Posts Tagged Rennie

Recreating the Alcega Farthingale for Modern Bodies

Posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 12:24 am

The surviving pattern published in Juan de Alcega’s ‘Libro de Geometria, Practica y Traca’(1589) represents almost everything we know about the farthingale. Most articles on recreating the Alcega farthingale focus on faithfully reproducing the pattern based on fabric widths. Honestly, though, calling this a “pattern” is a bit of an overstatement: the book was more intended as a series of cutting diagrams to help tailors avoid waste. The problem is, Alcega included some rather sharp commentary on on what he considered the proper size for the bottom hoop of the farthingale, but no real information on the size of the intended wearer. Complicating things further, modern bodies aren’t build quite like the popular model of the 16th century. So what’s a costumer to do? How about some trigonometry!

Trust me, this won’t hurt. Read the rest of this entry »

How to Reblock a Straw Hat

Posted on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 4:13 pm

The world is full of straw hats. They are almost never the size and shape you’d like them to be. (That’s a known effect of the Law of Universal Irony, along with how the thread already in the needle is never a color that will work for your current purposes.) Fortunately, reblocking a straw hat is pretty gosh darned simple. Read the rest of this entry »

Comparison of Different Boning Materials for Use in Sixteenth Century Corsetry

Posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 11:56 am

File this one under “possibly useful to some one, at some time, somehow”: this is a series of pictures of corsets I’ve made over the last several years. Each one shows me standing in profile, next to my dress dummy. This makes the changes in my shape imposed by each corset fairly obvious, and the pictures all together give you a pretty good idea what different types of boning and styles of corset can do for a girl. Read the rest of this entry »

The “Jiffy Pop” Hat

Posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 1:06 pm

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This is one of my favorite Elizabethan era hats. It has style and panache, and it’s often completely over-the-top in stature. You can pull the wired brim into a lovely arc, which has always seemed to me to be the Millinery equivelent of a raised eyebrow. It’s a smart hat, extremely suited to the prosperous merchants and casual nobles. Women should be careful to make this hat a bit small, so it sits on the hair rather than the head and allows the caul to be seen. Read the rest of this entry »

The Floppy Pleated Cap

Posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 12:51 pm

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The Floppy Pleated Hat, which I’ve heard called a ‘Muffin Cap’ is a hat comprised of a Soft Brim and a Pleated Crown. When made from a softer fabric, this hat has a very unstructured look apprpriate to lower class characters. From stiffer fabric, as above, it’s a rather charming style formiddle class characters trying to make their fortunes. Read the rest of this entry »

The Floppy Toque

Posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 11:58 am

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"Floppy Toque" is not the correct name for this hat. I don’t know what is. It’s a slightly untidy look that’s great for characters who are a little down on their luck, generally dishevelled, countrified, or who generally wish to convey that "aiming for fashion but missing" appeal. The following instructions assume that you have already made your Basic Brim Patterns. If you have not, you’ll want to follow the link and do so.

The Toque was a popular style in Spain and Italy. (Hence, “Spanish Toque” and “Italien Bonnet”.) Read the rest of this entry »

The Floppy Flat Cap

Posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 11:34 am

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The simple, soft flat cap is a smart look for middle and lower class characters. It can be work alone, over a simple coif, or for women, over a caul. Read the rest of this entry »

The Flat Cap

Posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 11:24 am

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This is a smart little cap for characters in the middle class and beyond. It can be work alone, over a simple coif, or for women, over a caul.  Again, ladies (especially of higher rank) will want to make this cap a little smaller so that it sits on the hair rather than the head. It looks much more dainty that way.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Upscale Gathered Hat

Posted on Sunday, September 6th, 2009 at 4:09 pm

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This is a more tailored version of Ye Olde Floppy Gathered Hat. This is a great hat for merchants, or for French or Italien male characters, I think. I don’t like it as well for women. (That’s purely a personal bias.) Read the rest of this entry »

The Floppy Gathered Hat

Posted on Sunday, September 6th, 2009 at 3:38 pm

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The Floppy Gathered Hat is a rather unstructured, lower-class looking hat. There’s nothing pretentious about it, especially when it’s made up in a soft fabric. Read the rest of this entry »