Caps, caps and yet more caps
One would never accuse me of writing often in this blog but occasionally I do like to keep a record what I have been working on.
This past winter, as a result of far too much sickness, I tackled only one big project and that was my Regency ball gown. The rest of my time I spent doing accessories. After all one can never have too many accessories to change up or change around a given outfit. Then of course there is always the seasonal response and again accessories play a vital part - for example mitts. This past winter I created two pairs of fingerless mitts using the patterns out of "Fitting and Proper" by Sharon Ann Burnston AND knitted a pair of fingerless mitts (using a modified stocking pattern) for those colder days and foggy Fortress Louisburg evening. Two aprons and three fischus were also added this past sewing season. But the single biggest addition to my wardrobe was headwear. The turban I have already written about so this is the caps write up.
Whether we are talking about the 18th or the early 19th c caps are universally worn by ladies at all levels of society. This seems to be especially true for those of us who are ladies of a few years. Differences in styling was to some extent dictated by the style of hair most common for the time. As an example hair in the 1770 and 80s becomes very "big" and caps seem to perch rather precariously on top of the hair, whereas by the time of the War of 1812 hair is more drawn back and closer to the scalp with lots of curls around the face. Status definably influences things such quality of fabric and how much lace or decoration is added, but even a lower class female would still add as much decoration as she could manage, even if this is just a plain ruffle around the face. As a middle class lady for some years ( and playing in far too many centuries) I would expect to have several caps in my possession and would rotate around what I wore according to what my activities planned for a given day are. Since I already had several more day-to-day activity caps for the 18th c I wanted to fill out my "dressier" cap needs.
This is a wired cap similar to those commonly worn in the mid 18 th c. Most often you see them constructed with the wire going along the edge of the wings but there are certainly lots of examples of the wire going through between the lace and the base wing. They seem to universally have the "dip" in the front and are decorated with ribbons, bows and small fruits/ flowers (depending on their creators interest or availability). In paintings it looks like this
As the century proceeds high is getting bigger and the more common cap styling reflect this need to increase in size. Just because I like the name, one of my favorites for this time period is the "dormouse" cap.
In paintings it looks like this
The late 18th c is a transitional time for women's dress with lots of influences that reflect the pervious 50 years combined with the emerging interest in the Grecian form - what eventually evolves into the Regency period. Hair still seems to be big but you are now seeing the beginnings of hair around the face. Caps in this time period I find the most interesting of all but I especially like this "go big or go home" styling. It just says attitude and I like that.
In paintings it looks like this
The Regency period has as many cap variations as the previous 50 years but now caps seem to be much closer to the head, reflecting the change in hair style. This is one of my favorites although it probably has the most complicated construction of all caps that I have ever made. I love the simplicity of it and the fact that the look it creates around the face it changes completely depending on who wears it and how tightly you draw the strings.
In paintings it looks like this
Now that caps are done... for this season.. I need to finish my hats.
This past winter, as a result of far too much sickness, I tackled only one big project and that was my Regency ball gown. The rest of my time I spent doing accessories. After all one can never have too many accessories to change up or change around a given outfit. Then of course there is always the seasonal response and again accessories play a vital part - for example mitts. This past winter I created two pairs of fingerless mitts using the patterns out of "Fitting and Proper" by Sharon Ann Burnston AND knitted a pair of fingerless mitts (using a modified stocking pattern) for those colder days and foggy Fortress Louisburg evening. Two aprons and three fischus were also added this past sewing season. But the single biggest addition to my wardrobe was headwear. The turban I have already written about so this is the caps write up.
Whether we are talking about the 18th or the early 19th c caps are universally worn by ladies at all levels of society. This seems to be especially true for those of us who are ladies of a few years. Differences in styling was to some extent dictated by the style of hair most common for the time. As an example hair in the 1770 and 80s becomes very "big" and caps seem to perch rather precariously on top of the hair, whereas by the time of the War of 1812 hair is more drawn back and closer to the scalp with lots of curls around the face. Status definably influences things such quality of fabric and how much lace or decoration is added, but even a lower class female would still add as much decoration as she could manage, even if this is just a plain ruffle around the face. As a middle class lady for some years ( and playing in far too many centuries) I would expect to have several caps in my possession and would rotate around what I wore according to what my activities planned for a given day are. Since I already had several more day-to-day activity caps for the 18th c I wanted to fill out my "dressier" cap needs.
This is a wired cap similar to those commonly worn in the mid 18 th c. Most often you see them constructed with the wire going along the edge of the wings but there are certainly lots of examples of the wire going through between the lace and the base wing. They seem to universally have the "dip" in the front and are decorated with ribbons, bows and small fruits/ flowers (depending on their creators interest or availability). In paintings it looks like this
As the century proceeds high is getting bigger and the more common cap styling reflect this need to increase in size. Just because I like the name, one of my favorites for this time period is the "dormouse" cap.
In paintings it looks like this
The late 18th c is a transitional time for women's dress with lots of influences that reflect the pervious 50 years combined with the emerging interest in the Grecian form - what eventually evolves into the Regency period. Hair still seems to be big but you are now seeing the beginnings of hair around the face. Caps in this time period I find the most interesting of all but I especially like this "go big or go home" styling. It just says attitude and I like that.
In paintings it looks like this
The Regency period has as many cap variations as the previous 50 years but now caps seem to be much closer to the head, reflecting the change in hair style. This is one of my favorites although it probably has the most complicated construction of all caps that I have ever made. I love the simplicity of it and the fact that the look it creates around the face it changes completely depending on who wears it and how tightly you draw the strings.
In paintings it looks like this
Now that caps are done... for this season.. I need to finish my hats.