distracted...
Feb. 20th, 2014 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mandie_rwAfter a few days of half-heartedly attempting to work on that ottoman turkish smock, I now remember why I put it down. It's such annoying fabric to work with! I think I managed one solid day of actually working on it during my not-at-work time...the rest of the days I keep magically finding other things to do.
Like researching Tudor dress. There's a Plan to do the Six Wives at the Ren Faire this year, and I claimed Katherine Parr because she's awesome. Which means that all I did this afternoon before work (and, uh, yesterday too) was look up Tudor Stuff.
Thoughts, I has them! And I may as well keep all my notes in one place, right?
First, on Katherine specifically. I've found six portraits of her with reasonable provenance, three of which I like enough to recreate. Or, well, base an outfit on, really. (The Scrots portrait is probably the most well-known, but I don't love that dress and I really don't like that hat!)
First, this portrait of Totally Not Jane Grey Despite What You May Have Heard, NPG4451. Portraits That Are Not of Jane Grey...
Second and third are two clearly related portraits, the Melton Constable portrait and the Jersey portrait. The most reasonable-sounding source I've read says that they are both probably copies of a lost original; the MC a later 17th/early 18thc copy, and the Jersey a 16thc, possibly contemporary copy. Katherine was known to have had many copies of paintings done and given to friends and family during her time as Queen, and that is probably one of them.
Melton-Constable
Jersey
My favorite gown is the Melton Constable portrait. I mean, LOOK at it! Of course, even a reasonable approximation of that fabric is basically impossible to find. A mad silk-painting idea did float through my mind, but that's a lot of trouble to drag in the dust at the Ren Faire. I thought blue and orange brocade would be nearly as impossible to find, but it's not. I've already found a source for something I think would work, actually!
My next choice is NPG4451. I seem to like brocade at the moment. I've found fabrics that would work very well for this - a few choices for the gown (whether it looks more gold or silver seems to change version to version) and an excellent red and gold for the kirtle and undersleeves. The main catch with this one is the $$$ for all that yardage. Non-crappy faux fur costs a LOT when you need enough to make giant drapey sleeves out of it. Plus the border on the skirt of the kirtle kind of annoys me. If I were making the dress I'd feel obligated to put it on, but...ugh! Look at it! It's like one of those brain teasers.
Which leaves me with the Jersey portrait - same orange and blue brocade (deliciously obnoxious!), and that's all I would need to buy. I have both black cotton velvet and black silk taffeta in the stash (whichever I felt like using...it looks like velvet but, you know, options), and I could use the sleeves from my first Tudor dress. They're much more of a grey than a dark brown, but they would work for Overall Effect.
The Ren Faire's not til fall so obviously I'm not making any purchases yet, but it's been lots of fun shopping anyway!
And then there's the actual construction of Tudor gowns and headdresses...but I think I'm sleepy now so I'll collect my thoughts on that tomorrow.
Like researching Tudor dress. There's a Plan to do the Six Wives at the Ren Faire this year, and I claimed Katherine Parr because she's awesome. Which means that all I did this afternoon before work (and, uh, yesterday too) was look up Tudor Stuff.
Thoughts, I has them! And I may as well keep all my notes in one place, right?
First, on Katherine specifically. I've found six portraits of her with reasonable provenance, three of which I like enough to recreate. Or, well, base an outfit on, really. (The Scrots portrait is probably the most well-known, but I don't love that dress and I really don't like that hat!)
First, this portrait of Totally Not Jane Grey Despite What You May Have Heard, NPG4451. Portraits That Are Not of Jane Grey...
Second and third are two clearly related portraits, the Melton Constable portrait and the Jersey portrait. The most reasonable-sounding source I've read says that they are both probably copies of a lost original; the MC a later 17th/early 18thc copy, and the Jersey a 16thc, possibly contemporary copy. Katherine was known to have had many copies of paintings done and given to friends and family during her time as Queen, and that is probably one of them.
Melton-Constable
Jersey
My favorite gown is the Melton Constable portrait. I mean, LOOK at it! Of course, even a reasonable approximation of that fabric is basically impossible to find. A mad silk-painting idea did float through my mind, but that's a lot of trouble to drag in the dust at the Ren Faire. I thought blue and orange brocade would be nearly as impossible to find, but it's not. I've already found a source for something I think would work, actually!
My next choice is NPG4451. I seem to like brocade at the moment. I've found fabrics that would work very well for this - a few choices for the gown (whether it looks more gold or silver seems to change version to version) and an excellent red and gold for the kirtle and undersleeves. The main catch with this one is the $$$ for all that yardage. Non-crappy faux fur costs a LOT when you need enough to make giant drapey sleeves out of it. Plus the border on the skirt of the kirtle kind of annoys me. If I were making the dress I'd feel obligated to put it on, but...ugh! Look at it! It's like one of those brain teasers.
Which leaves me with the Jersey portrait - same orange and blue brocade (deliciously obnoxious!), and that's all I would need to buy. I have both black cotton velvet and black silk taffeta in the stash (whichever I felt like using...it looks like velvet but, you know, options), and I could use the sleeves from my first Tudor dress. They're much more of a grey than a dark brown, but they would work for Overall Effect.
The Ren Faire's not til fall so obviously I'm not making any purchases yet, but it's been lots of fun shopping anyway!
And then there's the actual construction of Tudor gowns and headdresses...but I think I'm sleepy now so I'll collect my thoughts on that tomorrow.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-02-21 01:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-22 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-22 07:54 pm (UTC)Haha I know that feeling - maybe someday you'll have all three! =D
no subject
Date: 2014-02-21 04:12 pm (UTC)Omigoodness, that brocade in the Melton Constable! So frackin' amazing. It's a shame that can't be found modernly. Though, if it could be, it'd probably be super expensive.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-22 07:51 pm (UTC)Isn't it glorious? I want it SO BAD! If it did exist, it would probably be made by Scalamandre and be like $500 for three yards...which in a way would be even more frustrating than it just not existing!
no subject
Date: 2014-02-24 02:24 pm (UTC)Oh, man, Scalamandre--sometimes I go hunting on ebay for a small amount of silk brocade to make a jacket, and the Scalamandres are always perfect. And always about 5 times what I want to spend on a yard.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-21 04:57 pm (UTC)https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SCA-Milliners/info
Mucho info there.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-22 07:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-23 12:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-24 05:57 am (UTC)