HANDCRAFTED HISTORY

Category Archives: Reading/Lästips


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The novice guide to time-travelling

Hi there! Are you new around here? Welcome!

This is a short, and hopeful, encouraging guide to get you started with historical sewing and adventuring.

There are many paths down this hobby, depending on your interests and where you live. Look for local groups and events and what they do, and try out different things.

Some examples on activities/groups to try:

  • SCA (Society of creative anachronism).
  • Reenactment groups that specialise in different periods.
  • Friend-based groups that accept new members.
  • Larping (live-action role-playing).
  • Markets/fairs that focus on a period you are interested in.
  • Landmarks like castles, ruins or museums might have groups helping them create a living environment.
  • Online meetings, workshops, groups etc.

In some areas, you will find lots of different, open activities to choose from. In others, not so many. Remember; many time travelling enthusiasts travel a lot to get to their favourite activities so even if you don’t find the best parts close to you, there might be others living nearby that you don’t know yet.

If you find anything of interest, be sure to reach out to them, tell them that you would like to join and ask about the requirements. Some groups are open to visit, others are invites only or require you to have a certain standard to your gear before joining. Remember that most groups are voluntary based so you will meet other enthusiasts working for free, not some big business with staff readily available!

What outfit do you need?

This depends on where you are going and what groups you would like to join. Before sewing, it could be a great idea to first scout your options for activities. Some group/fairs/events require you to wear a specific time period for attending. Or if you just love to sew; start with doing different outfits and then go to events where you can enjoy wearing them!

Handcrafting camp at “Medeltidsdagar på Hägnan”.

Generally speaking; when planning your first outfit for going to an event over a day or so linen underwear (shirt/shift) under some kind of wool clothing, maybe with a hat/veil/headwear and a belt with some kind of bag will be enough. A cloak, if you want to stay during the evening, might be good. Shoes are often hard to find at first, but if you have funds to spare webshops offer different models that might do. Again; before spending your hobby budget on something it might be good to wear a pair of discreet sandals or boots on your first trip, and then inquire for tips on footwear. This might save you a lot of money and trouble!

How do you make an outfit?

Nowadays, the internet is bursting with info free to grab and make do with. Start with choosing what period you are really into; Viking age, high Medieval era or the 18th-century court will all have very different styles. The next step is to collect: information, pictures, photos, inspiration… Try to look into both contemporary sources such as books, paintings etc from the period, what research, science and finds show, as well as inspiration from other reenactors. This way, you will build up your own sense of what would be a good choice of clothing.

Buying fabric for your outfit is so much fun, but also hard!

Don’t know where to start? Say you are interested in the 15th century North Europe style; start googling that. Check out artists living in the period (find them on Wiki) and what happened politically and fashionable during this era. (Before you know it, you will be super educated about a whole new period in history…)

Were could you buy an outfit?

Not into sewing… at all? No worries, lot’s of people are not. There are plenty of businesses today selling reenactment gear of different qualities. The problem is, of course, to find the right place with garments and items with a quality that is suitable for what you intend to do. Before shopping (and risk being disappointed) decide on where you want to go and try to connect with a group around that interest/period/area and ask them for good shopping tips. I would of course advise you to go local; shop within your country from seller’s that makes the items themself and may customize them for you. Better quality might cost more, but it also has a better lasting value if you want to upgrade in the future.

Ask a friend!

I know you probably have a thousand questions. Because I had when I started. Am I allowed to bring a toothbrush? What shall I eat? How are people sleeping at that event? Is this expensive? Is it fun? I may of course not answer all questions in this text, but if you are wondering about something specific; feel free to write a comment here and I will do my best to answer everything or send you to someone better suited! And yes, toothbrushes are allowed…

Advise from others:

I asked on my FB page for more advice for beginners and had lots of great suggestions from readers and friends. I didn’t bring them all, but wanted to share some of them!

Karine “Try to find out what you really want to create. Follow your own fire. Ask as many questions as you want. And remember that everybody makes mistakes sometimes. And sometimes mistakes can turn into something even better.”

Elin (translated to English) …”remember to drink water, nap, use sunscreen and eat your meals. Even schedule rest time along with activities. Change clothing for sleeping. A headwear is fantastic! The protect you from heat stroke, sun and can be moisten (to cool you down).”

On the subject on finding new friends: Volunteer! Attend handcrafting workshops. Join Fbgroups.

Adéle “Clothes and gear as a new player: Do -not- compare yourself to others (who might have had years and years of making and gathering their stuff). If you end up having fun and sticking with the hobby, the gear will come. Focus on following the recommendations of the organizers, staying warm and dry, and having fun.”

Agnes: “Try not to fall into the trap of “everybody else has such nice things and I will never be able to create that”. We have all been beginners, everybody starts out with different possibilities to budget, knowledge and amount of time we can put in to the hobby … Most people in the reenactor/sca/larp world are kind and helpful people. If they get told “I like your thing, how did you do it?” they will just be happy to be able to geek out with someone. Don’t expect them to hand you an IKEA kit though. You will have to learn some stuff for your own…”

Maja Elise: “Just start! When I made my first attempt at kit I didn’t know anyone else who did reenactment. Those clothes suck, but I’m so glad I just got started. Fun was had and experience earned.”

Fredrik: “For living history/reenactment, research first, then spend your money. It somebody says that something is ok, ask for their sources. If they can’t provide sources, don’t follow their advice.”

Minna: “Just go for it. You’ll probably want new stuff anyways after your first few events, so keep it simple.”


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Medieval pattens (research post)

I wanted to buy myself a pair of really nice wooden pattens to protect my handmade medieval shoes during events, like 6 years ago. I didn’t find any, so then I tried to trade for a pair with some woodworking friends, but none knew how to make a pair or didn’t want to, so I set out to fix my non-pattens-problem on my own. That took a while, and believe me, I have gone through some bad options before I ended up happy.

patinor

Making a wooden sole with a leather strap, and then put it on your foot seems like a simple task, but in the end, I didn’t get it right before I researched the extant finds, looked at the artwork and then tried making a pair with some serious hands-on experimenting. I wanted them to both look good, feel right and be comfortable to move in. Now I have finally made a pair I am satisfied with, so I wanted to share my research and process with you! Because of the amount of research, text and pictures I ended up with, I am splitting the posts into research and step-by-step. Easier to read!

Period: Europe, mainly 14th to 15th century.

About pattens

Pattens are a pair of soles with straps, to wear with your everyday medieval shoe to raise the foot above the ground, avoiding snow, dirt and water. Though they might look like sandals their purpose was to protect the wearer and the expensive shoes all year round, and the thick soles meant you came up from the ground, keeping you dry and warm as well as making the shoes last longer. Pattens were shaped after the foot and the leather shoe, changing form as the shoe fashion did.

They may also be referred to as clogs or galoshes, all names for a medieval overshoe meant to protect the leather shoe, though I will use the term pattens like Grew and Neergaard does in Shoes and Pattens. There are finds of pattens from the 12th and 13th century, making them an useful accessory for the medieval person. Finds of 14th century pattens in London are often decorated for the higher classes and gets more common later in the century. In the 15th century, they become increasingly popular, with many different models and variations. Lots of extant finds show this trend, as well as the pattens being frequently showed in contemporary art. Based on this knowledge, I decided to focus mainly on the late 14th and 15th century variations of pattens.

Materials and models

Pattens can be found with soles in joined layers of leather, as well as wood, and with a solid sole or a two-pieced variant, joined with leather almost like a hinge. Examples with a wooden platform on top of stilts or wedges in wood or metal can also be found.

Examples of wood being used in finds; alder, willow, poplar and one example of beech. Aspen was prohibited for use in England in 1416 (which tells us it was probably a popular choice) but 1464 it was stated that it was allowed to make pattens of aspen wood not suitable for arrow shafts (Shoes and Pattens).

15th and early 16th century pattens, both wood and layers of leather were used for soles.

Straps made of leather

All extant examples I have studied have straps made of leather (vegetable tanned cowhide seems to be the choice), though there are lots of different strap fastenings. Some pattens have one strap over the front part of the foot, almost like flip flops, while others also have straps at the sides or behind the heel, joining in a strap around the ankle. The heel straps can be first seen in late 14th century finds.

Looking at contemporary artwork, many working persons from the period wear practical pattens with a sturdy strap over the foot, while higher classes have more formed soles with delicate straps, sometimes decorated, and sometimes with a buckle.

To adjust the fit of the straps there are examples of metal buckles, ties and leather strips secured with a piece of leather or a nail among other varieties. The leather used for straps are generally thinner than the one used to join a split sole, and to make it sturdier a seam, a binding or a folded edge has been used. Two layers of leather sewn together is another method. The leather could be decorated with dyes or edges of contrasting colours and stamps or cut-outs in patterns.

To fasten the leather to the soles iron nails were used, both for the straps and the sole hinge. Sometimes a second leather strap was nailed down around the sole to finish the look and protect the foot straps from wear. Other words used for the nails are dubs, pins and pegs but I choose to follow the item descriptions on the online database of the Museum of London naming them nails. It also seems that the medieval examples have the same shape and size as nails to other kinds of work.

pattens2

Metal buckles and other fastenings

There are several examples of metal buckles represented in the artwork on pattens from the 15th century, and finds from the 14th and 15th century of similar buckles made in iron, brass, bronze and copper allow to mention some examples. Because most buckles are found loose it is hard to say which ones were used for belts, shoes, pattens and purses. I opted for some examples from contemporary artwork to show you, and if you want to further examine buckles from the period there are lots of finds on online museum collections as well as in Dress Accessories.

Examples of metal buckles in contemporary artwork

There are several finds from sites in Europe like London and Amsterdam as well as examples from Germany. If you want to see more extant finds, the Museum of London online collection is a great source to begin with.

Hugo van der Goes, The Portinari Altarpiece/Triptych, c 1475

Sources:

Grew and Neergaard (2001) Shoes and pattens p. 91-101

Egan and Pritchard (2002) Dress Accessories 1150-1450

Goubitz (2011) Stepping Through Time: archaeological footwear from prehistoric times until 1800.

Museum of London online collection (20200416) https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/search/#!/results?terms=medieval%20patten

Extant find at the top; Museum of London online collection. 15th c patten in wood with leather and iron nails.

A patten maker; (20200416) https://hausbuecher.nuernberg.de/75-Amb-2-317-106-v

patinor2


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Källkritik/learn more

This is an article in Swedish about using medieval art as a source for your outfit, and the knowledge (and traps) you can meet in art and paintings. For example, the most common art from the medieval era has biblical motives, which are full of symbolic meanings and characters from history.

Even the clothes are unreliable since some artist wanted the clothes to communicate a lost era, while others preferred to paint the contemporary fashion details. This means you will have to collect and interpret different medieval sources in order to know what kind of clothes the medieval person wore. In the end, you will find some interesting links to continue to learn about the medieval outfit. To learn more, translate the article, or book me for a lecture about the subject!

Om bildkällor och källkritik

De allra flesta bevarade bilder och manuskript från medeltiden är religiösa och visar scener ur bibliska berättelser. När samtiden inte avbildar sig själv, utan en dåtid som man inte noga dokumenterat, finns det alltid en risk att bilderna varken troget avbildar samtiden, eller den dåtid man avser (i det här fallet oftast tiden kring Kristi födelse och framåt till hans död). När du vill använda historiska bildkällor som en grund för att skapa en dräkt är det viktigt att du är medveten om detta.

Alla bildkällor kan inte heller betraktas som trovärdiga, och vissa bilder är mer tydliga med frånvaron av realism då de återberättar scener ur olika sagor och myter. Bilden nedan till vänster med en kentaur och en hårig, naken kvinna får nog betraktas som rent sagobaserad, medan bilden till höger kan vara lite lurigare. Monstret ser ju ut som ett påhittat djur, men kvinnans klänning är öppen för debatt; är den vit, grå, blå? Ska man tolka hela bilden, i och med monstret, som mindre tillförlitlig och symbolisk, eller kan klänningen vara en trovärdig avbildning? Glorior används för att visa att personen ifråga är ett helgon, men den är också en indikator på att dräkten i sig inte behöver vara hämtad från samtiden, utan kan vara influerad av det konstnären ansåg vara heliga kläder, eller kläder som skulle påminna om en annan tidsepok.

centaur monster

Samtidigt är bildkonsten en av de viktigaste utgångspunkterna vi har för att göra oss en bild över historiens dräkter. Dåtidens konstnärer betraktades som ett hantverksskrå precis som andra hanverkare, och det fanns tydliga regler för hur konsten skulle se ut och tillverkas. Det gör att konstnärliga friheter och personliga tolkningar inte förekom på samma sätt som det gör idag, och stilen i olika perioder och geografiska områden är tydligt avgränsad.

Tyvärr innebär det också att tidens ideal och uttryck dominerar över realismen och vi kan sakna saker såsom sömnadstekniska avbildningar och detaljer. Om du jämför en bild från slutet av 1100talet (från Hunterian psalter, till vänster) med en från sent 1400tal (del av St Columba Altarpiece av Rogier van der Weyden) så kommer du upptäcka stora skillnader. Den högra bilden ger återskaparen mer information angående hur kläderna är konstruerade, i vilket material, och hur de ska sitta. Men det är viktigt att komma ihåg att de inte är fotografier- personerna som porträtteras är mest troligt avmålade/skissade och sedan satta i ett sammanhang, tillsammans eller var för sig. Det kristna motivet är också fortfarande i fokus, men modet ges en detaljerad överblick.

hunterian psalter1455weyden

Det finns också målningar från senare medeltid som porträtterar enskilda människor eller familjer utan ett kristet tema, rena självporträtt alltså. Dessa bilder är nog det närmaste en sann avbildning vi kan komma, och då de är detaljerade är de fantastiska att ha som grund för en återskapad dräkt. Om man vill återskapa högre klasser, förstås! Målningen av makarna Arnolfinis bröllop (Arnolfini marriage av Jan van Eyck) är ett exempel på ett sådant porträtt, en extremt känd målning från 1434 där en rik köpman och hans hustru avbildats. Även om inte motivet är kristet i sig (det avbildar inte en scen från Bibeln) så är bilden full med kristen symbolik, och spegelramen föreställer små scener ur bibeln.

wedding

När du använder bildkällor i ditt skapande så finns det några frågor du kan ställa dig för att undvika tydliga fallgropar:

1. Finns den här dräkten/produkten på fler bilder, i andra sammanhang? (är den här snygga väskan som överräcks en symbol för någon händelse, eller återfinns den tex i bilder som beskriver en försäljare, eller finns den integrerad i andra dräkter från samma period?)

2. Kan det här föremålet/avbildningen ha en enbart symbolisk betydelse? (ex, glorior finns på många bilder men ingen återskapar dem till sin dräkt då de är rent symboliska. Pilgrimsväskor återfinns i samband med pilgrimer, de är alltså inte rent symboliska; de finns på riktigt, men tillhör en speciell sorts grupp i samhället.)

3. Är den här bilden verkligen historisk (tillverkades den under den period som avbildas), eller är den senare eller till och med modern? Om man inte är insatt i bildhistoria kan det vara svårt att avgöra från vilken period en bild kommer ifrån, och några tydliga exempel på det är romantikens målningar av vikingar samt de träsnitt på landsknechtar som i efterhand målats av någon (ond) entusiast som tyckte att de skulle ha mer färg. De finns ju utspridda överallt på internet. Om vi inte känner till avsändaren av bilden (ursprung och konstnär) är det svårt att veta om bilden är äkta. Var därför alltid källkritisk; googla bilden eller konstnären, läs på wikipedia eller i konstarkiv, och undersök hur andra refererar till bilden. Idag har många museum digitala databaser där du kan bläddra bland deras konstverk, komplett med information såsom konstnär och årtal. Använd gärna sådana tjänster om du vill få en säker datering av konst. Bloggar och pinterest är fina inspirationskällor, men lita inte på att andra ska göra efterforskningen åt dig, de kanske var ute efter att göra en dräkt till en alv…

4. Passar de här kläderna/dräkten in på det jag valt att återskapa? Att bilden målades under ungefär samma tid är ett kriterium, men modet växlade inte bara över tid utan också över geografiska områden och samhällsskikt. Vill du återskapa en dräkt som ligger så när som möjligt till de medeltida förlagorna behöver du alltså titta inte bara efter årtal, utan också områden och vilket samhällsskikt bäraren tillhör. Även den avbildade personens civilstatus och arbete syns på klädesdräkten, många yrken hade symboler/symboliska attribut som syns i dräkten, och en ogift kvinna klär sig annorlunda än en gift.

5. Om du använder flera källor; passar de ihop med varandra? Den här frågan passar ihop med nr 4, men jag vill uppmärksamma den speciellt. Att hitta referensmaterial från flera källor ger dig en stabil och seriös grund att stå på, förutsatt att källorna passar ihop med varandra. 5 olika bilder på kvinnor som följer med landsknechtsarmén kan ge dig en överblick över vilka plagg som var vanligast och hur de hör ihop, men 5 tyska kvinnor från 1510 kan se helt olika ut. Blanda inte plagg med varandra utan att ha funderat över om de “passar ihop”, speciellt under hög och senmedeltid finns det tydliga modeinfluenser som svänger snabbt, och där enskilda plagg och huvudbonader kombineras på bestämda sätt och av vissa samhällsskikt, för att bilda en enhetlig dräkt. Vissa plagg går bra att blanda, och ju tidigare medeltid desto bredare spann har du att göra detta på (ex samma särk och huvudduk till både 1100, 1200 och tidigt 1300tal) men de passar inte alls in till den sena 1400talsdräkten.

Så, för att sammanfatta i punkter:

  • stämmer tid, geografiskt område och samhällsklass?
  • är bildkällan trovärdig/finns det fler liknande?
  • stämmer bilderna och den information som finns in på den dräkt jag tänkt skapa?

Nu när du kan så mycket om källkritik och medeltida bilder blir ytterligare ett steg i rätt riktning att själv titta på bilder (och spara dem som du gillar) tillsammans med källhänvisningar.

Några bildkällor att börja titta i: (läs även “boktips” som är en serie blogginlägg)

1000tal

Bayeuxtapeten (andra halvan av 1000talet, Frankrike) broderad bonad som skildrar 1066, normandernas erövring av England.

1200tal

Maciejowskibibeln (Frankrike)

1300tal

Breviary of Chertsey Abbey (England) 1300-1325

Codex Manesse i pdf (Tyskland) ca 1300-1340

Lutrell Psalter (England) ca 1300-1350

Egerton Psalter (England) 1325-1350

1500tal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:16th-century_German_painters  för inspiration från målare.


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Lästips; dräkthandböcker

Because the books are in Swedish; so will this blogpost be. Update; the books are being translated and some of them are available in English!

Kommer ni ihåg att jag skrev om mansdräktsboken förut? Nu har även kvinnoboken kommit ut, och jag ville förstås bläddra i den också!

Boken påminner mycket om mansdräkten med samma lättöverskådliga layout, enkel och tydlig text, och stycken som efter en snabb genomgång ger dig koll på dräkten. Det är den typen av bok jag skulle börja med att skaffa om jag ville göra 1400tal, eller ge till en nybörjare som vet *ingenting* men gärna vill vara med. Det sena 1400talet är en komplex period med många samexisterande stilar och plagg, men jag tycker ändå att det känns som att den ger en överblick över det tyska modet, även om det inte finns plats för så många sömnadstekniska detaljer som jag skulle vilja- det är ju trots allt mitt intresse =)

Boken innehåller, förutom referenslistor, också massor av bilder från perioden. Bredvid varje avsnitt om plagg/material osv hittar du alltså både historiska referenser, bilder, skisser och materialförslag från ett modernt perspektiv. Dessutom finns ett uppslag om hur du får till 1400talslooken med en “turbanslöja”, jag förutspår att det här kommer vara nya innestilen till sommaren…

Uppdatering: 1300tals kvinnodräkt har också kommit ut! Jag fick tag på min via http://www.Handelsgillet.se och den innehåller gott om exempel på olika typer av klänningar att sy + tips på accessoarer och slöjor.

 


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The Luttrell Psalter

I purchased this book on a whim, and was happily surprised! It is a really good presentation of the Luttrell Psalter (from 1330) and richly illustrated with both religious and every day paintings inspired by 1330 England. If you have an interest in this period, likes illuminating manuscripts or just want another good book for your medieval library this is a must-read!

I really liked all the pictures of everyday chores and people in the book, me being somewhat of a nerd on period clothing (have you noticed…?) lots of detailed clothing, hair styles and accessories.

 


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15th century clothing part 1- Research overview from art

The last 1- 1 1/2 year the 15 century has been one of my main interests. It is a really interesting period in history, with lots of changes in both politics, society and how trade, money and people moved. My main interest has been the clothing in middle Europe, around what is today Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands (more or less, influences and fashions spread and you can see similar styles in areas boarding to these ones).

From these areas came several great artists, there are lots of paintings and artistic work left, and Scandinavia were greatly inspired by the clothing and fashion movements from the German area.

To both challenge and inspire myself I decided to make a Golden Egg challenge on the topic of 15th century clothing. The Golden Egg is a household in the SCA; you can read more about it here. My goal is now to research and make a whole outfit from the late 15th century for myself, and the timeline is one year between start and presentation.

I wanted to share some of my research, as well as some good sources for you to read for yourself. My main interest is the clothing for women, but you will find lots of good inspiration for men’s fashion as well.

olika modeller

Some important points to remember when studying 15 c fashion (or any historical fashion really) is:

  • The diversity of the period. Fashion shifted over a certain time, and during the 15th c it shifted quite fast. It also differed over areas (such as towns, countries) as well as social classes. It is not possible to sum up the period by stating “a women wore this and this, in such a way” but some things are similar, like wearing a linen shift, middle kirtle and over dress of some kind. How these looked, what materials they were made in and how you wore them differed greatly, as did the accessories.

 

  • The art and paintings of the period is a really good source, since there’s a lot of them, and the fashion of art suggested a natural, realistic reproduction of the people living during that period, with lots of details regarding seams, models, fashion and materials. This was also the period when portraits became popular for others than the nobility, with the ever-increasing burgher class economy as a base for portraits. This give us a source of good depictions of people of the time, and also gives a good clue on what kind of clothing and headwear was in fashion. It is important to note that there also were sumptuary laws regarding what you could wear, and how you were to be portrayed according to your status in society, making the understanding of art and symbolic meanings very important.

 

  • Religious art was also very important, and great artworks were often the result of a whole workshop with different painters, studies and sketches from different areas and periods, as well as saints depicted with biblical clothing and symbolic tokens. This means that you can find different styles in one and the same painting, both considering fashion and the style of the artist, even though the master overlooked the work on each artwork. It also means that flowing robes and cloaks that appear might not be the fashionable items like the gowns and doublets right beside them, but more some kind of biblical clothing.

 

  • Colours, technics and styles regarding painting developed greatly during this century, with the use of different mineral sources etc as a way of getting vibrant, expensive and fashionable colours. But this does not mean that the colour tone on a painting was the same as the depicted garment from sketches and models; the colour was foremost the result of the client’s budget, where vibrant reds, dark blues and golden inlays were important for the fashionable and rich client. Does this mean that paintings can’t be the source for fashion studies? No, of course you can look at art for getting an idea of the clothing of the time. Just keep in mind that the colour that you see on your computer screen is the result of both a computer screen setting, the photography of the painting (with editing) how well the painting has withstood time (mineral paint tend to change over time) as well as the idea of what a really expensive colour looked like in art versus fashion.

 

  • Artists of the time was more handcrafters and less artists in our modern use of the word. They trained for masters, belonged to workshops and worked with paintings as a team, not as one expressive personality. The money came from churches, rich nobility and the burgher class who commissioned art pieces  (or bought ready-made pieces) such as piety paintings, portraits and, later on, everyday scenes from their home. This means that art was the result of society, fashion, study and individuals, greatly inspired by the ongoing social development as well as other painters. Of course there were room for personal style; compare Rogier van der Weyden to Durer and you will find style differences, even if you are not a trained art historian.

 

  • The artist had knowledge about the fact that fashion shifts; and that what was worn everyday when the paintings was made, was not the clothes of the time depicted in them. So in a painting of Christ’s birth; you can se both people dressed in the high of 1470’s fashion, as well as mythical and religious figures dressed in cloaks and robes that were meant to be seen as “some kind of long time ago clothing”. This might be pretty obvious, but to make it a bit trickier there is also paintings with 14th century fashions depicted (in a rather loose style) in 15th century paintings.

 

  • Dress for your age; as for society today, people tend to dress after their age, with the young girls and women of that time preferring high fashion dresses, loose hairstyles or flowing hair for the unmarried (or soon to be crowned queens) while older women seems to be more covered, with additional layers and more elaborate veils. Older women can also be seen in “unfashionable” garments; what was the thing 10-20 years ago at their prime seems to hang along.

Having this in mind, you can clearly se that if you aim to make an outfit as historical accurate as possible (…possible for your means, skill etc) an important start is to choose a certain time and period. The social standing is also important, so a good starting point could be a woman from south Germany (or a city of your choice) from the wealthy burgher class, who lived during 1450-1470.

1484,hans memling

I have chosen to focus on the area of Germany, the Netherlands and the Flemish region. This because there were some great artists living there that I want to study further, but I also enjoy the fashion of that area and how the geographic areas and countries influenced each other. If you compare this areas to (for example) Italy or France, you will find that both style in art and fashion differs greatly.

Another thing to consider, is to search for sources besides art; like finds, surviving clothing items, sketches, written documentation etc. This will give a depth for your understanding of the period, where the beauty ideals and painting technique might touch up certain details to the point of it being difficult to interpret (like, how did all the women have those small round breasts sitting high up on the body?)

1470dress

These are some important painters and artists from the German/Netherland/Flemish (Belgium)/Burgundy region during the century that I have chosen to study in more detail:

(About the dating: Sometimes it is difficult to find the year of birth/death for individuals, so the dating in uncertain, but it will provide with a overview of when they lived and were active)

  • Limbourg brothers (1385-1416) Germany
  • Hubert van Eyck (1366-1426) Flemish
  • Jan van Eyck (1395-1441) Netherlands
  • Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1464) Netherlands
  • Petrus Christus (1410-1476) Netherlands
  • Hugo van der Goes (1440-1483) Netherlands
  • Hans Memling (1430-1494) Netherlands
  • Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1504) Netherlands
  • Gerard David (1460-1523) Netherlands
  • Hans Holbein the Elder (1460-1524) Germany
  • Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) Germany

If you are interested in this period and want to learn more about the art, there’s some good books about different artists, and this really good (and free) article at Wikipedia about the subject.

I have also studied books on different artists, the Prestels “Masters of Art” series have been very interesting. There you can find both Van Eyck, Durer and many more.

Want to see more artwork from the time? Check out my Pinterest folder!

 


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Lästips; handbok i 1400talsdräkt för män

Because the book is in Swedish; so will this blogpost be. It is about a new book about the late 15th century clothing for men.

Jag fick hem en helt ny bok, skriven på svenska, som handlar om den sena 1400talsdräkten för män. Det är så fantastiskt roligt att en sådan här bok görs, på svenska, av skickliga medeltidsmänniskor, med syfte att underlätta för andra att förstå och skapa 1400tal. Förutom att det är en lätt väg till kunskap så är det också ett tecken i tiden på att medeltida återskapande av olika slag blir större och större i Sverige!

Boken har en lättöverskådlig layout, enkel och tydlig text, och stycken som efter en snabb genomgång ger dig koll på dräkten. Det är den typen av bok jag skulle börja med att skaffa om jag ville göra 1400tal, eller ge till en nybörjare som vet *ingenting* men gärna vill vara med. Jag gillar att den tar upp en historisk överblick och talar om formspråk, för att därefter ge förslag på plagg som tillhör perioden. Det finns inga mönster eller steg för steg instruktioner för plaggen, sådana finns istället att köpa via reconstructing history eller görs själv med hjälp av en mönsterkonstruktionskurs eller Tailors assistant. Är du en sådan som vill forska vidare själv, så gräver du i referenslistorna som innehåller både bilder och litteratur. Det är helt enkelt en handbok riktad till återskapare som vill börja med perioden- så himla smart och häftigt!

Anna, som är en av två författare, har jag träffat flera gånger på event och hon är en skicklig hantverkare och återskapare, som också bloggar om mycket 1400tal (Willhelm känner jag inte än, men ring mig så tar vi en fika och nördar 1400tal!) Boken innehåller, förutom referenslistor, också massor av bilder från perioden. Bredvid varje avsnitt om plagg/material osv hittar du alltså både historiska referenser, bilder, skisser och materialförslag från ett modernt perspektiv. Mycket bekvämt med andra ord, eftersom mycket arbete som du behöver för att kunna återskapa dräkt redan är gjort i boken.

Rikard och Helena från Handelsgillet är också delägare i Chronocopia som ger ut boken, och arbetar (förutom att sälja material och produkter) med att sprida kunskap om återskapande. I boken finns det en del produkter från deras shop, vilket kanske kan ses som reklam- eller ett praktiskt sätt att få tag på bra material att fota för att belysa tygfärger, material och vad man kan hitta för att praktiskt återskapa perioden. Jag tycker att det är ett bra initiativ, jag vet att de gör mycket efterforskningar kring färger och val av material de köper in för att allt ska vara historiskt, och här är deras shop Handelsgillet för dig som vill hitta material från boken (den tunna kyperten som syns har jag använt till flera av mina dräkter).

Nästa bok behandlar kvinnodräkten- gissa vem som ska klicka hem den också…

 

 


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Great reading inspiration

Recently, I was at the SCA event Kingdom University, and there I met lots of really good handcrafting persons. As a result, I got lots of inspiration, new knowledge and good tips on where to read and look for new inspiration. I wanted to share some tips with you, so here is some really good links to other people’s research and blogs;

Textile time travels is such an excellent blog by Annika where she generously shares her knowledge and projects.

Historical textiles have a very interesting blog about different historical finds and such, and a completely awesome dictionary with textile terms in different languages; perfect for reading blogs or books in a foreign language!

Anna/Renika has a nice blog about 15th century clothing, full of both research and sewing tips.

Lia is a skilled crafter that has a blog about her many projects; read and be inspired!

Eva/Aleydis has a blog about her costuming work, apart from some really cool silk dress projects, you can also read some more about Kingdom University there!

Right now, I’m working with the photos from Kingdom Univ, sewing on some projects, and trying to stay alive in the cold, dark November of Sweden. When I have worked through all the pictures I will show you them, along with some really great paintings ans sculptures from the Rijksmuseum. See you!

 


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Historical reading tip- part 7

This is what I read right now; The first book of fashion. It is really two surviving dress diaries from the 16th century German, that has been put together and analyzed with comments and introduction to both the art and the time and period. It is a really well put together book, full of interesting reading.

If you are interested in recreating male clothing from this period, it is like a dictionary or bible full of clothing examples, with comments about what materials different garments were made of. It also have a recreated outfit at the end, with lots of information.

This is part 7 in my “reading tip/book tip series”, the earlier posts are in Swedish and you can find them here. Or just type in “dagens boktips” in my search field on the blog. Today’s post was rather short, because the sun is shining outside for the first time in forever, I’m heading out with the horse on an autumn forest ride, and then I’m of to visit some friends for the weekend. Hope you will have a wonderful weekend!


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Viking age- reading tip

Are you interested in the viking age, but wonders how to learn more? Browsing pinterest on all lovely photos, but thinking that everything might not be historical? Here’s some really good links and reading for you! (And no, of course you don’t have to exercise your hobby the most historical way possible- but it’s always interesting to know-how)

 

Susanna Broome is a great tip if you want patterns and reading about pattern construction. Her page includes lots of good-to-know, as well as patterns for sale, both in english and swedish. She is both historical well-read, as well as daring to say “I did this, we don’t know if that is the correct way, but it´s working and gives you a nice outfit”.

Viking clothing (Thor Ewing) is a good read. Everything might not be historical accurate since he is making conclusions- but it makes the book interesting for reenactors and not just a list of different finds.

Pinterest is both very good, and quite dangerous. Lots of pretty clothes, lots of fantasy, lots of guesses. But also lots of finds and photos from museum and databases, good quality handcraft and historical interpretations. Look for Viking Finds rather than just “vikings”, archeological material, posts about what have been found and were, and pair it with written sources.

For viking finds of metal, ceramics and the like, different museums offers online databases. For example, I found one of the original tortoise brooches (that I use in my outfit) on the Västernorrlands Länsmuseum which is only a short trip from my home.

Good luck with your reading, and please write a comment if you have any more interesting reading tip to share!

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