The Great Deluge and thoughts on the Worth of Research
Many of you who are on FB are aware that my house is sort of in shamble. OK, strike the "sort of." It went like this: Massive rainstorm ---> Flooding ---> back pressure in the city system ----> failed sewer line ----> Blackwater contamination ---> basement stripped up carpet, drywall, and furniture. So I'm still pretty discombobulated and probably will be till I get all this dealt with. It's pretty hard to sew/embroider/whatever when we're crammed into what WAS my craft space as temporary living area.
Since I'd committed to an article at History Unstitched AND was helping [Bad username: alysten.livejournal.com] research a new outfit, I'd turned up some more info on the Kaasmuseum portraits and updated one of my articles. Go look if you're interested:
http://www.insaneaboutgarb.com/friesianfrockgirl/index.php/textiles/dutch-costume/layering-the-look
Oh, and go subscribe to History Unstitched! http://historyunstitched.com/ Then you can read my article, and lots of other, even better ones.
Which has brought me full circle back to my website. A. I need to migrate it over to a more updated version of Joomla! And I'm afeared.
B. I debate about adding to it. I could do a tour of the Dutch provinces. I could start following costume development through the later centuries. I could work on the basic garb articles.
But then I start to wonder if it's even worth the effort. Mostly because the primary audience for a lot of it is the SCA. And I have two rather profound problems with SCA "Corporate Culture."
A. "Gimmee!!" - The attitude that you should give whatever you have to other SCAdians because they're SCAdians. This might be research, materials, time, whatever. I've come to resent this attitude. Yes, I might have 2 tubes of ultramarine blue goauche. This does not, however, obligate me to give one of them to someone else who "wants to do scribal stuff but doesn't know where to start." (Read here: doesn't want to purchase their own supplies. And sometimes it's not material things but knowledge. "I want to make X, and I know that you've done it, so tell me how to do it so I don't have to go figure it out for myself." Essentially, the attitude that, for example, if you've worked out how to construct a men's Burgundian outfit, you should not only make your research available BUT should effectively create a pattern and spoon feed someone else so they can make the pretties. Because, you know, "Garb isn't really my thing and I don't want to have to get into the details. I just want it to look right," I think this is a larger problem with costume than with anything else because that's the ONE item you must have to participate. So if it's not your thing, you still have to make SOME kind of an effort. And very few people are willing to purchase items at what is a fair price for the seamstress. I'm even starting to really get annoyed at people who want to borrow a book I've purchased and photocopy a bunch of stuff out of it so they don't have to buy it. NO. Be fair to the author and go buy a copy.
B. "Yer doin' it Wrong." No matter how exquisitely correct your outfit may be, sure as shootin', you'll find someone, somewhere, who will feel the Need(TM) to waltz up and tell you you've got it wrong. Usually based on misinformation. Granted, I don't "event" any more. But it frosts my cookies in a serious way when I've helped someone make something (or been the source of their information) that's evidence based... and they get hassled about it by Baroness Snark. So. Freaking. Tired. Of this. The Elizabethan Costume List on FB is supposed to be a "snark-free" zone. Who are we kidding? The snark, it happens. And it must be inherent in costume because it just bubbles up. With Attitude(TM). I've backed down from time to time, even when I know I'm right - just because the argument isn't worth the emotional energy.
So... what to do tonight? Plan some articles? Or make a vintage-styled mending kit for my modern sewing.... Hmmmmm....
This entry was originally posted at http://femkes-follies.dreamwidth.org/354273.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Since I'd committed to an article at History Unstitched AND was helping [Bad username: alysten.livejournal.com] research a new outfit, I'd turned up some more info on the Kaasmuseum portraits and updated one of my articles. Go look if you're interested:
http://www.insaneaboutgarb.com/friesianfrockgirl/index.php/textiles/dutch-costume/layering-the-look
Oh, and go subscribe to History Unstitched! http://historyunstitched.com/ Then you can read my article, and lots of other, even better ones.
Which has brought me full circle back to my website. A. I need to migrate it over to a more updated version of Joomla! And I'm afeared.
B. I debate about adding to it. I could do a tour of the Dutch provinces. I could start following costume development through the later centuries. I could work on the basic garb articles.
But then I start to wonder if it's even worth the effort. Mostly because the primary audience for a lot of it is the SCA. And I have two rather profound problems with SCA "Corporate Culture."
A. "Gimmee!!" - The attitude that you should give whatever you have to other SCAdians because they're SCAdians. This might be research, materials, time, whatever. I've come to resent this attitude. Yes, I might have 2 tubes of ultramarine blue goauche. This does not, however, obligate me to give one of them to someone else who "wants to do scribal stuff but doesn't know where to start." (Read here: doesn't want to purchase their own supplies. And sometimes it's not material things but knowledge. "I want to make X, and I know that you've done it, so tell me how to do it so I don't have to go figure it out for myself." Essentially, the attitude that, for example, if you've worked out how to construct a men's Burgundian outfit, you should not only make your research available BUT should effectively create a pattern and spoon feed someone else so they can make the pretties. Because, you know, "Garb isn't really my thing and I don't want to have to get into the details. I just want it to look right," I think this is a larger problem with costume than with anything else because that's the ONE item you must have to participate. So if it's not your thing, you still have to make SOME kind of an effort. And very few people are willing to purchase items at what is a fair price for the seamstress. I'm even starting to really get annoyed at people who want to borrow a book I've purchased and photocopy a bunch of stuff out of it so they don't have to buy it. NO. Be fair to the author and go buy a copy.
B. "Yer doin' it Wrong." No matter how exquisitely correct your outfit may be, sure as shootin', you'll find someone, somewhere, who will feel the Need(TM) to waltz up and tell you you've got it wrong. Usually based on misinformation. Granted, I don't "event" any more. But it frosts my cookies in a serious way when I've helped someone make something (or been the source of their information) that's evidence based... and they get hassled about it by Baroness Snark. So. Freaking. Tired. Of this. The Elizabethan Costume List on FB is supposed to be a "snark-free" zone. Who are we kidding? The snark, it happens. And it must be inherent in costume because it just bubbles up. With Attitude(TM). I've backed down from time to time, even when I know I'm right - just because the argument isn't worth the emotional energy.
So... what to do tonight? Plan some articles? Or make a vintage-styled mending kit for my modern sewing.... Hmmmmm....
This entry was originally posted at http://femkes-follies.dreamwidth.org/354273.html. Please comment there using OpenID.