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Clothing
March 2008 - Pentathlon Documentation
In early March 2008 I participated in a persona pentathlon where I had to create 5 items that a person in history would have made, eaten, worn or used.
This was a fun challenge and I really enjoyed it. Doing this was a personal challenge for me and although I didn't win, it was a victory that I completed the entries and just made it to the event.
I wasn't able to finish all of the documentation to the degree that I wanted to before the event, so I will be writing it up and posting it here as I complete it as PDF files.
Persona: A two year old little boy from Augsburg, Germany, 1530. He is the only child of an upper middle class merchant family.
Entry 1: 3 Different Types of Lebkuchen from Sabina Welserin's Cookbook, circa 1553 (PDF, 1.18 Mb) In 1532, Christoph Scheurl, a Nurnberg jurist and diplomat, wrote in his yearly account book that for New Years he received lebkuchen from his two aunts who were nuns in different cloisters. His Aunt Apollonia's were thin and delicate like "sparkling gold leaves" His Aunt Barbara's were “thicker and heavy”.
I decided to recreate, as best I could, the three period recipes for Lebkuchen from Sabina Welserin’s cookbook and see if any of them resulted in a thin kind and a thick kind. This involved some indepth research into the weights and measures used in period and determining their modern metric equivilents. Recipes are included.
Entry 2 : Three Calligraphy Alphabets and the Vater Unser (Our Father)An ABCDARIAE in three calligraphic scripts derived from period manuscripts and the Lord's prayer. My first ever attempt at calligraphy.
Entry 3: A Wind WheelA wind wheel (windrad) for a child. Small boys are often depicted in period artwork as riding stick horses and joisting with wind wheels. This was a fun entry to make, and its fun to play with!
Book Reviews for 2007
A collection of the book reviews that I've written up to the early part of July for 2007.
Building a research library on the topic of 16th century Germany
Building a library on a particular topic can be expensive, just ask me! I've made plenty of buying mistakes and often wish that there had been someone to tell me how to get started in building a physical library around the topic of 16th century Germany that was specifically geared towards recreating clothing. Here are my recommendations for a starter library, and add-on pack and how to find more books that you'd love.
Deciphering Juan de Alcega's Tailor's Pattern book of 1589
A helpful companion guide to the Alcega's tailoring book. Includes a basic overview of how to understand the pattern layouts, what the symbols mean and fabric requirements translated into modern widths of 45" and 58".
Introduction to 16th century German CostumingA basic introduction, includes good research sources both online and in print, good artists to look for, appropriate fabrics and colors and an overview of the clothing layers
Timeline of Events and Fashions in the Germanic Lands 15th and 16th centuries A short little history time line with relavant fashions from the period. Its not a comprehensive list of every single historical event or fashion, but it should at least give you a grounding in what happened when.
The wulsthaube and the steuchleinA basic introduction to what a wulsthaube and steuchlein is, gallery of wulsthaube images and lots of good detail images that give good clues to the construction of the under layers.
Glossary of German Costuming TermsThis was actually written by Katherine Barich, Julie Adams and Helen Schulz, I have just put into web page form.
Linings in Patterns of Fashion An overview of the lining materials in the garments detailed in Patterns of Fashion by Janet Arnold. Covers color, fiber content and methods of attatchment.
Extant German Renaissance Clothing on the web