jendobyns

Um, ah, yeah. Glassware worth lusting for! There is no emoticon for drooling, darn it!

Don't forget hygiene was an issue with shaving beards, too. Later military doctrines recommended shaving twice a week (Cuthbertson?) when not on campaign (this was to control those pesky lice again), it may have been a long established practice. Perhaps you'd find the information mixed in with other rules about ship board life?

Not sure about making it one glass at a time, but the site where I used to work had a Flip glass in it's collection. It was pretty large.

Ah, talked to someone who was with the Appin group today, she said everyone was very impressed and folks are talking about how they can do something as impressive as the building! I think next year's MTA will be a must see!

These are absolutely awesome pics! I don't remember why I didn't mention it earlier, the 18C Woman list had a bunch of resources like this, and there is at least one pic of someone with reproduction baskets like this packed on a horse (along with other stuff going to market) somewhere. Sadly (and this may be why I didn't go into it at the time) 18CWoman yahoo group was ditched by the owner and access to the files was lost. And someone there had located where she could have them made, too. Let us know how the baskets work out! I may have other folks who are interested in them if they work. And if your father wants to take this up at his age, more power to him!

Regarding hair under wigs: most likely shorn quite short, or shaved, iirc. It helps keep down the vermin (lice and such). You could check with Betty Myers, Wigmaker of Williamsburg, for more accurate information. I believe she is on Facebook. Since CW tradesmen provide items for people at Jamestown and beyond, she probably has way more information than you need on the subject. Jen

Congratulations all 'round! So you managed to top a WWI dugout complete with gramophone! Awesome! Can't wait for the pics!

Wonderful pics! I wish I had one of my husband's puzzled face when he saw the one of the sign for the fountain. Priceless!

Welcome aboard missy! You've fallen in with a great crowd!

Dang, dude, I think you just missed one that a friend was selling off. Will double check and see if it's gone or not. Price range?

FWIW, this is what I'm seeing: Blue and red fur lined (edged) dressing gown/banyans. Shape and other details can vary from loose (as in that first pic of the seated gentleman in brown and big wig) to tailored more closely to the body (like long versions of the jacket of the man on the far left carrying the tray--but I think that closely tailored style is much later in the 18C, maybe 1780's or so). Both red and blue garments look like much less formal attire, probably wool, fulled and perhaps brushed. It's impossible to tell what the lining is on the blue garment. Note there is no fur on the sleeve like there is on the red. Possibly faced with the same blue wool for the turn backs on cuffs. No visible closures. The red version appears to be fur edged and silk lined (see the sheen on the lining?). Head coverings vary here, and I have not seen a hat quite like this first one on a man. It looks very much like a woman's later period bonnet. Will try to look into that further. Otherwise, it looks like he's wearing a cap underneath it. Possibly one similar to the one on the man carrying the tray but not folded up. The turban is a very stylish thing, fashions a la Turk were popular leisure attire at one point and seem to have varying interpretations on the original Turkish garments. And that Turkish influence might also be reflected in the cross-over waistcoat the first gentleman is wearing. It appears to be a sleeved waistcoat, too, what an interesting combination of features! Perhaps a nod to the subject's other travels? HIs look is very exotic. Yep, there is fur, but if it's just along the edges, that will give the appearance of richness without the expense (or bulk) of a full fur lining. Fabric is the major expense, so what shows is most important, linings are often much cheaper materials. The silk lining could be for added warmth without bulk. Love the look, would wonder about wearing a sword in casual clothes like that for anything but a portrait, though. Jen

I have a pair that was modified with rubber soles at a shoe repair place. They just added the rubber sole to the existing leather. Not sure how it was done, but it turned out very well, can't really see the rubber unless you see the bottom of my shoes. This was a concession I had to make after several "thud" experiences. I've had the shoes for over a decade and they have worn well, the rubber hasn't peeled or anything.

Will do!

Well, I'd hoped to get down there to play tourist, but won't make it down there until April. But I'd like to talk to a couple of folks from the area, could use some advice. Ping me off list, please? Hope the weekend is blessed by great weather and lots of visitors!

As annoying as this Error Message is - it's important to mention them. Though right now I'm prone to write it off as an annoying but simple hiccup – I suspect it’s a momentary lapse syncing authorization keys. . .or we could blame it on Mission just because. In any case, I’ll check the error logs and see if I can find out anything. Well, Mission isn't the only one who's had it happen and ignored it, this is perhaps the third time for me, maybe? Once, I'll ignore as I might have messed up, twice, well, I still might have done something dumb and I'll be extra careful next time, a third time, though, and it looks like a trend. Considering I'm one of those people programmers dislike because the errors always show up for them, I tend to wait a bit first.

Well, I'm kind of confused. When I logged on, I got a message an error occurred. But I'm logged on in spite of the error message. Sigh.

Where would we be without you?

Sorry 'bout that, wasn't meaning "help" literally. Definitely agree that we can tend to focus too narrowly sometimes. Oh, another thing I forgot to mention, is the turning of clothing. When one side got too worn, clothing would be re-made turning the inside of the fabric out, giving it a fresher face. Considering how much of the clothing was lined, this makes a lot of sense and would give a second life to fabric that we would tend to discard. Clothing back then wasn't laundered as frequently, and some things were just brushed and spot cleaned rather than washed. And clothing that was washed wasn't washed by machine, but by hand, something that is only required for the most delicate of items in our modern times (Ok, I'm not going to consider dry cleaning here). So it's wearable life probably was longer. Then there are the qualities of wool and linen fibers. Much more durable than cotton and some silks, as long as bugs don't get to it (a problem a good housekeeper would know to avoid). I have been told that a lot of our linen is now processed with machines that also process cotton. The linen is chopped to fit the machines, thus loosing a lot of the properties that go into a long staple fiber. I have twenty year old shifts that have lasted longer than my son's five year old shirts, so there may be something to that. Really makes it hard to make comparisons to our reenacting clothing-vs-extant garments in some ways.

Well, in an instance of one well off man (either a Carter or Lee of early Virginia), who could afford pretty much anything he desired, he had coats cut in the fashion of his youth in his inventory when he died, which was well into his 80's iirc. If you can contact N. Hurst Tailor via FB he can give you more details. The photos on Neal's page are well worth the look, he has some amazing stuff. There are people now days who insist on being up with the current trends well into their old age, and others who couldn't care less even in their youth. Same goes for back then. If you look in period family group portraits that contain several generations you could see variations in fashion between the oldest and youngest in the group. And there are instances where fashionable clothing is altered to make adjustments to accommodate reduced mobility in infirmity (George III's waistcoat at Kew, for example). Also garments in a fabric that was fashionable for a previous generation being re-made into something new. Basically, there is a huge range of possibilities here. Fabric was expensive and labor was cheap. Clothing was recycled, repurposed (fashionable gown fabric being used to line vestment cloaks), sold on, passed down, inherited, and so on. It all depends on the individual, their tastes and needs. Mother's beautiful bizarre silk gown? It may become a waistcoat, jacket or lining sometime after she is done with it. But as a garment, it's still in circulation well after the fabric is fashionable. Grandfather is still wearing suits made like he wore when he got married, because he pays the tailor to make them that way (no slave to modern off-the-shelf fashion changes here). Mother still wears her old fashioned stays, even though the line of fashion has changed. Etc. Unlike today's clothing, where what is available in the stores pretty much dictates what you wear, people weren't forced to change their style if they didn't wish to do so. In fact if anything, it was harder to stay on top of trends if you didn't have the coin to do so or weren't clever with a needle and thread. As for court clothing, there are rules that govern what can be worn. Which explains some really odd looking gowns of the regency period that have big hoops under them--the rule specifying the use of hoops didn't keep up with fashion. And cut steel buttons (a late 18C thing, very sparkly) on men's suits that still show up on some garments even fairly recently (court or livery, I don't remember which right now). So does that help?

Thanks. The "look inside" bit from Amazon was interesting, but not quite helpful enough. He seems to have a very different method than the period receipts I have seen so far. Interesting. I'll be getting the book. *G* And I can totally understand why Arrack punch would be popular, having tried it myself. Very nice indeed! Oh, and Fish House Punch is supposed to be older than the references mentioned. I'll have to check with my source to see how early his are. But as he's an academic, and quite PC, I trust his judgement.

So, are you asking if you have a well worn 1700 coat, and the event date is 1720, and you are 40, could you have a coat you had worn in your 20's? Or are you asking if people had things made in the fashion of their youth because it's what they like and are comfortable wearing? The answer to either is yes. As long as the clothing from your younger days is still intact, that is. There is evidence in inventories (of a prominent early VA gentleman, for example) and art work for this.

Ah, it must be punch season My husband and I are bottling up the batch of Fish House Punch we made for this year's events. Last year's batch took about 3 months to properly mellow so we played with it a bit this time. I'll have to try the Brandy punch, too. Is there a recipe for Arrack Punch in this book? I'm on the lookout for a good one to experiment with to add to the collection.

That too!

One thing to consider regarding the sash and how tightly it's knotted and where it sits. Slipping could be partially a factor of what type of fiber make up the sash and the coat. Some fabrics stick to one another (think about your scarf and winter coat or sweater). Depending on the finish of the fabric as well, these sashes might not be so slippery when rubbing up against the coat. The sashes on the extreme right and left of the pictures also look to be twisted slightly before being tied, which could also be a factor. These gentlemen may also have walked quite differently than we do, more toe-heel than heel-toe (think barefoot running technique), which would make their gait less bouncy, so the sash may slip less while walking, too. (The benefit of having dancing/fencing masters as fits their social status. )

Nope, neither. Although you have ties and aiglets, which would do the same thing as suspenders. Basically the breeches got tied to the doublet, but I'm not sure how that worked when the doublet turned into longer waistcoats and coats. Don't remember seeing any ties or evidence of such on the interiors of those longer garments, but could have missed them. Captain Sterling would know, though.