Material Culture, Dress and Fashion History
Depicting Elizabeth I as mother of her people featured in many discourses during the Tudor queen’s reign. She had responded to her minister’s inquiries about marriage only days into her first parliament in 1559 by stating that she was content to remain a virgin and ‘a good mother of my Country’ until the time came… Continue reading Queen Elizabeth I as Mother, Nurse and Caregiver of the Realm
Very excited to announce that my book Shaping Femininity has a cover image and pre-order links! See below for details! About Shaping Femininity In sixteenth and seventeenth-century England, the female silhouette underwent a dramatic change. This very structured form, created using garments called bodies and farthingales, existed in various extremes in Western Europe and beyond,… Continue reading Shaping Femininity Book Cover and Pre-order!
What is a vasquine or basquine? Is it a type of early corset? Read on if you want to find out!
By 1700 tailors no longer dominated England’s garment marketplace, as stay-makers, mantua-makers and seamstresses began to produce key items of female dress previously made by tailors. The demise of the tailoring monopoly was a complex process that involved many factors. This article examines one overlooked aspect of this transition by exploring two groups of specialized artisans that have been previously neglected in histories of seventeenth-century garment production: farthingale-makers and body-makers.
Recently I gave a talk on the use of whale baleen (otherwise known as whalebone) in fashion in sixteenth-century Europe, particularly England.
Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part One: Brief History and Materials Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Two: The Pattern Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Three: Making the Wire Frame Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Four: Making the Linen Collar Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Five: Finishing the Rebato 1. Pin the collar to the frame and check that it looks correct.… Continue reading Rebato, c. 1600-1625 | Part Five: Finishing the Rebato
Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part One: Brief History and Materials Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Two: The Pattern Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Three: Making the Wire Frame Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Four: Making the Linen Collar Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Five: Finishing the Rebato 1. Place and cut the pattern. I’m using a lightweight semi-transparent linen.… Continue reading Rebato, c. 1600-1625 | Part Four: Making the Linen Collar
Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part One: Brief History and Materials Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Two: The Pattern Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Three: Making the Wire Frame Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Four: Making the Linen Collar Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Five: Finishing the Rebato 1. Using my pattern, draw out the shape of the rebato collar on… Continue reading Rebato, c. 1600-1625 | Part Three: Making the Wire Frame
Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part One: Brief History and Materials Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Two: The Pattern Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Three: Making the Wire Frame Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Four: Making the Linen Collar Rebato, c. 1600-1625 Part Five: Finishing the Rebato My rebato is based on a pattern drafted by myself using the rebato… Continue reading Rebato, c. 1600-1625 | Part Two: The Pattern
Abstract: Farthingales were large stiffened structures placed beneath a woman’s skirts in order to push them out and enlarge the lower half of the body. During the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods in England criticisms of these garments increasingly focused on their spatial ramifications, decrying their monstrous size and inconvenience. Nonetheless farthingales served important social and… Continue reading The Farthingale, Gender and the Consumption of Space in Elizabethan and Jacobean England | New Research Article