kass

Thanks, Lady Seahawke. I'm afraid Hickman's book might be too early for my interests. But I've had my eye on Picard's for some time. Thanks for the recommendation.

Queen Rogue: yeah baby!

Okay me hearties, I have a question.

I was looking at some pictures from the 1690s and I came across one of the Dauphine and she was wearing an outfit almost identical to one in a picture of a London courtesan in a copy of the Cryes I have.

So it got me thinking: if courtesans were so well-off that they could dress as well as the Crown Princess of France, did they live rather fancy, priviledged lives? Now, I don't want to fall into the "Dangerous Beauty" trap of thinking that courtesans are the only liberated and educated women of the age. I want to know about the real lives of high-class courtesans in London during the last quarter of the 17th century and the first quarter of the 18th.

I'm also wondering about men. Was there a class of men who could reasonably pass for gentlemen but who really earned their livings by gambling or thievery? I'm kind of envisioning a 1690s version of Simon Templar "The Saint" -- the gentleman burglar who spends his winters in Monte Carlo.

This may all be a fantasy on my part. But if I can think of any period in history when it would be possible to look like a gentleman and really be a criminal, it would be the early Baroque period.

So if you have any suggestions for reading material, please advise.

And yes, I've practically memorized Moll Flanders. :)

Thanks,

Kass

Do you know that the reason Irish/Gaelic is so screwed up grammatically is because the first people who wrote the language down in the 6th century were monks whose only other language was Latin. Irish isn't very conducive to the Latin alphabet, but they "made" it work. And it just doesn't. And Irish schoolkids have been suffering ever since.

And just to bring it back to a piratical theme, do you realize that much of what we think of as the "pirate" accent comes from the English of someone whose first language is Irish/Gaelic?

Yay us!

Kass

Blackjohn, that wasn't the alesmith. That was me. I didn't notice he'd logged me out.

If you find another copy fer cheap, plunder it for me, will ye?

...but I see you've been recently... um... labotomized, so I'll go away now.

Kass

You lot have me thinkin' about it...

I'm going to the MD Ren Fest the following weekend to meet me mates. But I can only go to the PA Faire on the Sunday of the first weekend.

But... whatever shall I wear?!?!?!

Hello Captain,

I don't really know anything about wench garb. But I've been doing historical clothing for a long time and perhaps I can give you some advice.

Linen is absolutely the best fabric you can use. Number one, as you mentioned, it's a natural fibre. Number two, the long fibre length of flax (the plant linen comes from) causes linen to stand away from the body a bit. That way when you get sweaty, it allows air to get between your clothing and you, cooling you off. Cotton, although a natural fibre too, tends to stick to the body when wet, so it feels icky when you're hot.

But if for some reason you can't use linen for everything, at least make sure your chemise is linen. Having linen next to the skin is ideal. Here's a great place to plunder for linen.

Hope that helps.

Kass

Thanks for the welcome, AkashaZuul! Sorry about the tendonitis. I'm a dancer and I have it in my feet. Sucks.

Lemme see if I can find you some pics of those stays. But since you know good ol' C&C, you already have the pattern. It's the 1740s stays she shows. I just put a placket in the back because they didn't close well enough. I also filled in the gaps between the tabs with silk because these are supposed to be couture stays, not historical ones.

Okay, you can see them a bit better on this page:

http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/corsets/

And here is a shot of them on my mannequin:

http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/corse...therinered.html

The resolution on these pics aren't the greatest, but it's the best I can do for right now. I have some better photos I'll try to upload later.

Kass

And if anyone out there is reading this... I'd love to have a few musicians in the group. Rev war or F&I drummers would be nice. Even ECW drummers. If you know any who live in the mid-atlantic region who might want to reenact pirate drummers, send them my way!!!

Blackjohn

John, me own harty,

Didja know that my Bob is a drummer? I mean, it was his major in college. He doesn't currently have a drum appropriate to our period, but perhaps that isn't an unconquerable dearth. We're pirates after all!

He also plays recorder, tin whistle, guitar... and ask Marko about his singin'.

Kass

I should send her this way... She'd probably enjoy this pattern thread.

You're right, Blackjohn. I am! :)

Regarding corset/stays patterns fitting or not fitting: You're not picky, AkashaZuul. Patterns are made to fit average sizes. For most clothing, getting in the ballpark is good enough. But for something as close-fitting as stays, it's imperitive that it fits *you*, not just your measurements. One of my best friends and I have the same bust, waist and side (underarm to waist) measurements, but she's a D and I'm a B. But our measurements are the same.

As a custom clothing maker who's started a pattern business, let me tell you, it's a challenge to fit everyone! But stays are the hardest. Everyone has one hip that's higher or they slouch or any myriad of things that patterns can't take into consideration.

Next time you set out to make a set of stays, try this trick. Cut out the pattern in your size, but cut it out of bristol board or poster board instead of scrap fabric. Tape the board stays on and move around in them. Cut away where they pinch you, making sure not to cut too much. Then cut your good fabric using the board pattern, not the tissue. This will give you a set of stays that fit you perfectly.

And I LOVE the red duchesse idea! You can see them, but the stays I'm wearing in my avatar picture are made from red duchesse satin. I love them.

Mad Kass