Costuming venting in frustration.
I just want to bang my head sometimes in frustration, so I thought I would vent a little bit here, among those who might understand.
I am trying to help someone who is new to doing nobility with our guild. We do both Henrician and Elizabethan ren-faire events, and I am the Lady of the Wardrobe, or costume mistress, for our guild. It is my job to educate, and to encourage our members (small numbers tho we are) to dress properly for whatever time period we are doing. This has been very hard to do, since most of the ladies don't want to make anything new, or hire someone to make them something out of hot fabrics, and seem to be happy with their older garb, which is usually a mishmash in styles between the two eras.
I even have one member who hung her head in a sigh and frustration when our gm stated she wanted to do 1590s style of Elizabethan, as she doesn't sew much, and doesn't want to make a whole new outfit for court, after having found a comfy loose gown style she prefers.
So, I am helping a new member out, and she wants to use the new Simplicity pattern 3782. She writes:
"I attached a picture I wanted you to look at. I know this pattern is NOT period pattern - at least the sleeves are not. I am leaning toward the red gown, at least in terms of the cut of the gown. I have a book . . I know you know the one, but I cannot think of the name.....that shows this type of gown during both the Tudor and Elizabethan eras with changes to the sleeves."
"You had made the suggestion about making two sets of sleeves - one for Tudor and one for Elizabethan - and interchanging them, so that I would not have to make two gowns right away."
I have no idea which book she is referring to. I am afraid it might end up being the Winter & Savoy book. And... Uhm, no. I would never ever make that suggestion about dual sleeves. But sadly, my own guild mistress does do this sometimes with her older gowns, and so does one other lady in court, because that is a handy theatrical thing to do, to stretch those costuming dollars even further. I did once make two different bodices and one skirt, trying to do similar, but found that really doesn't work very well (I now have a spare Tudor bodice with no skirt). But now I know better. But interchanging sleeves? No. I've seen how tacky that looks, as the joins end up being very obvious. Tudor sleeves are set in smoothly to the bodice.
What is frustrating is that while this new member is open to proper costuming suggestions to achieve the proper Henrician or Elizabethan look, I have no control over what she ultimately decides to do. I also have no control over my own dear gm, or the other ladies at court, so really, I am of little use to our group in regards to being the Lady of the Wardrobe. I try to encourage them, and I am hoping at least our French hoods will now look proper (and replace the ubiquitous flat cap that everyone else wears), but I feel like I am hitting the same walls over and over again.
Don't get me wrong; I do love my guild, and I care more about its members than I do about what they wear, proper or not. It was the people that I came back to faire to enjoy being with. I just wish we had more meetings so I could get more done on the costuming front, but they have real life issues to contend with (boy, I know how that goes). And it was this frustration with some of the faire costuming that got me involved with the SCA. At least there I hope to do more research with those few who do care about the proper look of a particular time period.
I am trying to help someone who is new to doing nobility with our guild. We do both Henrician and Elizabethan ren-faire events, and I am the Lady of the Wardrobe, or costume mistress, for our guild. It is my job to educate, and to encourage our members (small numbers tho we are) to dress properly for whatever time period we are doing. This has been very hard to do, since most of the ladies don't want to make anything new, or hire someone to make them something out of hot fabrics, and seem to be happy with their older garb, which is usually a mishmash in styles between the two eras.
I even have one member who hung her head in a sigh and frustration when our gm stated she wanted to do 1590s style of Elizabethan, as she doesn't sew much, and doesn't want to make a whole new outfit for court, after having found a comfy loose gown style she prefers.
So, I am helping a new member out, and she wants to use the new Simplicity pattern 3782. She writes:
"I attached a picture I wanted you to look at. I know this pattern is NOT period pattern - at least the sleeves are not. I am leaning toward the red gown, at least in terms of the cut of the gown. I have a book . . I know you know the one, but I cannot think of the name.....that shows this type of gown during both the Tudor and Elizabethan eras with changes to the sleeves."
"You had made the suggestion about making two sets of sleeves - one for Tudor and one for Elizabethan - and interchanging them, so that I would not have to make two gowns right away."
I have no idea which book she is referring to. I am afraid it might end up being the Winter & Savoy book. And... Uhm, no. I would never ever make that suggestion about dual sleeves. But sadly, my own guild mistress does do this sometimes with her older gowns, and so does one other lady in court, because that is a handy theatrical thing to do, to stretch those costuming dollars even further. I did once make two different bodices and one skirt, trying to do similar, but found that really doesn't work very well (I now have a spare Tudor bodice with no skirt). But now I know better. But interchanging sleeves? No. I've seen how tacky that looks, as the joins end up being very obvious. Tudor sleeves are set in smoothly to the bodice.
What is frustrating is that while this new member is open to proper costuming suggestions to achieve the proper Henrician or Elizabethan look, I have no control over what she ultimately decides to do. I also have no control over my own dear gm, or the other ladies at court, so really, I am of little use to our group in regards to being the Lady of the Wardrobe. I try to encourage them, and I am hoping at least our French hoods will now look proper (and replace the ubiquitous flat cap that everyone else wears), but I feel like I am hitting the same walls over and over again.
Don't get me wrong; I do love my guild, and I care more about its members than I do about what they wear, proper or not. It was the people that I came back to faire to enjoy being with. I just wish we had more meetings so I could get more done on the costuming front, but they have real life issues to contend with (boy, I know how that goes). And it was this frustration with some of the faire costuming that got me involved with the SCA. At least there I hope to do more research with those few who do care about the proper look of a particular time period.