Style is in the Details

Hello again! By this time, you've probably chosen the time frame you wish to reenact or a historical style that appeals to you. Great! Let's move on.

Styles change, sometimes slowly (as in the Middle Ages), sometimes at supersonic speed (as happened in the late Twentieth Century). Sometimes the entire silhouette of a fashion changed. Other times, only the details changed.

The first detail is overall shape (the silhouette). This can range anywhere from straight up and down (e.g., caftans, Regency round gowns, 1920's flapper styles, 1960's mod) to highly shaped and formed (Tudor period, most of the mid-to-late 1800s). Some of these silhouettes are more suited to our shape than others, so we need to be honest with ourselves if we are choosing a time frame based on personal inclinations rather than a group effort.

The second largest detail is materials: fabric, leathers, furs, feathers (don't panic if you are anti-fur! Some modern synthetics will give you just as good a representation as the real thing), lace, and other trimmings.

These two things taken together can greatly affect the appeal of a garment, and slight changes can make a big difference!

If you are making your own costume, you can choose as you like. My one recommendation is that if you want a style from before the invention of rayon (known at the time as artificial silk, manufactured in the USA by the American Viscose Company in 1910), do your best to use natural fibers. Each historical period had preferred fabrics, and each strata of society had access to differing levels of quality, so that should also affect your decision.

Believe it or not, the cost of manufacturing homespun these days has driven the prices much higher than equivalent natural fabrics woven in mills. For those of you who remember "Little House on the Prairie," the cost of those "homespun" dresses Mrs. Ingalls wore was astronomical, due to the unavailability of "real" homespun, necessitating the use of coarsely woven silk! (Or so I've heard.)

So, if you choose to portray a peasant, be aware that your costume may cost more than a nobleman or -woman's garb!

That's it for today. More on fabrics next time. Any questions about costuming? Please feel free to ask!