Crafts in the Plague Year

[dubsartur]

There don't seem to be any threads right now on the hand work we are doing, lets start one.

I am working on a short round embroidered mantle.  These were fashionable in western Europe from the 14th century into the 17th.  The later ones usually open from neck to crotch and often have fake sleeves, the earlier ones are pullovers with hidden fastenings, ones for men tend to be a bit longer than ones for women.



Example from my period of interest.



Double checking that the red linen lining and the blue woolen cloth facing are the same size and shape.



Test fitting the collar.  The buttonholes are lined with silk dupioni.



Powdering the cape with stars.

[Jubal]

That's lovely! Looking forward to seeing more

I never really got started on most of my physical craft ideas for lockdown - academic work has swamped me rather

[dubsartur]

The collar is embroidered ...



And set into the cape, lined with more duppioni, and joined to the lining of the cape which is anchored to the neck opening.  HIC · SUNT · II · DRACONES!

[Jubal]

Nice As I read this I'm wearing a poncho, which it strikes me has some similarities as a garment (in what it's practically like to wear, as opposed to its structure and manufacture etc).

[dubsartur]

Yes, its interesting how different concepts reoccur in different cultures, from the basic 'blanket with a slit in the weave to put your head through' to a cut-and-sewed garment with its own hood.  There are versions of this idea in the 16th century where the back half is more than half a circle for extra ploofyness!

[dubsartur]

As seen by trecento eyes ... (Morgan MS. G.54 Der Wälsche Gaste folio 6r http://www.themorgan.org/collection/Illuminating-Fashion/8 see also http://ica.themorgan.org/manuscript/page/9/76996)



and by the unfeeling crystal gaze of a camera during the first real snowfall of the winter.

[Jubal]

Nicely done!

[dubsartur]

My next project is drafting and making up a black fustian doublet from the same period.  Last time I was able to work on this project was before the plague and two years of unemployment and some changes to my body.  So while previously I was aiming for the typical male silhouette of the period:



I think I will have to aim for the masons and torturers of Christ we see in some 15th century art:



(One reason for that is that in the late 14th century, there were plenty of respectable garments for men which hung down to the mid-thigh or lower, so as you got more comfortable, and felt less need to impress the ladies with your shapely calves and bottom, you could invest in more expensive (= voluminous) clothing as well as better food and people do do the sweaty work for you and hide your belly under them.  There seems to have been a trend for the 15th century onwards for these to be relegated to very formal garments like gowns or specialty garments like rainwear).

[dubsartur]

I have now made two mockups from medium-weight unbleached cotton cloth (muslin, I forget the German name).  The second seems to be headed in the right direction.

Doublets in this period are sort of hybrid garments.  The upper half of the body fits fairly loosely and supports itself like the upper half of a suit coat / blazer / Sakko.  The lower half fits like a corset and holds up your hose like a modern trousers belt.  By the mid 15th century, when every man above a beggar is wearing a doublet, we sometimes see workers with the upper part pulled off and hanging below the waist like we knot a sweater.  The skirt is still enough to hold it closed.

In the late 14th century, doublets were more for young, fashionable, warlike men.  That might be one reason why the ideal silhouette was so extreme.

[Jubal]

Hmm, interesting - I hadn't thought much about how much those sort of garments would fit and stay up.

[dubsartur]

It is pretty different from clothing before the thing in 1204 that we don't talk about.  In fact, I am having trouble thinking of many garments that open up the front between about 1000 and 1300 in the former Western Roman Empire and Black Sea region, aside from the last of those 'Viking caftans.'

I am starting to move the static, medieval part of my web presence onto its own site.  Check out the mockup here for 1300s material culture goodness!  I don't have a machine with Chrome or IE on it so let me know if there are issues on your device and browser of choice.