Historical Costumes

[BEI Design]

Does anyone have a web site which provides historical costume information?
My DD is writing a book set in pre-Elizabethan England, and would like to be
able to describe the court dress accurately.

TIA

Beverly

[Kate Dicey]

Beverly,

There are a lot of sites out there, and it can be a wee bit confusing.
Let me know the exact period, and I'll find something for you.
Remember, MOST of English history is pre Elizabethan!

Kate XXXXXX ;)

[BEI Design]

Thanks, Kate.

And, most American history is post-Elizabethan ;-}

Beverly

"Kate Dicey" <ka...@diceyhome.free-online.co.uk> wrote in message

[zski]

If you can narrow down the time frame, I can help as well. Say, within
50 years, or at least who was king?
-----------------------------------------------------
Wendy Z Chicago IL (moo)
Wench Wear Costumes http://pages.ripco.net/~zski
Minstrosity Wench #525
"Though she be but little, she is fierce"
"I'm not short - I'm concentrated!"
It's the little ones you have to watch out for.....
------------------------------------------------------

[BEI Design]

Kate and Wendy,

Sorry, don't know where my head is today.

My DD is looking for information about English Court clothing during the
reign of Henry VIII, circa 1538 or thereabout. She is particularly
interested in women's headpieces, and wants to know if wimples were still
"in"? Any other information about Court dress for women would be greatly
appreciated.

Thank you both for your help,

Beverly

[Cathy Wells]

This is generally recognized as the best of the Elizabethan costuming
pages on the web:

http://www.dnaco.net/~aleed/corsets/

This page has the most complete set of links to costuming pages on the
net that I've ever found:

http://moas.atlantia.sca.org/topics/clot.htm

Good luck!
Cathy

[BEI Design]

Cathy, thanks, I'll send these to her.

Beverly

"Cathy Wells" <cwel...@NOSPAMhotmail.com> wrote in message

[Brigitta Vesei]

BEI Design wrote:

Hans Holbein the Younger was a court painter to Henry VIII. Fortunately, he
made marvelously detailed portraits, and you can get a good idea of clothing
that was worn by the upper classes. There are several web pages that have
images of his art available to view. Here are some examples:
http://www.mystudios.com/art/northern/holbein/holbein-henry-howard.html
or http://www.artchive.com/artchive/H/holbein/holbein_mary_wotton.jpg.html
or http://www.artchive.com/artchive/H/holbein/holbein_anne_of_cleves.jpg.html
In fact, one of the most famous images of Henry VII was painted by this artist.
Both his drawings and sketches survive of some very famous people of that time.
You would probably find it more images to study at the art book section of your
local library.

My art history is a bit rusty, but I cannot think of any prominent English
artist of that time.

As for peasant clothing, you should try the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the
Elder. He painted some meticulously detailed paintings of the activities of
peasants, the harvest, a wedding, children playing, etc. While many of his
painting are allegorical, several of them do provide a clear picture of the life
of ordinary people. Try these:
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/wedding.jpg
or http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/bird-trap.jpg
or my favorite: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/harvesters.jpg
It should be pointed out that Bruegel painted in the Netherlands, but I doubt
that the life and activities of ordinary people were all that different between
the continent the the British Isles.

[BEI Design]

Brigetta,

Fantastic! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I think these are exactly what
my daughter was hoping for. I also found some very interesting links at:
http://www.marquise.de/ a site posted at another newsgroup.

Thanks you very much,

Beverly

"Brigitta Vesei" <brig...@execpc.com> wrote in message
news:3b32b060$0$14452>

[Pallas-Rose]

Word of caution to the writer--speaking as an editor: Be sure you've got the
lingo right when describing the clothing.

A writer of my acquaintance was almost done in by using the term "bustle" to
describe what is variously referred to as a bum roll or hip roll in
Elizabethan costuming, because she didn't understand the difference.

I might recommend that your DD consult one or more of the basic "How to build
a" sewing books in addition to whatever primary resources she uses.

Pallas

[BEI Design]

Thanks for the advice, I'll forward this to my daughter.

The reason she was wanting informational links to do research was that she
is concerned with getting the terms and descriptions exactly right. There
is probably nothing more jarring than having books with an historical
setting use modern or otherwise inaccurate words or phrases.

Beverly

"Pallas-Rose" <athe...@aol.comNoJunk> wrote in message

[Kate Dicey]

BEI Design wrote:
There
> is probably nothing more jarring than having books with an historical
> setting use modern or otherwise inaccurate words or phrases.
>
> Beverly

Except Gadzookery!

Nobody ever gets EVERYTHING exactly right! Just make sure the
terminology is correct in the text, and add a glossary for the ignorant
at the end. I use 'ignorant' in the pure sense, meaning lacking the
insider knowledge. There is nothing more irritating to the marker of a
paper than having unnecessary explanations in the middle of the essay.
Tell her to write as if everyone knew what the technical terms mean,
with the glossary in an appendix for those who require it.

OK: Kate now removes Teacher of English Hat and gets back to the
important stuff: the sewing!

Kate XXXX

PS I have not forgotten that info or the book list! Things on the
cherub front got a wee bit hectic, and I was also trying to get ready
for a Family Learning Day workshop in a school I've yet to visit! They
should be shipping in some sewing machines (probably 9,000,000,000 year
old Berninas!) to the room I shall be using, as the sewing room is in
another block and they don't want to open too many doors! I'll tell you
all about it after tomorrow!