Research; A Beginner's Guide - What Is Research? (Part One)

Research!

The first and probably most important word. No matter what your historical costuming needs - whether you need to know one little detail for a passage in a novel or you're attempting to recreate a 16th century gown in perfect detail - everything begins with research.

But what does that actually mean, and how do you go about it?

What Is Research?
This may seem stupidly obvious, but research is fact-finding. It's investigation. It's the first half of the case in Gyakuten Saiban, where you're hunting down clues, often without any solid idea of how the crime happened or what clues you actually need to build your case. Geekery aside, that's actually a pretty solid analogy.

Research involves seeking out evidence. Depending on what your project is and how you intend to tackle it, research may come before or after the DESIGN stage of the process. Although many people prefer to do as much research as possible, and find research very enjoyable, there is not an obligatory amount of research you must do - research should serve the project, it does not need to become an end in and of itself.

Of course once you have the bug you may find you go off and research things in minute detail just for the hell of it, and that's okay too.

Research for historical costuming usually takes two forms - finding out the WHAT or finding out the HOW. Generally speaking the WHAT is easier than the HOW, but it depends entirely on the era and the evidence available.

WHAT
What was worn by a middle class Spanish woman in 1755? What colours were popular in Japan in 1921? What would a young officer have worn to Waterloo? What make up was available to Scandinavian women during World War II? What fabrics were available in southern India prior to colonisation? What style of Mongolian bridal dress was Queen Amidala's iconic gown based on? What constituted Russian court clothing during the rein of Catherine II? What did a man wear under the dragon robes of late Manchurian Imperial clothing? And so on...

HOW
How are 18th century sleeves set on a sacque gown? How is the fabric for a 16th century open robe of velvet measured and cut? How were the patterns on early Indian chintzes imported to Europe achieved? How did a Roman matron fasten her stola? How were Tudor riding doublets usually embellished? How was a surviving Vionnet gown constructed? How were Heian era formal dress usually worn? How were the materials for an early 20th century Albanian festival jacket obtained? How did Korean women in the late 19th century set their hair? And so on...

As you can see, some of these questions are very linear and narrow in scope, and how you would research it is quite obvious (How was a surviving Vionnet gown constructed? -> Look at the gown, examine construction) whereas others are more open ended and don't necessarily suggest an obvious line of enquiry. In my next post, I'm going to talk about how to start your research and sources of information (Some of which may surprise you)

But for now I'm going to round this off with some

Hints and Tips

• Always, always decide in advance what you are going to research and how much detail you need. It's incredibly easy to get lost and bogged down in how awesome it all is
• Accept that you may not always be able to find a definitive answer to all your questions. Depending on when and where you are researching, this might be true more often than not
• Research is hard and time consuming. It can also be great fun, but that doesn't stop it from being frustrating, dull and unrewarding at times
• You don't have to do research. I offer this with extreme caveats - obviously, if you are the remotest bit interested in accuracy, you are going to have to research, but to what extent is entirely up to you. If you want to recreate a dress similar to one you've seen in a portrait painting, for example, but you are not in the least bit interested in accuracy and have chosen to use modern construction methods, the fabrics that are available to you, and only your own knowledge of dressmaking - then that is not wrong. It's just a different choice. On the other hand if you are planning to create a period ensemble that will hold up under the scrutiny of, say, a collected group of English Civil War reenactors as appropriately accurate, then you had best research your little backside off
• Keep an open mind. See what is actually there, not what you expected or hoped to see. Often, you will go looking for something thinking you already know the answer and find out you were wrong. It happens to us all. I'll talk about this a bit more later on in the series.
• There are no hard and fast truths, only evidence.

Actually, that last one bears repeating; There are no hard and fast truths, only evidence.

You will hear statements offered up all the time as though they were hard and fast truths (Women in the 1860's wore the crinoline. This garment is called a Polonaise. Spencer jackets are cut to a Empire waist. Stripes on eighteenth century gowns go up the back, down the front and around the sleeves. And so on) - but that doesn't necessarily mean they are.

For example, lets examine one of these statements. The crinoline was widely worn in Europe and America during the 1860's. There's lots - lots and lots and lots - of evidence for this and indeed it is widely true - but.

Russian court gowns of the period weren't cut for a crinoline and were almost certainly not worn with one, and there's no evidence that the crinoline was ever adopted in some rural areas of Europe. In the early 1860's steel caged crinoline hoops had become cheaper, but they were still too expensive for very poor women (Not to mention the amount of fabric they would have needed to make their dresses!). There are numerous literary references to older women and women in rural parts of England not adopting the crinoline until much later than the fashionable younger women of the towns, if at all. But there is also records of young working women in the factories being ordered to remove their crinolines at work! And then there's the aesthetic movement, a small minority of women in Britain closely tied into artistic circles who chose to dress in a 'classical fashion'. Also the 1860's were the era of the bloomers - long, baggy outerwear for women, rather than the modern interpretation of bloomers as underwear - although articles and news pieces of the time herald them as a novelty and they are widely ridiculed. In addition, the 1860's is a whole decade - fashion is never so static as that, and the exact size, shape and cut of these gowns fluctuated year to year, as evidenced by period fashion plates and extant gowns. 

So while it is generally accurate to say that women of the 1860's did wear the crinoline, it's also possible to find evidence as to why a specific woman or women did not. Similarly, for another example, most 18th century striped gowns do have the stripes going around the sleeves - but there are the occasional, rare examples of gowns that have stripes going up and down the sleeve. For that reason it is perfectly possible to produce an 1860's ensemble that is not a crinoline, or an 18th century gown where the stripes don't go around the sleeves, and back it up as historically accurate, albeit an anomaly.

Generally speaking, the 'truths' are based in evidence - the overwhelming existence of it - but not always. If you are going for extreme accuracy, always be prepared to back up your choices with evidence. "Because it is widely held to be true" is not evidence, and neither is "Because such a person said so."

Historical Costume; A Beginner's How-To

This is something I've had floating around my head for a little while now, and naturally - whilst in the middle of sewing myself into oblivion with two weeks each for three extravagant evening gowns - now is the time to do it. The fact is that historical costuming is not an easy hobby to get into or find comprehensive, useful information on, and it can be pretty daunting - which is a real shame because it is the most fun.

So, perhaps foolishly, I decided that I would write some beginners tutorials as introductions to the hobby. Because 'historical costuming' is a massive subject (essentially spanning the entirety of human history from the point where we decided clothes were cool) I decided not to tackle specific eras or techniques, but more generally useful subjects, such as;

• Research; how do I do it?
• Museums; making them work for you
• Picking and planning projects
• Designing with a historical eye
• Primary sources; what are they and what do you do with them

and anything else I can think of. To kick us off, I thought I would begin with some general pointers;

Yes, You Can

If you are thinking right now 'but I couldn't possibly-' then you should immediately find that part of your brain doing the talking and kick it, because it's wrong. In fact, you are henceforth banned from using the word "can't" - instead of 'I can't do X', you must say 'I have not yet learnt to do X' or 'I am not very good at doing X yet'. Because you can learn and you can practice and you will eventually become very good. Yes, you.

Knowledge, Learning and an Open Mind

It's good to learn as much as you can about everything you can. It's what most historical costumers, whatever they strive towards, do best. However it's important to remember two things; you don't know everything, and nobody knows everything. There will always be someone who knows more about a specific aspect of costuming or history than you do, and it will be more rewarding if you're ready and willing to learn from them. All the same, don't blindly accept information you are given, no matter who it is giving it to you - if it doesn't seem right, or if it contradicts information you already have, be prepared to put your thinking cap on.

To Every Question There Is A Hundred Answers

Human beings are strange and varied and their clothes are exactly the same. Items of clothing may be called by a dozen different names - the same name may cover a dozen different styles over half a dozen decades - and there are literally endless different ways to finish a hem. Be prepared to have many answers to every question and for all of them, in one way or another, to be right.

There Is No Right Or Wrong

Many people I've met are daunted by historical costuming because they think they will 'get it wrong'. There is no such thing as wrong. There is, of course, 'more accurate' and 'less accurate', which some people confuse as being the same as 'right' and 'wrong'. Accuracy is a nice thing to strive for, but it isn't the only thing. You decide what your goals are, and you decide whether or not you've achieved them.

It's Never Going To Be Perfect

You are probably never going to be totally satisfied you've achieved your goals. And that's okay! Over time you will be less dissatisfied and your goals will get more ambitious. That's progress.

Georgian Shoe Buckles

Closely based on antique 18th century shoe buckles, the "Fleur" silver rhinestone buckles are the perfect accessory to keep the latchets on your 18th century shoes closed. Our "Fleur" buckles are delicate, feminine, and lightweight. Add that extra sparkle to your outfit and keep your shoes fastened in the most historically accurate and beautiful way.  Read more about the Fleur buckles here.

"Fleur" buckles come in pairs, and are available to buy here.


I have my very own pair of Georgianas from the lovely American Duchess, and I will be blogging about those soon - a pair of these buckles would be a great addition! 

Ripping Yarns

My excuse is that I was really bored.

I am, by nature, a collector - a hoarder, even. Whether it's physical things like fabric, books and make up, or invisible things like facts about tea, Japanese swordmanship, or obscure British science fiction shows of the past forty years, if I have a thing, I want ALL OF THE THINGS.

This explains why I now own so much yarn. So. Much. Yarn.

This does not explain why, since I own ALL THE YARN, I decided to photograph it (Perhaps I should blame Ravelry?). With my resident horde of stuffed toys (I don't think I can blame Ravelry for that).

Sirdar Big Softie, modelled by Randolph

 I'm over halfway through knitting this into a blanket (which shows how long ago I took these photos!) - it's a lovely fat cabled pattern from The Gentle Art of Knitting. The original pattern called for Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky - Big Softie is a nice alternative, especially at under £3 a ball instead of around £10. I miscalculated slightly, forgetting that the Blue Sky was 100g skeins and Big Softie is 50g balls, but alpaca must be heavy as I don't think I'm going to come up very short (if I come up short at all). It's very interesting knitting with 15mm needles, though! I shall let you know how this works out.

Big Softie Collar, modelled by Randolph

 My first project with the Big Softie, though, was this collar. I like the yarn-over pattern, but it didn't really work out the way the one in the picture did! I think I could have done with much larger needles. If I run out of yarn for the blanket, I may well end up frogging it - if not, it needs a button to be really useful.

Fyberspates Scrumptious DK/Worsted 'Plum', modelled by Tabby

Fyberspates Scrumptious DK/Worsted in Purple, modelled by Moonlight

 This stuff is glorious. Glorious. It's soft without being tickly, smooth, but not slippery, thick and squishy without being bulky. The plum will become a Victoriana ruffly collar, with buttons, the purple I haven't decided yet. I've since also acquired three skeins of Cherry, which is going to become what I've taken to calling my Night Circus scarf

Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace in Oyster, modelled by Legs

 The wonderful thing about the Scrumptious skeins is that they are quite large - it looks like there's enough yardage on this to make a medium sized lace shawl. I haven't really done any lace knitting yet (Not that I need much help making holes!) so I'm quite excited about this.

Cygnet Superwash Wool, modelled by Tiny

 Sometimes, you just need boring old bog-standard merino Superwash. I'm actually working on something with this (And a few accent colours) for a present, which has lead me to believe that EVERYTHING is better in brioche stitch.

Austermann Merino Lace, modelled by Hitsuji-kun

 In my defence, I had gone in specifically to buy lace weight yarn. I had really wanted red, black, or purple, and all they had was the Oyster above - which I liked, but didn't love. And then there were these babies, all laid out in an old suitcase.

I couldn't decide, so I got one in every colour!

Sirdar Balmoral and King Cole Merino Blend DK, modelled by Durango

 I'm still undecided about this lot. The Balmoral was in the sale, and it's a nice strong (if not terribly soft, not terribly scratchy either) wool blend with alpaca and silk. I have twenty balls - ten black, five grey and five natural/beige/biscuit/whatever you call this - and then I picked up two balls of the pink DK as a contrast with the idea that I would try out the School Colours blanket from The Gentle Art of Knitting. It's a clever design where you knit five scarves, sew them together, and they become a blanket.

The problem with this immediately became you knit five scarves. Do you remember the pink bamboo scarf I started at the end of July? Well, it's now the end of September and I think I'm about three quarters done. If one scarf takes me three months - in quite a simple pattern, and a narrow one at that, the School Colours scarves are wide moss stitch - it will take me years to complete this blanket.

And yet, it's not quite soft enough that I want to knit garments from it. I'm thinking of sitting down with a stitch dictionary and doing sampler squares, which I can finish in a week at most, to sew together instead of the long tedious slog that goes into making a scarf. What do you think?

Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran, modelled by Lucitania

 Readers, this is my favourite yarn ever.

It's being discontinued, and given it's reputation this seems warranted (Like many Debbie Bliss yarns, it seems, it's underspun, easy to knit through, slippery, sheds heavily, is too expensive for the yardage, stretches, and the darker colours are not colour fast) but all the same, it's like knitting with unicorn hair and clouds. Although Lucitania is sat with the pink, aubergine and lilac in the photo, I also have some bright red and some 'sand', which is a pale gold. I couldn't resist stocking up.

I've heard many of the problems can be fixed by washing it before you start, so we'll see how I get on.

Sublime Yarns Chunky Merino Tweed, modelled by Capybara-san 

 The flecks of colour in this are what really drew me to it - that, and it knits up solid unless you use fairly large needles. I have a half-baked plan to make button-up ankle cuffs in a nice dense stitch - something like moss stitch - for winter days when I'm walking to work in pumps and a skirt. But which colour do I use?!

Debbie Bliss Pure Silk, modelled by Alfred and Khan

 (Alfred and Khan are twins, you know, even though I got them eighteen months apart in two different second-hand venues. So peculiar!)

This was a little more of an impulse buy than most of what I have (And that's saying something!) - they had just these six skeins left, it was in the sale, stuff happened, okay, I can't be held responsible for my actions. The six skeins of Apricot not pictured, however, were purchased in cold blood and I take full responsibility for my forthcoming apricot silk lace gloves. The pink? Still not sure!

Sirdar Snuggly Smiley Stripes DK, modelled by Spot

 It's called 'Smiley Stripes', and it's bamboo-wool, and... just look at it, don't you feel happier already?

I also haven't decided what I'm going to make with this, but I'm thinking mittens!

King Cole Bamboo Cotton, modelled by Rabbit

 I have far too much of this. I already mentioned that I want to make the Sea Glass Chevron scarf from The Gentle Art of Knitting - I've since rethought the colours, bought an extra ball of white and the baby pink, so it'll be white with four contrast stripes.

And then I'll still have four three-quarter full balls and a whole extra ball of purple! It's a good thing I love knitting with bamboo. Everyone will be getting pink face cloths for Christmas, I think.

Princess Lamswool/Angora, modelled by Moonlight

 It was bound to happen - vintage yarn!

I found this at the charity shop, and I think I have just about enough here for a bandanna sized lace scarf (Of which I have already found a few patterns!) so - not bad for 50p!

Sirdar Flirt, modelled by Percival

And finally, here is my next project! There's a theme to these colours, although you may not spot it (Here's a hint - they're worn by certain linked organisations, and these colours are sometimes named after them because of it) and I'm going to be knitting Dalek face cloths for two very special people taking a very special journey.

Because obviously what you do to show your unwavering support for someone is knit them a Dalek face cloth. EXFOLIATE!!!

Aside from those I've mentioned as picking up in extra colourways, I've also got some suspicious looking cranberry baby alpaca squirrelled away (I'm knitting a lace detail twinset from Sensuous Knits - or at least that was my plan, before I discovered that wet alpaca smells an awful lot like, well, wet dog. Not sure if want) because it was far too expensive to admit to having bought, and three balls of Rowan Galaxy - a bichrome gradient dye with sequins! I have my eye on the Life On The Open Wave scarf from The Gentle Art of Knitting with this one, so at least I bought it with a project in mind this time.

Well, I bought the second two balls with a project in mind, that's got to count for something, right?

The Fashion Industry Hates Everyone Equally

I intended to keep this blog for crafty-things, but unfortunately my crafty-things of choice are textile based, which means that at some point, inevitably, I was going to crash into 'Fashion'

I follow a lot of Retro/Vintage and Alternative fashion blogs, because aside from historical costuming that's the kind of aesthetic I like and cultivate in the way I dress, rather than most of the styles in glossy trendy magazines. Unfortunately, this means that I also encounter an awful lot of what I am struggling to find a better phrase for than Everything Is Easier For Thin People.

It's a very simple idea. You can't find clothes that fit when you go shopping, because everything is designed for thin people. Styles to suit your figure aren't popular, because everything is designed for thin people. And this runs over into lots of other things too. Make up of the right shades doesn't exist because everything is designed for a small minority of complexions. Shops don't carry the right bra sizes because everything is designed around a certain range of sizes. Trousers and skirts come in at all the wrong lengths because everything is designed for certain heights.

My point here, and this is important, is that really they are saying two things. One - clothes on the high street are designed and made with a very narrow range of shapes, sizes and appearances in mind, making it difficult for people who are not like this ideal. This is totally and unashamedly true.

The second point, however, is that this very narrow range of shapes, sizes and appearances are - more or less - thin people. And thus life must be easy for them. Neither of those statements are true.

Here's the embarrassing part where I lay out my vital statistics - which, being a seamstress, I know to a level of intimacy most people never have to articulate. In well fitting underwear, I'm more or less 31" - 26"- 35" - that's 79 - 66 - 89 in centimetres - comfortable but without ease, and variable depending on the time of the month and the time of the year. With the right bra, given the right time of the month to fill it out, I can maybe hit 31 1/2", without underwear I'm a comfortable 30 1/2". Right now I'm at the low end of my waist measurement as I tend to gain weight over winter, so by May I'll be an easy 27", although at any time I can lace down with a corset to about a 24"-25" if I feel like it. My bicep measurement is 10"/25.5cm and my thigh is 19"/48cm - I'm lean on top and toned rather than bulky on the bottom. My waist sits high, and I'm muscled in my lower body in a way that I'm not in my upper - but not as much as I used to be - and the bust measurement owes more to my broad shoulders and rib cage than my breasts. Speaking of underwear, I usually wear a 30A in bras, which varies in suitability depending on cut and style. I'm 5'5 3/4" in my stocking soles, and thus an easy 5'6" even in flats, I have a 28" inside leg, and it's 42" from waist to ground with no shoes on. That's 3'6", which means the bottom half of my body makes up a fraction more than 3/5ths of my total height - I have very, very long legs. I have 25.5cm feet which translates into somewhere between a 6 and a 7 in shoes (UK sizes), depending on style and brand. I wear 7" gloves and 6" bracelets and my fingers are proportionally short for my hands. In reasonable light, you can always see my collar bones and shoulder blades - if I roll my shoulders and head forwards, you can count my vertebrae without touching, and on a normal in-breath (Not a big suck-your-breath in, just normal breathing) it's possible to count the ribs on my flanks from a distance of maybe seven or eight paces. I have seen pictures of arms, shoulders, backs, ribcages that resemble mine, could belong to me, on pro-anorexia blogs, where they are clearly the largest people on the page but is still quite possibly the most disturbing thing I have ever encountered in my entire life.

I am officially Very Thin. Conveniently, I also share several other characteristics with super models - those of having Long Legs and Small Breasts.

I am also waiting for this magical world where everything has been designed for me to appear.

((At this point it always pays to point out that I eat like a horse and exercise lightly. I'm not unhealthy-thin and I certainly don't diet or dive for the gym in order to make myself look the way I do. My sister is the same, my mother was the same when she was my age, and so was my grandmother. It's just the way we roll. I'm looking forward to bulking up as I age and (hopefully) have babies, as seems to be the way.))

I could go into great detail about what it's like, for me, trying to go shopping for clothes and shoes, but I won't. Just, trust me, it would sound just as tedious and soul-destroying as the experiences you have. Just like you, I've finally found the one manufacturer of bras that will do, even if they don't really fit, and I stick with them because hunting is hard. Just like you, I take three different sizes of the same garment into the fitting room only to discover that none of them fit. Just like you, I make do with things that fit here, or fit there, but are too large here or strain over that part because I need some clothes. Just like you, I lust over fashion pictures of things I simple know I will never, ever be able to wear, and am resigned to the fact that certain items are simply never going to be mine, and that many others will never be mine without a long, physically and financially draining search. Just like you, there are some brands I know fit me that little bit better, are that little bit closer to perfect, but the price tags make me cringe. Just like you, I stand in front of the racks on the high street and wonder whether I really like this enough to ask the shop assistant if they have what I think is my size, because it's not on the rack, and decide not to, because what if they don't have it, what if they don't even make that size, what if the shop assistant judges me because of the size of clothing I wear? Do I really want to deal with that? Do I really want it enough to face up to how that makes me feel about myself?

Maybe, just like me, your heart sinks when someone announces that their new lingerie line will be "For women of all shapes and sizes!" because from your experience, that means more plus-sizes, and you'll still drop well off the bottom end of the scale. Maybe, just like me, people say "I hate you, you're so skinny!" in a jovial tone and expect you to be flattered, or feel they are entitled to tell you you have an eating disorder or are clearly on a diet when neither is true. Maybe, just like me, you feel excluded from rallying cries for body-positive-thinking, because if real women have curves then you're not a real woman, because when people say "this is fake, you are real" you look like the 'fake' picture they're pointing at, because it feels like they celebrate every body type except yours. Maybe, just like me, people tell you "But you can wear anything" and you don't have the courage to tell them it's not true, because you look like the people in the magazines - never mind that the people in the magazines are held into their clothes by body tape and pins and bulldog clips, never mind that celebrities have all of their clothes tailored to fit, and yeah, maybe you could wear anything that the people in the magazines wore if you had thousands of pounds to drop on each individual garment. But lets face it, with enough money, anybody could.

The idealised size and shape the high street fashion industry caters to is not thin people. It's not any people. It's a fictional, idealised statistical average. It fits nobody. I am not that person any more than you are. I don't have it any easier than you do. The fashion industry does not love me.

I am not your enemy. They are.

Stripes Over Cobwebs

Oh dear. I thought I was getting good at regular blog updates too.

I have been sewing - a little - and progress on my current project, the France Dress, continues apace. In lieu of a proper update, because I have completely and totally neglected to take any photos, I thought I'd share some of my influences and a few ideas for anyone else looking to combine two of my favourite things, namely stripes and the 18th century

These come from a variety of sources, and span the whole of the 18th century. Look at how different kinds and directions of stripes are used, and in what colours. Look also at the self fabric and non-self fabric decorations and trimmings done with stripes. Striped garments are great to try and reconstruct without a pattern, because you can (usually) immediately judge grain and angle by them - but they're notoriously hard to work with, because if you're off by a hair matching your stripes on a seam it's very obvious, they're a bugger to top stitch, and choosing trims is a minefield. Extant pieces are always helpful in this respect because someone else has already torn their hair out over the exact same problem for you!

Striped Waistcoat, the Met

Striped apron, the Met

Striped bodice, the Met

Striped coat, the Met

Striped jacket with pieced lining, the Met

Striped and dotted robe a la Francais, petticoat, stomacher, the Kyoto Costume Institute

Striped Pierrot jacket, the Kyoto Costume Institute

Striped polonaise and petticoat, the Kyoto Costume Institute

Striped robe retrouvere dans le pouches, the Kyoto Costume Institute

Striped robe a la Francais, LACMA

Striped robe a l'Anglais/round gown(?), the Met

Striped/plaid robe a la Francais, the Met

Striped Spanish robe a la Francais, the Met

Striped stockings, the Met

Striped robe a la Francais, the Met

Striped robe a la Francais, Tidens Toej

The Shoes Maketh The Man

What follows is a public service announcement on behalf of beautiful shoes!

The Devonshires are a leather 18th century shoe based on museum examples from the 1760s through 1780s.  They're made of top-grade dyable leather, with a beautiful, smooth Italian leather sole for dancing, and are hard-wearing, water- and mud-proof, for even the toughest of outdoor re-enactments.

Pre-Order the Devonshires through August 10, and get the special $100 price.  We're only making 200 of these shoes, so don't miss the chance to own one of only a couple hundred pair on the planet!  Visit www.american-duchess.com to order.






My pair of Georgianas, the silk version, arrived just a few days ago! I'm waiting for my buckles to give them a proper test run but I'll be sure to blog more about them in future.