Material Culture, Dress and Fashion History
I'm delighted to announce that my new edited volume, Embodied Experiences of Making in Early Modern Europe: Bodies, Gender, and Material Culture, co-edited with Serena Dyer, has been published by Amsterdam University Press. You can read the foreword and introduction for FREE, here. This volume focuses on the body of the maker to ask how… Continue reading New Publication + Free Preview
Sew with me! 1650s English bodice and gown reconstruction tutorial and notes.
To celebrate the upcoming release of Shaping Femininity I've decided the post the pattern that I made of the garment when I examined it in 2017. A pattern for this garment has since been published by the School of Historical Dress in 2018's Patterns of Fashion 5. The School's pattern is much more detailed than… Continue reading Sittingbourne Bodies Pattern, c. 1630-50
Recently I was interviewed about my new position as a McKenzie Fellow at the University of Melbourne and about the research project on baleen and fashion that I will be undertaking there. I also chatted more about historical reconstruction and how valuable it is to understand the dress and making practices of the past. If… Continue reading New Interview: I talk about reconstruction, whalebone and more!
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
Wool was a commonly used natural material in early modern Europe. My construction of a French farthingale roll and French wheel farthingale, made as part of my PhD research, required the use of wool as stuffing.
The structural fashions of the early modern period in Europe reached a peak at the turn of the seventeenth century. Whilst the ruff, a gathered and starched linen frill that was worn around the neck, was still widely worn, at the beginning of the seventeenth century a new type of standing linen collar became fashionable.