Motivation of the Garb
I was inspired by kass_rants "wanna list" post and justawench's fun pirate weekend to compile all the things I'd like to get done. Plus, since I've gotten over the bladder infection and the dizziness of the past week or so, I'm feeling pretty good and energized. I'll start in chronological order of the Fashion:
Landskenechdt, Kampfrau, 1530s (learn more here: http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/patterns.php?c=22&d=33&w=24&r=Y, the only page I could find that had pictures).
I was drawn to Landskenechdt because it was different, I liked the colors, and I could identify with the women I saw in various period paintings. Here's my wish list:
Kampfrau gown with slashing
low-neck hemd (smock) parlet and apron with smocking
"Starfish Hat" and steuchlein and wausthaub (hats and headresses)
Goller (fur lined, I hope, I found some fur at a thrift store, but I doubt it's still there)
Stocking with Kneibander
Mary of Hapsburg gown with brustfleck (see here: http://frazzledfrau.glittersweet.com/mary/index.htm; there are two repros at the bottom of the page, one is lovely, but wrong for her impression, methinks--if I am wrong, let me know; the other is, well...Kass did have a theory that this type of gown is for younger and those of more slight figures....I have seen a third repro, but it was done wrong--she moved the open front up and close together---I guess she didn't know that something probably filled in that area).
Late Elizabethan/Early Jacobean (see Kass' patterns here: http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/patterns.php?c=22&d=30&w=24&r=Y and attack_laurel's insprational page here: http://www.extremecostuming.com/)
Like Kass, I really want to do an english jacket and loose gown combo. Plus I want to make the feminine doublet. And guarded petticoats.
Here's the full list:
High-necked smock
Wired and embriodered coifs
Tall hat
loose gown
English Jacket
guarded petticoats
Feminine doublet
Dorthea Sabina bodies
And finally, the big one and most important because I do it the most: 4th quarter 18 century: (see articles; http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/patterns.php?c=8&d=116&w=3&r=Y)
I'd like to do upper class for single-day events, since most of the time, these don't involve camping outdoors and cook-fires, and I'd like the oppurtunity to dress fashionable and pretty:
Upper class:
diederot stays (working on)
blue silk polonaise
calico anglais
wool mantelet
decorated straw hat
turquiose silk quilted petticoat
black and red silk riding habit
Silk zone-front Sacque (which I want for October, but may not be able to afford right now :( )
More important, lower class stuff. I portray a former lady's maid following the Loyalist army:
light blue linen anglais (closed bodice)
white striped wool gabardine anglais (open bodice and pieced)
brown quilted petticoat
wool underpetticoat
green wool cloak
lydia yeardley's stays (I want to do a strapped repro, but am worried since I will more than likely be dressing myself, may just make front-lacing stays)
black silk bonnet
bedgown for mornings and after hours
quilted waistcoat for chilly mornings and after hours (I'll probably purchase pre-quilted, since this is an undergarment)
I have all the materials to make my 18th c stuff, excepting the wool underpetti, waistcoat and silk sacque, so I am pretty confindent. This is the stuff I will work on first, and If I get tired of working on 18th c, I'll switch to another area for a bit. I have about 80% of the materials I need for Landskenecht and only about 25% for Elizabethan. Another issue: I need a dress form, and soon. I don't have the money to invest in a factory made one, and craig's list is empty of good and affordable options. I need to find someone who will help me make a duct-tape dummy. Maybe I can talk Jim into it....
I am pretty excited over my little list here, but also overwhelmed. Ideally, I want to have most of this at the end of two years, but in reality, it'll probably take a lifetime. As long as I have my 18thc campfollower stuff done in two years.
Some of you may wonder why my list is limited to 3 time periods. Trust me, I'd love to do Regency and Medieval and Ottoman and GAOP and so many others, but I don't have the funds or time to invest in that many periods. I'd have no outlet for them! So I narrowed it down to 3 that I really like and that I can wear places. Getting into a lot of periods at once can cause burnout. If you focus on a small number, then you can portray them so much better, you can invest more time in getting them right. But, if something changes, I'll do another period. For example, if I get the chance to do 14th c on a regular basis, then I'll make a cotehardie. I do have an exception: I have a pattern and material to make a 1700 mantua for the one Pirate event my group holds every year (mantua: http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/golden-age-of-piracy.php?s=&c=8&d=96&e=&f=&g=&a=144&w=2). I figure I'll wear my regular petticoats and stays, just wear a different cap and pin my kerchief differently.
EDIT: How could I forget the fancy jacket? I got an idea in my head. Much of the clothing in 18th c (and other periods) was remade when fashions changed or given to servants when it went out of style. For my campfollower impression, I want to eventually make a jacket that (A) has either started out as an older style of jacket (like a casque) and remade into a more fashionable style (complete with stitch-holes and wear) or (B) make a jacket out of a small piece of cloth or old fancy garment like the fig leaf jacket (http://www.figleafpatterns.com/ItemDetail.php?ItemIdx=7&PHPSESSID=947f8ddd9ff853cc048f0cae505f9086). It just seems like a fun idea that would be a lot of work, but would be different, and an interesting instruction tool for the public.