2019 Historical Food Fortnightly

I rather miss having challenges to keep me on track.  Some old topics are re-visited, and there are some new challenges. Feel free to join in!

1. Jan 1-14 New Year's A new year, a new era, a new receipt, or a food intended for New Year's.

2. Jan 15-28 Looking Back Improve upon (or try an alternate version of) a previous challenge, or a recipe you are already comfortable with.

3. Jan 29-Feb 11 Soup Stews and broths are also welcome.

4. Feb 12- Feb 25 Love & Romance Sickeningly sweet, heart-shaped, a dish you love, or something associated with the 19th century Romantic movement. The most tenuous the connection to Valentine's Day, the better.

5. Feb 26- March 11 Indulgence A dish associated with Mardi Gras, or an ingredient that is 'indulgent' for you.

6. March 12-March 25 Easy as Pie Find a receipt that seems straightforward, and/or is a pie.

7. March 26- April 8 Faux Food Celebrate April Fool's Day with a food pretending to be something else.

8. April 9-April 22 Abstinence Lenten foods, temperance alternatives, or receipts reflecting scarcity.

9. April 23 -May 6 Savory  A savory dish, with or without 'savory' herbs.

10. May 7-20 Literary A dish mentioned in a work of literature.

11. May 21- June 3 Floral A dish named for, shaped like, flavored with, or decorated in flowers.

12. June 4- 17 Picnic Food for travel or eating outside.

13. June 18- July 1 Solstice Try an astronomical or astrologically themed recipe.

14. July 2-July 15 Ice A food made with ice, icing, iced fruits, etc.

15. July 16 - July 29 Revolutionary A revolutionary recipe, technique, ingredient, or a recipe from a revolutionary time.

16. July 30-Aug 12 Preserves Preserve seasonal produce, or make a dish which calls for preserved ingredients.

17. Aug 13- Aug 26 Harvest Make a food associated with harvest-time, try another way of preserving food, or make something seasonable for late summer.

18. Aug 27-Sept 9 Eat Your Veggies Make a vegetable-based, -themed, or -shaped dish.

19. Sept 10-Sept 23 Balance Make a dish that is somehow 'balanced' for the fall (or spring) equinox.

20. Sept 24-Oct 7 Saucy Make a sauce, gravy or dressing.

21. Oct 8-Oct 20 Beverages Make something to drink.

22. Oct 21-Nov 4 Fear Factor Try something a little scary--an intimidating recipe, a new technique or a 'spooky' food.

23. Nov 5-Nov 18 Remember, Remember A recipe that has minimal instructions or tells you to "make in the usual fashion."

24. Nov 19-Dec 2 Take a Break Foods meant to be broken, and/or bread.

25. Dec 3-Dec 16 Waste Not, Want Not Historic recipes for leftovers.

26. Dec 17- Dec 31 Obsolete End the year with a recipe, ingredient or technique that has been superseded by modern practices. Bread trenchers? Cake without baking soda? Aspic?

Edited to add: Looks like this is now the official 3rd season! For those just joining, the format's fairly flexible:

• Make a dish (your chosen era and recipe) that follows the fortnight's theme. How it follows the theme is up to you. Interpret it as loosely, strictly, or punnily as you want.
• Feel free to do all 26 challenges, a half marathon (13), or pick the ones that work for you. The point is to try new-old recipes and learn from ourselves and each other.
• Post the dish to your blog, if you want. [Examples on the official blog]
• Share your post with the Facebook group, if you want.

The usual post format looks something like this:

The Challenge: What this fortnight's theme is.
The Receipt/Recipe: The recipe you are following.
The Date/Year and Region: Where and when your recipe is from.
How Did You Make it: I like to copy the period recipe, then write my process in modern terms, including steps I had to fill in, guess or change.
Time to Complete: About how long the process took.
Total Cost: Of ingredients, if you know.
How Successful Was It? Tasty? Needs more salt? Should be cooked at a different temperature? Everything you'll want to recall if you try this recipe again in the future. 
How Accurate Is It? Deviations, educated guesses, intentional changes, and anything that you know or suspect differed from historic practice. 

Silly Moments in Historic Costuming

Would I do something weird?
Yes. Especially in this hairdo.

Happy sixth day of Christmas. Apropos of nothing, some of my more surreal moments of the year:

1. Headphones under a coif

2. A backpack full of human hair

3. Knitting on two-handed swords

4. Re-tying garters on a sidewalk full of normally-dressed people

5. Headphones under big 1850s hair

6. Sewing underwear by hand on the way to an event

7. Holding an apron over the friend attempting to light a fire in the rain


Honorable mentions from years past:

7. The 'hoodie and petticoats' look

8. Climbing trees/fences/vehicles while wearing a hoopskirt

Book Review: Patterns of Fashion 5

On the fifth day of Christmas: a review of the newest Patterns of Fashion book, which I received as a present this year. It's currently available for sale from the School of Historical Dress (this is the first printing, and future print runs are not guaranteed).

Patterns of Fashion 5: The content, cut, construction and context of bodies, stays, hoops and rumps c.1595-1795 is the latest, posthumous, book from Jane Arnold's extensive research into Western costume (additional content by Jenny Tiramani and Luca Costigliolo, et al).  Having already covered gowns, gowns and more gowns/doublets, as well as linens, we now get women's foundation garments--all the stays and skirt supporters that make the fashionable silhouette of the 17th and 18th centuries.

First off, this is a huge book--at 160 pages, it's the same size as volumes 1 and 2 combined. Like volume 4, volume 5 has color photographs of the historic garments. Here, however, they are placed right next to the patterns instead of making a separate gallery at the beginning. In several cases, the color photographs have replaced the line-drawings of the complete garment; all told, I prefer the cases where both are present. The photographs show color and texture, while the line-drawings show cut and construction (though, admittedly, the pattern pieces do this too). The use of color has also been extended to the patterns themselves, where it it used to differentiate layers and boning, etc.

The book is divided into two main parts: stays, and skirt supports. Twenty-seven sets of stays or boned bodices (and two busks), dated from c.1598 to the 1790s are featured, as well as twelve farthingales/hoops/rumps from c.1550 to 1800.  Before the patterns, there's a 25-page introductory section: lavishly illustrated with both modern photographs of surviving garments and historic images, it explores the materials used in stays and hoops; historic cutting diagrams; and contemporary illustrations of the garments.

As a fun bonus, some of the 17th and 18th century stays have accompanying stomachers; two court ensembles (1660s and 1760s) are patterned along with their petticoats, trains, and stomachers.  I was also intrigued by the inclusion of a set of maternity stays (c.1665-1675), and of riding stays (1780s).  For those making garments, there's a page discussing how to take measurements for 17th/18th century stays, and another three explaining how to draft custom patterns based on the historic ones (with pictures). I'm also enjoying the English-French-German-Spanish-Italian-[Swedish/Dutch] glossary of fabric and garment terms.

I'm honestly a little overwhelmed by the size and scope of this book. My main impression is that it's 1) beautiful, 2) detailed, and 3) full of useful information. Definitely useful for making 17th and 18th century undergarments, and vital for those interested in English court dress of that time frame. 

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High.  All original garments, lots of contemporary portraiture included.

Difficulty: Advanced for making garments (there is some drafting advice included to help). All levels for appreciating garment construction.

Overall Impression: Possibly the best one yet. The research remains impeccable; the pairing of photographs with the pattern diagrams makes it even easier to use than volumes 3-4, since there's less need to flip back and forth.   

Book Review: Corsets and Crinolines

The fourth day of Christmas brings another long-delayed book review.

Corsets and Crinolines by Nora Wraugh [I'm looking at the 2004 reprint of 1970 2nd edition; originally published 1954. Apparently, there's a newer (2017) edition out, too.]

This edition of Corsets and Crinolines comes in at  ~170 pages.  This includes 20 pages dealing with the sixteenth century through 1670; 38 pages for 1670-1800; and 74 pages on 1800-1925. Each of these three chapters is subdivided to first look at foundation garments for the torso (stays, corsets, bodies), then at the skirt supports (farthingales, rumps, panniers, crinolines, bustles), and finally at contemporary descriptions and depictions of these garments.  The other features include a bibliography, background on whalebone, advice on constructing hoops, and a glossary of historic terms and materials related to foundation garments.

Approximately 26 garments are featured with line-drawings and pattern sketches; these are mostly original garments, with one pattern excerpted from Diderot's Encyclopedia. The pattern pieces are presented with a scale ruler, but without a grid or measurements written in: you can draft a pattern from these, but it'll take some work and math. For appreciating how corset shapes changed over time, however, the illustrations are useful--there are 115 images all told, including the pattern diagrams, photographs of historical garments and contemporary (historic) images.  Still, for covering 3 1/2 centuries, I wouldn't mind a few more examples.

Other than that, the main thing I would change about this book is the formatting: the divide by time and then type organization makes it sometimes difficult to find what one is looking for, or to compare across time periods.  I have a number of bookmarks in my copy in order to locate the images I used most often. For how I use the book, I think that grouping all the corsets chronologically in one chapter, then all the hoops, and then the depictions, would be more useful.

This is really a classic book in costuming circles. If I recall correctly, it was first recommended to me on a LiveJournal corsetry group almost 15 years ago.  That is to say, this book has good information, and solid research, but the costuming community has had over 60 years to expand upon it.  I'd recommend that most costumers check it out at some point, but depending on your specific needs, there might be titles with more examples from your preferred era, with grided patterns that are easier to adapt, or with more/colored photographs of the original garments being discussed. That being said, I think this is still a useful book, particularly for context, ie, the textual sources and contemporary images which accompany the patterns.  Also, do check out the preface: I really like Ms. Waugh's hypothesis about silhouettes reaching maximum exaggeration and then radically changing direction.

Stars: 4

Level: Advanced to copy the garments; all levels to learn.

Accuracy: High.

Strongest Impression: A classic, and worth reading at least once. There's likely a newer title that will meet your specific needs, but this is still a solid book with interesting information. 

White Gingerbread & Chicken Croquettes

Third day of Christmas.  I revisited some Victorian receipts earlier this month: Beeton's white gingerbread (1861) from my first-ever HFF challenge, and my now go-to savory dish of  Miss Leslie's chicken croquettes (1851).

White gingerbread and chicken croquettes.

Using a modern oven with closer temperature control really helped the gingerbread--I did the first pan in the wood-burning oven, and they got just as crumbly as the first time (not to mention the whole 'not cooking, underdone, burnt at the edges' progression). In the electric oven, they baked up just fine.  I realized after they were baked that I forgot to add the soda; the texture was a bit more like shortbread than gingerbread, but they still tasted fine.

The croquettes turned out nicely--this time they were sans parsley, since my plants died, but the other flavors of marjoram, lemon peel, and nutmeg make for a very complex and savory treat all the same.  I still prefer baking them to frying. And, as of now, they have actually been mistaken for pears.

Book Review: Patterns of Fashion 4

On the second day of Christmas: a 4th Patterns of Fashion review.

Patterns of Fashion 4: The Cut and Construction of Linen Shirts, Smocks, Neckwear, Headwear and Accessories for Men and Women c.1540-1660 by Janet Arnold (additional material by Jenny Tiramani and Santina M. Levey)

Volume 4 is approximately contemporaneous with Patterns of Fashion 3 (1540-1660 v. 1560-1620), but instead of gowns and doublets, it focuses on linen undergarments and accessories. The size and formatting closely resembles that of volume 3: it's 128 pages, includes photographs, etc. The main points of difference are that the garment photographs are in color (47 pages), and are separated from the general information on period garment construction (11 pages, includes a half-dozen illustrations of period stitching techniques and some embroidery information).  I really liked how much detail and how many images were given for each garment--the larger ones have an entire page of color close-ups, with similar garments in contemporary portraits included for comparison; some even have portraits of the original wearer! The smaller items have a half or third of a page, but each still gets multiple shots and contextualizing information.  One neat inclusion in this book is a 2-page tutorial (with photographs) of how modern costumers can starch ruffs at home.

Because many of the garments in this book are small (ruffs, bands, etc.) there are often two or more patterns on a given page; the text descriptions for anything smaller than a shirt/smock also tend to share space. Fortunately, this means that 85 different garments or parts are featured-- 15 womens' smocks, 15 mens' shirts, 20 ruffs and related garments, 22 bands, 14 coifs/caps and 9 other accessories (gloves, drawers, boothose, a purse).

Regarding burial clothing, only three of the garments featured in this book are so identified: Nils Sture's shirt, bands from another Sture shirt, and Claes Bielkenstierna's shirt (all Swedish, incidentally).  The commentary on Nils Sture's shirt includes non-graphic discussion of wounds. The pictures of the Sture garments do not obviously show the blood and damage mentioned in the text; the photographs of Bielkenstierna's shirt, and a shirt worn by Gustav II Adolph do show bloodstains from battle-wounds (pages 24-25, if one wishes to avoid seeing them).


Stars: 5

Accuracy: High.  All original garments, lots of contemporary portraiture included.

Difficulty: Advanced (for reproducing garments). All levels for appreciating garment construction.

Overall Impression: Another fabulously informative book.  It meshes really well with volume 3 (two of the shirts were worn with doublets featured in volume 3), and has beautiful close-up images of the original garments. A must for 16th-17th century costumers, and those interested in embroidery and sewing from that time period.

Happy Christmas to All!

Harper's, December 25, 1858

Book Review: Patterns of Fashion 3

The third of my Patterns of Fashion reviews.

Patterns of Fashion 3: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women c. 1560-1620 by Janet Arnold

The format of this book follows the others. Notable differences are the length (128 pages versus 76 and 88 pages for the first two), the inclusion of men's and children's garments, and the addition of photographs. In lieu of period cutting diagrams and patterns (which aren't exactly available for the 16th-17th centuries), volume 3 has 38 pages of  photographs of the profiled garments. Although they are black and white, the photographs show lovely details, and they are accompanied by contemporary portraits and effigies which depict similar garments in use.

All told, there are 56 garments or sets of garments included (the suits mostly being doublet-and-hose combinations); these include gowns, doublets, trunkhose, breeches, cloaks, and hats.  Most are for adults, though a handful of children's garments are included. About a fifth of the garments profiled are burial garments, including those of Eleanora di Toledo, Cosimo di  Medici, Dorothea Sabine von Neuberg, and Svante, Erik, and Nils Sture. As a result, many of these garments are closely dated, and have relatively extensive background information.*

Each garment gets as many pages as it needs--the record appears to be 5 pages for Nils Sture's leather doublet and wool plunderhosen, including multiple views of the complete garments, close-up detail drawings of construction techniques, and the pattern pieces.

*For those so concerned, there is some textual mention of death and burial conditions, as relates to the condition of the clothing--including mention of the wounds which killed the Sture men, and differing rates of decomposition in some garments. However, these aspects are not depicted on the diagrams and drawings, and the photographs focus on other details of the garments. In a few cases, jagged lines are used to show the extent of extant fabric on a pattern piece, with conjectures of the full shape.

[Side note: I am currently reading The Cultural World of Eleanora di Toldeo, and found the diagrams of her gown to be a useful companion to the chapter on "The burial attire of Eleonora di Toledo" by Mary Westerman Bulgarella--and that chapter to be a good explanation/companion to the diagrams here, going into greater detail about the condition of the gown, and how its original form was deciphered.]

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High.  All original garments, etc.

Difficulty: Advanced (for reproducing garments). All levels for appreciating garment construction.

Overall Impression: The Patterns of Fashion books are really useful for understanding how garments were actually cut and constructed  in the past. I like how many of the garments profiled in volume 3 come with specific details about who wore them, and when; the inclusion of pictures, albeit in black and white, is also a nice boon. If you do any sort of costuming for the late 1500s and early 1600s, get this book.

Book Review: Patterns of Fashion 2

Continuing my Patterns of Fashion reviews.

Patterns of Fashion 2: Englishwomen's Dresses and Their Construction c.1860-1940 by Janet Arnold

This book follows up on Patterns of Fashion 1, covering women's dresses from 1860-1940.  There are 40 garments* included, with a minimum of two per decade (1880s) and a maximum of nine (1920s); most decades have at least four examples. As before, the dresses each have a gridded page of pattern pieces. In this volume, however, more views of each finished dress are included: all have a front, back, and either side or interior view, with most dresses having all four.  The side views are very helpful for which showing the skirt shapes, while the interiors help explain how the dresses were fastened, and some of their interior construction. Additionally, all of the pre-1920 dress get a whole page of sketches and textual description and another of pattern pieces; the 1920s/1930s dresses share two per page for the sketches (and patterns).

The information on scaling patterns, converting to metric, etc. is more truncating in this volume: the reader is referred to volume 1 for more information.  There are, however, additional instructions for making 1/4 scale dolls, to experiment with the patterns. There are 14 pages of contemporary patterns, cutting guides and magazine instructions (technically, this is 4 fewer pages than in volume 1, but there are so many illustrations, that it feels like more examples are included here).

I actually like volume two a little better than volume one; I think it's the extra interior views of the dresses, and the large number of examples for each timespan. That being said, if you work only in a very narrow window, the scarcity of examples could be a problem. I still think the level of detail, and the scarcity of such information in printed form, makes this a worthwhile reference, even if only one or two of the dresses is in your particular purview.

*All the garments here are dresses, a few have an accompanying coat or jacket, which is not counted towards the forty. Volume 1 included some related articles, like chemisettes and robes, in the total number of garments.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High.  All original garments, with the component pieces graphed out.

Difficulty: Advanced (for reproducing garments). All levels for appreciating garment construction.

Overall Impression: As previously noted, the Patterns of Fashion books are my holy grail for how dresses were historically cut and constructed. I think this volume is particularly useful for the interior views, which help to demonstrate how late 19th century and early 20th century dresses were constructed and fastened.

Christmas Roses

As mentioned in last year's Christmas Crafts post, I found some 1859 instructions in The What-Not for making paper roses. They are said to look well in a vase or basket in the parlor, and to be likewise appropriate for decorating a ballroom or schoolroom at Christmas-time (especially when arranged in evergreen branches), or for decorating the tree. White, pinks, red, and yellows are the recommended colors. I tried white, since that was the tissue paper I had to hand.

They got a little crushed in transit.

As promised, these are a relatively simple craft: cut out the paper, twist a square of paper over some cotton for a base, arrange each row of petals and twist the wire stem around, cover the edges of the last set with some green paper. I found positioning the green paper the most challenging bit, but by the third one, they were noticeably improving. There is a certain need to fuss with each petal in order to achieve a full and graceful rose.

Book Review: Patterns of Fashion 1

In honor of Patterns of Fashion 5 being published by the The School of Historical Dress, I offer my belated reviews on the earlier volumes.

Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen's Dresses and Their Construction c.1660-1860 by Janet Arnold
(revised edition, 1972)

I really, really like this series.  As far as I can tell, Patterns of Fashion is the ur-example of a book based on measuring original historic dresses, and graphing out the component pieces (see also Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques, Regency Women's Dresses).  And I really like that as a way of understanding the actual, historical methods for cutting and constructing of garments.

The bulk of the book is sketches of original dresses, with gridded patterns--most garments get a half-page of line drawings showing the garment as worn (front and back, some with additional detail sketches), and a page of 1/8 scale pattern pieces.  There is also a good 18 pages worth of research and discussion on period dressmaking (including contemporary patterns, and depictions of dress-making), a one-page timeline of fashionable dress shapes, two pages of metric conversion information, and two pages of instructions for how to scale up the patterns.

I really appreciate that the pattern pieces are annotated to show connection points, trim lines, the location of pleats, fasteners, etc.  Size and grain position are also given, which is a level of detail I rarely see in costuming books.  The drawings are, in my opinion, very clear and detailed.  The front cover gives a good idea of this, but I think the black-on-white of the interior pages is crisper and clearer than the white-on-black cover. 

The book does give some suggestions for reproducing the garments, but if you are new to historic sewing, additional sources will be needed. The only historic sewing technique covered is cartridge pleating, which comes with instructions/illustrations at the end of the 'scaling up' section. The book list at the end does include recommendations for books on historic sewing.  It is explicitly stated these are diagrams of real garments, made to fit specific people when worn in particular ways; and thus that reproducing  them requires scaling the pattern, fitting it to the intended wearer, knowledge of sewing techniques, and proper undergarments.

The only other caveat I have is that the book has ~50 examples to cover a 200 year period, so if you are looking at only a narrow time frame, you may have few useful garments to choose from (but the information you do get is something you can't find in many other places). For instance, there was only one dress from c.1660, and one more c.1710 (a second dress from that decade appears in the additional notes); looking around 1750, however, has seven different garments including a gown, two jackets, a petticoat, two stomachers, and a pocket.  The period 1730-1830 is particularly well-represented.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High.  All original garments, with the component pieces graphed out.

Difficulty: Advanced (for reproducing garments). All levels for appreciating garment construction.

Overall Impression: The Patterns of Fashion books are my holy grail for how dresses were historically cut and constructed.  They are very useful for exploring how styles changed over time, and I'd recommend that every costumer or historian interested in western fashion read them. Or, at least, read the ones relevant to you time period.  Even if there's only one or two garments from your particular year range, the cutting information is really interesting, and it's not something that easily found in other sources.

Book Review: Wearable Prints 1760-1860

Wearable Prints, 1760-1860 by Susan W. Greene

Wearable Prints, 1760-1860 by Susan W. Greene

Contrary to its size and appearance, this is not another encyclopedia of fabrics.

Instead, it's a 540-page overview of a century worth of fabric printing technology. A lavishly illustrated overview. And the appendices are a treasure, including a glossary of (historic-scientific) terms, charts comparing the different dyes/inks used to print different colors, timelines of when different dyestuffs were popular, etc.

The book's main divisions look at the historic background/an overview of printed dress goods (2 chapters), the dyes used c.1760-1860 (4 chapters), and the machines/technology used for printing on fabric (4 chapters). Within each, full-color modern photographs of antique garments/swatchbooks (and the odd quilt) are plentiful. As with What Clothes Reveal, the writing is highly informative, and the images really work with the text to clarify and illustrate the topic at hand, whether it's the characteristic details of copper vs. woodblock print, or fives pages of discharge prints in Turkey red and madder shades.

The combination of a large book and a (relatively) narrow year range means there is a lot of room to focus on details and nuance of textile prints, and that multiple examples are included for each point. That being said, layout isn't particularly conducive to scanning for a examples to compare.  It isn't Textile Designs where you can look up "paisley" and find a dozen goauches across decades, nor yet is it Dating Fabrics or America's Printed Fabrics where you can browse designs by year-range. Instead, I think this book is really equipping the reader to analyze the color schemes and printing characteristics of a fabric--to pinpoint why a given design 'looks' 1840s versus 1810s.

I think the most effective way to use this book for fabric identification is to read it all through once.  Then, use the summaries and timelines to estimate the dyes/printing techniques, and by this narrow the probable date range. Then, go back to the chapter to compare with the different examples.

TL:DR--Get your own copy, and fill it with sticky notes.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High. So many original printed fabrics! And the citations are swoon-worthy.

Overall Impression: It's not the most 'plug-and-play' textile reference, but I think it's the most powerful. There's a great deal of useful information, and I think this book makes a good companion to the more encyclopedic books (by explaining the techniques, as well as by providing additional reference images). Honestly, if I was focusing somewhere within the 1760-1860 time frame and could only have one print reference book, this would be it.

Book Review: What Clothes Reveal

[No, I've not been reading a book a day. I have, however, developed a backlog of fabulous books that I read this year--largely related to thesis research--which I either didn't have time to review, or for which I started writing a review and didn't post it. My goal is to clear this backlog by the end of the year.  Consider this a last-minute gift guide for the costumers in your life.]

What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America 

by Linda Baumgarten

This is a nice (over-)sized book; it has 221 content pages, plus a 16-page illustrated timeline of fashion changes from 1690-1835, as well as notes, bibliography, etc.

My first impression is that this is pretty book. It's a rare page that doesn't have an illustration (I'd estimate that at least half of the content is images), the vast majority of which are modern, color photographs of original garments--women's, men's, children's; full object and detail images.  These are supplemented by original portraits or engravings.  At the same time, this isn't just a picture book.  There is a strong narrative structure, working through styles and phenomena of 18th century dress (with beautiful pictures of original garments to illustrate it). Contemporary written sources are also cited, illustrating and supporting the narrative themes of the book.

If you're looking for a book of patterns, this probably isn't the right volume: there are no pattern illustrations to scale or sewing instructions. However, if you're looking for lots of lovely originals, an explanation of how/where 18th century American sourced their clothing, or examples of how clothing was be re-made and updated during this period, it's a very enjoyable and informative book.  Many of the items included are featured on the Historic Williamsburg Online Collection; even so, I find the book valuable for its commentary and information--a history lesson on 18th century clothing and a guided tour of the collection.

Stars: 5
Accuracy: High. Images of original garments, and the commentary incorporates original written sources.
Overall Impression:  Chock-full of information, while being the sort of book one reads rather than one to flip through for specific references. However, I'd still recommend it as a reference book to anyone reproducing 18th century clothing, or interested in the construction and recycling of clothing.

Book Review: Costume in Detail 1730-1930

Costume in Detail: 1730-1930 by Nancy Bradfield

What it says on the cover: 200 years of costume in 380 pages. More specifically, it's western women's clothing, primarily dresses, but with a healthy mix of accessories and some undergarments included.

Garments are mostly dated within a 5-year span; each dress gets a 2-page spread, including front and back views, interesting details, and often interior or fastener details. Several also include a sketch of a similar dress being worn (generally adapted from contemporary portraiture or fashion plates).  The accessory items tend to be grouped by date and item type, with six or eight sharing a two-page spread; alternatively, some accessory sketches are paired with a contemporary dress (for instance, there's a c. 1830 wrapper which is accompanied by sketches of a corset, flounced bustle and other undergarments).

The book is arranged chronologically, though the dates overlap enough that it's worth flipping around a target date for similar pieces.  The emphasis is on the illustrations, with minimal text descriptions specifying material, style, and where the item is from. I liked the inclusion of measurements with many of the garments.

Overally, I think this is a valuable reference for understanding how women's dresses have been constructed, and as a style guide over time. It doesn't have the graphed pattern pieces of a Janet Arnold book, but uses the saved space to add even more illustrations and garments. If you're looking for eye-candy, be warned that it's all monochrome sketches; I find this very useful for lines and construction information, but it's not the full-color glamour shots of 19th Century Costume in Detail.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: All original dresses; details of cut and construction made readily available.

Difficulty Level: Useful at all levels, though some background (or additional reference books to cross-consult) would be useful to use this book fully.

Strongest Impression: A nice, encyclopedic book for dress styles and construction details. For making clothing, it's best used in conjunction with other references for sewing/cutting techniques. A good visual reference for designers and those interested in dress history.

Book Review: Past Into Present

Past Into Present by Stacy F. Roth

I wish I'd found this book years ago. It's basically a summary everything I've observed over years of interpreting and watching others interpret; I found myself almost constantly nodding along with each point the author made.

This is not a small volume, with 181 pages divided into 15 chapters (plus notes and appendices).  There's some background on living history and explanation of different approaches; the rest of the work covers developing a persona, interacting with visitors, and special situations that may arise while interpreting. The focus is on first person interpretation, though a number of the techniques either employ a level of third-person interpretation or can be applied to it.

The chapters cover topics such as "breaking the ice", "the art of conversation" and "interpreting to children"; the divisions make it fairly easy to look up specific information. The advice in each chapter is based on interviews with interpreters from different sites, so there's multiple approaches to choose form, with a certain amount of discussion about the context each technique has been used in, and about when it does/does not work.  These are a bit short for case studies, but are in a similar vein.  I like that one of the chapters specifically deals with interpreting controversial subjects, and how that has been successful or unsuccessful in different situations.  I also like the combination of theory and practical 'how-to' advice, which I think makes it a powerful and versatile tool.

There are a few places where the language used reads a little awkwardly (primarily about engaging special needs and ESL visitors), but overall it's quite solid and remains relevant twenty years after publication.  The only point I'm inclined to dispute is about interpreters' personal space--boundaries can be enforced graciously (or forcefully, as needed), and I disagree with the idea that costumed interpreters just need to accept being grabbed by members of the public.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: Enables it. There is some discussion about when/how breaking character can give visitors a better overall experience, but it's mostly about giving the reader as wide a variety of interpretive tools as possible.

Difficulty Level: All. I think there's good information here for interpreters of all experience levels, but especially for those who have done a little interpretation and are looking to branch into first person.

Overall Impression: A thoughtful look at different interpretation strategies, easily mixing theory and practical techniques. If you're trying to find methods for first person improvisation, go with this book or else Easy Street; if you're trying to better understand first person interpretation go with this one.

Queen Elizabeth I's Wardrobe Warrants

Her Majesty's 1593-1602 warrants have been transcribed, by wonderful people doing good work. There are also warrants from her grandmother, Elizabeth of York, and tons more transcriptions of primary source documents about 16th century clothing from tailor's bills to probate records. Get thee hence!

Hungary Water Variations

I made a few more batches of Hungary water a couple months back. One is the same "French and Much Improved Method of Making Hungary Water" from 1824, which I previously made. This time, I tried it without adding the alkanet at the beginning. The other I made by the same method, but using only rosemary without the sage, thyme, and lavender.  I've come across other allusions to Hungary water containing only rosemary, including the preceding recipe (which calls for an hour's soak and then distilling the alcohol-rosemary concoction), so I think this isn't entirely out of line.

The very complicated process:

1.Stick plants in alcohol, leave for a month.

2. Remove plants.

3. Profit.

The colors actually look nicer here: in real life, the plants in picture two are a lot more yellow, almost the color of store-bought pickle brine. The rosemary-only water (though smelling strongly of rosemary) is a very evocative clear, bright yellow. The mixed herb version is slightly more orange. I can absolutely understand why dyeing the liquid red with a little alkanet root is desirable, and I just might do so.

Exhibit Opening

An exhibit I worked on opened at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Site (Seattle Unit). Go and see it! And learn about mail delivery in 1899!

Tarte Owt of Lent

Tried a c.1500 cheese tart receipt for the Goode's Company Christmas repast (tagline: 'Oh God, so much ham!'), but neglected to get a picture. Writing it up, anyway, for the next time I try making it.

I used a modern translation from Historic Royal Palaces. They gave the original as:

Take neshe chese and pare hit and grynd hit yn A morter and breke egges and do ther to and then put yn buttur and creme and mell all well to gethur put not to moche butter ther yn if the chese be fatte make A coffyn of dowe and close hit a bove with dowe and collor hit a bove with the yolkes of eggs and bake hit well and serue hit furth.
-Gentyll manly Cokere

And translated it to (paraphrase):

Chop and pound 100 g of cheese, mix in 150ml cream, 1 egg, and seasonings to make a paste. Make a 10" tart case of shortcrust, fill with the creamed mixture, top with a crust, brush with egg, and bake 220C for 40 min or until golden.

I used this modern shortcrust recipe, requiring a double batch (~4 cups flour, 1 cup butter) to fill the 10" pan I was used. [Not having a tart pan or trusting my pastry, I used a springform pan, but only made the sides of the case ~1" tall.] The center also had to be doubled (~2 cups cheese, 1 1/3 cup cream, 2 eggs), as a single iteration did not even cover the bottom of the pastry.  I baked it at 400F for about 40 minutes, which was barely enough: it probably could have stood a few minutes longer, or a slightly hotter oven (220C is 428F, but my oven's weird about going above 400F).

I think this dish is meant to be served hot, but it did not suffer from being baked in the morning, refrigerated most of the day, and served in the evening. The recipe translation recommends a soft cheese, or any period-appropriate variety. This time, I used ricotta (as it was soft and readily found).
I also omitted the seasonings, as none were recommended and the original recipe made no mention of them (though I'm now wondering if that's because this tarte is meant to be a blank slate for whatever  seasonings strike the cook's fancy).

I think the final result was rich, but a bit bland. It went over well--all of it got eaten--but experimenting with seasonings is definitely in order. I talked to a few people, and it seems that we agree it could go either sweet or savory in the seasoning, and I'm tempted to try nutmeg or chives in the future.

"Red" (Brown) Riding Hood

And finally: the Red Riding Hood. I've made it up twice before in red wool flannel, per the instructions (the first, alas, fell prey to moths). This time, I tried it in a brown wool that I had. The ties, and decorative back bow are made of narrow striped floral chintz, finished with a narrow rolled hem. I omitted the top bow, as I have since my first attempt at the hood, because it looks really awkward when worn, tending to flop forward. 

Brown Wool Flannel Hood, With Chintz Ties and Bow

Two things I really like about how this one turned out are the fine stitches on the casings, and how neatly the narrow-hemmed chintz strips work as ribbons. I'm almost tempted to make more of them, if I can find a project in need of chintz 'ribbon.'

Red Riding Hood, Finished Illustration

The magazine illustration also takes an interesting liberty, presenting the bavolet much shorter than it is--per the second illustration, the distance between the two bows should be shorter than the distance from the lower bow to the back point.

Red Riding Hood, Cutting Diagram and Instructions

Originals: Black Brocade Dress, c.1825-1830

American Gown, c.1825-1830. Silk.
From The Met

I think that length of black-grounded Dargate print I have lying around wants to be this dress, with it's fun absurd sleeves.

Primary Source Fun

Some fun things that have come up recently:

1. Library of Congress crowd-sourced letter transcription. Includes Clara Barton's letters, and Abe Lincoln's incoming mail. Help make primary sources more easily searchable on-line.  Also, educational--I've found guys still using the long s in letters from 1861!

2. Sojourner Truth Project. "On Women's Rights", aka "Ain't I a Woman?", in two versions, with discussion.

Quilted Hood, Pink Coral Print

Fourth hood. This one also has machine quilting perpendicular to the brim, and has the black wool exterior. The lining is the pink coral Old Sturbridge print that I used on my apron (dubbed by Elise the "brain" fabric). The ties match their respective fabric, and the outer wool is folded over the raw edges. The unique feature of this hood is a double layer of cotton batting instead of wool inside. It's less puffy as a result, but the back folds fall more gracefully.

I like the aesthetic of the black wool with a bright cotton lining.

Quilted Hood, Plaid & Paisley

Paisley & Plaid!

Third hood. This time with quilted perpendicular to the brim--and also a plaid wool outer fabric and busy striped lining. Yes, that is the quilted petticoat fabric used in the lining, and the shawl twill wool for the exterior. The inner ties are narrow-hemmed calico (the green paisely stripe).  As noted in the shawl post, I didn't like the bulk that hemming the wool ties produced; instead, I used a torn edge, which appears stable. This would have been a good place for cotton ties on the outside, but I thought the overall effect was too busy.

Quilted Hood, Gold and Maroon Floral Foulard

Yes, there are pins.
No, they are not in the finished hood.
I needed to get the picture taken while the light lasted.

Second hood. It also has a black wool exterior, wool batting and calico lining. The lining fabric has a small gold floral motif in a foulard pattern on a maroon background. This time, I used the outer wool fabric for the back ties, and the lining cotton for the interior ones; the interior ties are double-folded and stitched as in the instructions, but I used a narrow hem and the selvage to reduce the bulk on the wool ties.

This hood's unique points are that it is quilted (by machine, in lines parallel to the brim), and the edges are finished by folding the outer material over the lining. Having done both that and a bias binding, I think the bias binding is marginally easier. Folding over the fabric works alright when hemming by hand, but I do not recommend trying it on a machine as you can't ease the fabric.

To Render the Eyes Brighter and Darker

Anyone else thinking of the Byron poem? Besides myself, and the 1824 author of this advice (who earlier referred to Byron as a connoisseur of fine eyelashes...)

Anyway, while looking for the burned cork information, I came across several references to using burned resin or mastic to darken the eyelashes and eyebrows. The most explicit instructions came from The Family Oracle of Health (1824), repeated almost verbatim in The Toilette of Health, Beauty and Fashion (1833):

To render the Eyes brighter and darker
Take an ounce of frankincense the same quantity of resin and pitch and half as much mastic. Throw all these ingredients upon a piece of red hot charcoal receive the fumes into a large funnel  and a fine black powder will adhere mix this with a little oil of Benjamin, Eau de Cologne, or what is perhaps better the juice of elder berries, and it is fit for being applied to the eye lashes or to the eye brows.

The later source calls for a plate rather than a funnel for collecting the product.

***
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

[I am not qualified to advise on how to do this stuff safely. What follows is my own experiment, which I am not recommending anyone follow.]

***
I mixed together:
1 oz frankincense
1 oz resin*
1 oz pitch (pine resin)
1/2 oz mastic (gum arabic)

*resin is a general class; the term is commonly used for by-products of distilling turpentine, basically pine rosin

The large pale yellow chunks are pine rosin, the orange stuff
is gum arabic, the frankincense is the smaller white solid.
The pine tar is the black liquid.

I then lit a charcoal fire (outside) and threw the mixture on it a little at a time. I used a plate on a trivet (raised above the fire on rocks) to collect the soot.

Holding the plate in the smoke proved untenable.

The different ingredients burned at different rate: the pitch went very quickly (and smelled awful), while the solid resins took longer to burn (the frankincense smelled nice). The mixture produced a great deal of smoke, but one of the solid resins tended produce more and darker smoke than the others.

The material deposited on the plate very well.

But it did collect a lot of soot.
The knife ended up being slightly more effective for scraping.

But it also ended up being 1) somewhat sticky, and 2) more of a smooth coat that a sooty powder. Scraping it off was a challenge, and produced very little usable, solid material. Basically, the soot stuck to anything that touched it--the knife, my fingers, etc.--except for itself. Not useful when I'm trying to collect a solid/powder.

Very low yield on the soot.

To use, I damped the soot with a few drops of Eau de Cologne (the 1859 receipt is still separating a month later). It made the soot flakes a little easier to move, but did not dissolve them.

Cologne I previously made, soot in gallipot (from Williamsburg),
applicator from Little Bits Apothecary.

I tried applying the soot to my right eyebrow and eye lashes. It seems to have had no effect. I'm not entirely sure that any actually stuck to my lashes.  Some did get on my eyebrow, but I don't think it was enough for a noticeable color change.

Not seeing a difference.

In conclusion, I won't be trying this again. It's much more expensive and labor-intensive than using cork or cloves, and produces negligible effects.

Tufted Hood, Leafy

Tufted Hood

I made some warm hoods for my co-workers; most are from Liz Clark's tufted hood sunbonnet variation, as mentioned in my "Dressing for Winter" post.  I tried to make each a little bit different.

This first one sticks most closely to the tufted hood project: it has a black wool exterior, and is lined and bound with orange calico (the "Leaf Duo"from Moda, which I previously used on a sunbonnet). I used wool batting for the wadding, and the layers are tied with white wool yarn. The front and back ties are both of narrow-hemmed calico.

After making three of these I realized the wool batting too thick for a project of this size (and drape). In the future, I should split the batting, or use a thinner one.

Fringed Shawl

A Nice Plaid Wool Twill.

Catching up (again) on blogging my recent projects. With the wet/cool weather firmly established, warm outerwear is in order. 

First off: a simple fringed shawl, based on Liz Clark's instructions. I appreciate the neat finish of the fringe, and how it doesn't add any extra bulk or lumpiness to the finished garment--on another project, I found that this fabric is just thick enough to make awkwardly bulky hems. That being said, the single layer is pleasantly warm while being fairly light (it's slightly heavier than my tropical-weight wool yardage, but not truly a mid-weight). The twill fabric fringes about as easily as the plain-woven wools I've used before, and seems no more inclined to ravel once fringed. The shawl is square, 1.5 yards on the side (including fringe), making a capacious cover when folded diagonally.

Thanksgiving Receipts

Elaine Kessinger has compiled a lovely little booklet of period receipts for popular Thanksgiving dishes.

Dressing for Winter

It's that time of year again.

Good winter event safety and warm clothing advice from millinery genius Anna Worden Bauersmith. See also her articles on clothing layers, and how Victorians kept warm in different situations.

Suggestions for children's and infants' warm clothing from Liz Clark. She also has relevant garment projects: a shawl, and a sunbonnet that can be made as a tufted hood.

Colleen Formby's sontag pattern also makes for a warm knitted garment. Virginia Mescher wrote a simple muffatee pattern, also knit. [I compiled a list of warm clothing projects at one point, but not all the links are currently active].

Need 1850s/1860s project inspiration? A quilted petticoat, a sontag, fur cuffs, winter hood and red riding hood, tufted hoods, and a girl's hood.

Coif-Wearing

I'm going to need to keep this in mind for my next one: How to Wear the Coif. I love the "experimental" part of experimental archaeology/history, and how we can refine our understanding of material culture by trying things, and changing our hypotheses as necessary.  [See also, Jane Malcolm-Davies and Ninya Mikhaila's work on 16th-century dress support.]

Original: Cotton Dress, c.1914-1918

On the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, a WWI-era dress.

Dress, American, c.1914-1918.
The Met

Book Review: Regency Women's Dress

Regency Women's Dress: Techniques and Patterns 1800-1830 by Cassidy Percoco.

"Dress" is not limited to dresses: this book contains patterns for two chemises, two sets of stays, and three outer-garments (two spencers and a morning robe), as well as nineteen dresses. The earliest date on any garment is c.1795, the latest c.1827.  The narrow scope and large number of examples allow for greater specification than in many books of this type. The "type" being books diagramming the construction of garment artifacts, such as Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion series or Jill Salen's Corsets: Historical Patterns and Techniques.

The book starts with a three-page overview of fashion changes through the ~30 years in question; I liked that the table of contents employed sketches of each garment, making a nice fashion timeline for comparison, as well as a visual reference. Each garment featured in this book in an original from the late 18th/early 19th century, with full citation.  All the garments are held in American collections (mostly in New York, or else Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts).  Knowing the whereabouts of each garment is useful, in that looking up additional images of the garments online is almost required in order to make any of them.

I really love the scaled pattern diagrams of each garment (two pages), the inclusion of contemporary images and fashion plates (most of one page per garment), and the description of how the garment is assembled (also most of a page). Each garment also gets a colored photograph, and a pencil sketch. The problem I'm having with making any of these garments is the lack of comprehensive images: the line drawings are front-view-only, as worn, and the photograph is always a detail shot. While this is great for seeing the fabric (and occasionally the interior), not seeing the whole thing is really hard when you're trying to actually construct something. There's a ~3" tall line-drawing of each finished garment, shown from the front only as it is worn, but that's like trying to sew from the image on the back of pattern envelop (with no back view included).  The assembly information is descriptive rather than instructive--which makes perfect sense, but also makes internal and back views more necessary, for figuring out which seams should cross over which others, etc. Particularly for things like figuring out how to fasten the bib-front dresses (pins? buttons? additional ties?), there is simply not enough information included in the written instructions, and not enough back or internal views of the finished garment (photograph or sketch) to answer the question.*

The format begs for comparison to the Patterns of Fashion books: I think that Regency Women's Dress makes a nice addition to this genre for its narrow temporal focus, and inclusion of multiple garment types. I also like the color photographs of garment detail and the use of contemporary illustrations for context; but I think that the lack of detailed whole-garment sketches makes this book harder to use than Patterns of Fashion. 

Stars: 3**

Accuracy: Very high. All original garments, with some useful context.

Difficulty: Advanced. Additional sources or a lot of assembly know-how will be required to make the garments (above the usual 'scale and fit' skills).

Strongest Impression: Potentially a nice all-in-one reference for Regency/Empire styles, including undergarments, dresses, and some outerwear. However, there isn't quite enough construction information (and/or detailed images) to make the garments without consulting additional sources. A good reference for costume designers, and almost an amazing one for reconstruction sewing.

*For the other garment I've tried so far, a chemise, an internal photograph of the sleeve seams would have make construction infinitely easier. The written description of joining the sleeve to the main garment was almost impossible to follow: the sleeve is encased in the two-layer strap, and that is then sewn to the front/back pieces.  How, then, is the sleeve attached to the front/back without leaving a weak raw edge or a lumpy transition to the felling?  A photograph would have solved this instantly: instead, I spent a lot of time trying to find photographs of similar pieces, and finally ended up sewing several half seams, tacking down other pieces, and going back to finish seams out of order. Even so, there's a slight lump where the sleeve seam allowance transitions from being faced to being felled.

**I revised this down to three stars after attempting a further three garments from this book. Between scaling issues on the stays, a lack of fastener information on the bib-front dress, and sorely needed construction explanations on both gowns, this is simply not an easy book to use. You really need additional sources (or, ideally, a picture or sketch of the interior and back view of the garment) to actually make most of the garments I've attempted.