that much man-thigh, however tightly clad said thigh is, in theatre and film today when it comes to Shakespeare. He clearly is not wearing pumpkin pants. He is not even wearing ornamental gourd pants. Even the Nicholas Hilliard painting of that guy in the white doublet with the teeny-tiny pumpkin pants clearly shows there are pumpkin pants, while displaying quite a bit of slender man-thigh.

And this? Those are clearly cut-off jean shorts in black wool. Poor Monsieur Mounet-Sully. I think he might have been casted for his ability to fill out a pair of tights. Seriously, those muscles are not from wool padding.

I've been looking at pattern manuscripts at the Renaissance Tailor, and I kind of have the urge to take those patterns and translate the baras and ells to inches and feet. Or centimeters. Then I would take the patterns and graph them out in inches/centimeters.

Are there any books out there that do this?

ETA: Also, is it weird that I get some pleasure out of reading the Alguen manuscripts out loud in the original Spanish? With an outrageous accent? I haven't rolled so many Rs in months and months.

I just broke a lightbulb in my sewing area in the basement. So much for sewing tonight. I just hope the cat doesn't decide to eat any little shards of glass, since it's too late to vaccuum. My sewing machine is several magnitudes quieter than the Shopvac.

I broke it in the stupidest way, too. I have one of those reading lamps with a clamp clamped onto the wardrobe I keep my fabric in. Unfortunately, the only place to clamp it is on the top where the door opens. I was getting fabric out, and moron that I am, opened the door without removing the lamp first. Crash, smash, glass all over the rug. Maybe I need to re-think the whole lamp situation.

My corset is complete except for the tabs, which I've been hemming and hawing over putting on. They're not boned so they're really not going to do anything, and I generally don't wear farthingales, so the tabs aren't going to be stopping a heavy skirt from sliding down. But they're so pretty I had to have them. So I currently have the silk for the tabs cut out, but not the canvas, because that's what I was getting out of the wardrobe.

The corset, by the way, is amazing. The shape is perfect -- I never thought I'd achieve that flat-busted, conical torso, but this corset brings it. I almost love it so much I want to wear it in public, so I can say, "See this? I made it. It fits and it's the right shape. Neener, neener."

1. I finished another beret, this time for my friend Tabatha. It's once again in Elann Peruvian Highland Wool, and I still love it. I washed it in shampoo and rinsed it with conditioner, so it turned out very soft indeed. I also did one more set of decreases to the brim on this one, so it's a little bit perkier than the other one.

( Pitcha here )

I also got my hair cut again, and it's quite a bit (3-4 inches) shorter. There are days when I wonder what the hell I was thinking, and then there are days when it's really cute. Unfortunately, there aren't many of the latter.

2. I found a site with samples of period brocade that are incredibly similar to this stuff from my fabric acquisition post. That makes me so happy! Even if the stuff I have is flocked acetate.

3. I started a Tudor kirtle, using some of the fabric I acquired in my last post. I went with the pretty, pretty purple stuff, which I've discovered is wholly synthetic and melts in delightful crusty bits when ironed no matter how much steam. It looks surprisingly period, though. It's definitely period-oid, and it good enough for ren faire. I also think I can stretch this puppy to cover most of the sixteenth century, from about the late 1530s to 1570 with the appropriate accessories.

I'm using the Tudor Ladies' Gown and Kirtle pattern from Reconstructing History. I was delighted to realize that by adjusting the back neckline and depth of the front point, I can use this to make kirtles for the entirety of the sixteenth century.

My justification behind making this before my sister's kirtle is a) I don't have the fabric for hers yet, and b) I can mess up on mine and not feel as horrible as I would if I botched hers.

So, onto the pictures.

( Mock up and notes )

The mock-up was completely painless. So I moved right along to the actual thing.

( Purple brocade/jacquard/something kirtle bodice and construction notes )

I did, however, run into some trouble with the piped bias on the neckline and a mystery wrinkle at the bust.

( Razzafraggit )

Now comes the debate over trimming this puppy. I'm not sure if I should or not. On the one hand, if I do, then I can stretch its use: All I'd need to do is make a partlet and some sleeves, and I could wear it as a 1550/60s style dress. So, friends, this is where you come in.

( Four trimming choices )

Which would you go with? I'm leaning right now towards the Eleanora di Toledo version or Version 3. They seem the most flexible, and the Eleanora has the advantage of being from the 1550s, while there are examples from the 1540s, as well. The look is a generic mid-century thing. The only problem is that the back neckline on my bodice is, well, wrong. Oh, and that this trimming look is Italian. I think I can live with that, though.

I am currently very startled by how easily this is going together. I'm predicting that this means I will sew the skirt together inside out more than once or spill red Kool-Aid all over the entire ensemble at some time in the future. Costuming is not supposed to be this easy!

What I have left to do:

--Baste down piped bias along armholes/lacing
--Skirts
--Figure out trimming situation
--Maybe insert an lining
--Sleeves? Sleeve cap?
--Finish covering lacing holes