My friend Carol has suggested that I do a blog post a day just to keep my mind sharp while I numb it through breastfeeding, (no really, it's all that oxytocin, your mind is in this happy fog of motherhood... pretty awesome when you think about it). I'm not that ambitious, but a few things have been rattling around in my head other than rattles, and while the munchkin sleeps in my lap I'll take the opportunity to babble to y'all.
First: Copyright on the Internet.
My friend Bea has gone on quite a rant about it. Here is her polite blog post with links to resources about copyright. (Bea's blog, you'll love it)
Trystan's is also great http://trystancraft.com/costume/2012/01/18/an-introduction-to-copyright-for-bloggers-especially-costume-bloggers/
I've been considering watermarking the stuff I put on here that's actually mine. A good bit obviously isn't, as the artists have been dead for ages, though I do try to cite when possible. Every once in a while I even go back and correct things or update info. I admit I'm a bit hazy on the sharing of museum owned artwork by long dead artists and Trystan addresses that...
BUT for my purposes I'm totally cool with people using my (personal) images/info for educational purposes via links, excerpts with citations or credited pictures. This means you credit the source (me) and don't make money off my stuff without express written permission, and this is not that. If it doesn't come through the USPS in a signed contract it's not written permission. If you blatantly steal my stuff and put it in a $10 for sale packet I will hate you forever, call you out on your BS and if you don't immediately make it right there will be lawyers... just sayin'. If you lift my research and turn it in to your college professor as your own without even changing my lame jokes, I will email said professor and let you wonder why you failed that course (yes, I saw that, the costume world is small and the internet is even smaller, Plagiarizers Beware)... My black little heart enjoyed that. Anyway, I blog tutorials for free for a reason and having someone copy a blog post and then obnoxiously charge people for it is just rude. And illegal. So don't.
Child break...
Next day... (you see how much I got done? Amazing, isn't it?)
Showing posts with label Internet Land. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet Land. Show all posts
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Friday, May 17, 2013
Academics, Archeologists, Professionals & Weekend Researchers
Is it strange that most of my rant-posts come from Things People Have Said in online forums/groups?
Today got me thinking about Who The Experts Are, and who they aren't in terms of studying history, recreating it, etc. I got thinking about what "qualifications" are.
Academics:
I'll include college professors, published historians, museum specialists & those who both study and publish their findings in journals, books, etc.
Obviously published academics in any given field fall into the Expert category, though many are specialists vs. generalists, which is good! They have a remarkable ability to shed light on a few aspects of life at a certain time & place, and while other aspects may escape them, their work in that area is invaluable especially for the generalist.
On the down-side (also an up-side), just about anyone can publish today, and unless there is a period of peer review pre-publication, the work may have areas that are highly suspect. One example of this is using Victorian Era sources as major references. While many are excellent, there was a general trend at the time to "fill in" missing information with speculation, opinions & outright fabrications to bulk out the book - ur, umm, I mean "findings." That work will also be colored by the author's academic environment (ie. politics), which is something to read with caution. Humm... sounds familiar... BUT, the moral of the story is, we have to be careful what we take as truth from literary sources & what we take as opinion or fabrication.
The best academics look at primary sources. Actual literature of the time, first hand accounts, etc.
Note: I just finished reading an excellent translation of an old manuscript where the translators took literally half the book to apologize for the original author's attitude toward women. After reading the actual translation, I found the author to be a totally normal man of his time and while he might have made a modern woman a little flustered, it certainly wasn't cause for actual hurling of knives or general verbal evisceration.
Which brings me to...
Archeologists! (and pathologists, biologists, & whatever other "ologist" you can think of)
I do love archeologists. Wonderful people who have the Best Time Ever digging in the mud with garden trowels & paint brushes and then sifting literally tons of dirt for some speck of metal/wood/fabric/glass/bone that Means Something. Most excellent people! (oh, and their slaves too- I mean Interns! Yes Interns... that's the right word...)
Definitely experts, though you'll probably go home with a stomach ache from laughing so hard after you talk to them. They certainly have their own sense of humor (which is often edited out in their final publications).
The downside of archeological publications is that archeologists, like other people, come in different flavors. - You have the minimalists, who write like a police report. Just the facts, ma'am. (I actually like them quite a bit).
- You have the moderates, who give facts, a bit of context & maybe some speculation as to use, etc. around the object being discussed; they might link said item to similar items found Here. (I also greatly appreciate them).
- Then you have the dreamers, who give the facts, but then completely overshadow them in speculation, assumptions & embroidered stories about who/what/when/where/why/how and what they were thinking. (While fun to read, I cringe at this Victorian-ish writing style because it leaves so much room for error... much like the Always/Never folks). This is not to say that Dreamers aren't good archeologists, they just aren't very good writers... or rather they ARE very good writers, but they like stories a bit too much for my taste.
These first two categories are Experts, no matter if you agree with their conclusions/findings or not. These are the people from whom all others derive their knowledge. They are the base of the pyramid of history, so to speak.
The Pros:
The next level of historic research is the Professionals. This includes Experimental Archeologists, Craftsmen, Artisans, independent researchers (who can be just as good if not better than academics) and people who do Talks/Demonstrations.
There is a wide variety of competence in this category: you have everything from "The Guy At The Country Village Who Bangs Out Horseshoes Once A Month" to "Scott the Gunsmith who makes hand-forged barrels, locks & stocks based on decades of research, different forging techniques & skill... and sells them for more money than I want to contemplate anyone ever spending on a firearm, but will teach a weekend history class that's worth more than a college education." (Can you tell that I like Scott?).
The long & short of it is that professionals make their living from selling their products, often based on years of research and skill development. While not all professionals are experts, many are, and what they have to say about their area of expertise should not be discounted. If you see someone who makes magnificent reproductions, don't hesitate to talk to them - they are a treasure trove of knowledge. Let the junk dealers sort themselves out (they have their place & they do fine in it).
Weekend Researchers / Amateur Historians:
This category has the widest range of competence in it. Many people will focus in on one area of history (like fashion or wars or one battle in a war), and stay there. They become experts in that one thing and that's good enough. Others are generalists & want to see the flow and context of societies. They tend to get the gist of history, and are no less expert in that capacity than the others.
Some people will claim expert status based on having read one history book after college, or having joined some history club or other. Others won't ever share their interests but have more knowledge in the library of their skulls than Alexandria ever thought of containing.
Perhaps the point in this bit of a ramble is that you never know who will fall into the Expert category and who won't based on an online profile, academic title or what history club someone belongs to. The chick you just cut down for not being a Laurel in the SCA is one of the premier silver smiths at Colonial Williamsburg. Just because you don't know her & she doesn't hold a familiar title doesn't mean she doesn't know what she's talking about. Insulting someone who doesn't have a PhD, but has dedicated their life to experimental archeology - planting, growing, harvesting, processing, spinning & weaving flax into linen just to do it, one thing among the 1,000 things they've done... well, they deserve respect for doing it, and you may want to listen to them relay their real-world experiences.
Today got me thinking about Who The Experts Are, and who they aren't in terms of studying history, recreating it, etc. I got thinking about what "qualifications" are.
I'll include college professors, published historians, museum specialists & those who both study and publish their findings in journals, books, etc.
Obviously published academics in any given field fall into the Expert category, though many are specialists vs. generalists, which is good! They have a remarkable ability to shed light on a few aspects of life at a certain time & place, and while other aspects may escape them, their work in that area is invaluable especially for the generalist.
On the down-side (also an up-side), just about anyone can publish today, and unless there is a period of peer review pre-publication, the work may have areas that are highly suspect. One example of this is using Victorian Era sources as major references. While many are excellent, there was a general trend at the time to "fill in" missing information with speculation, opinions & outright fabrications to bulk out the book - ur, umm, I mean "findings." That work will also be colored by the author's academic environment (ie. politics), which is something to read with caution. Humm... sounds familiar... BUT, the moral of the story is, we have to be careful what we take as truth from literary sources & what we take as opinion or fabrication.
The best academics look at primary sources. Actual literature of the time, first hand accounts, etc.
Note: I just finished reading an excellent translation of an old manuscript where the translators took literally half the book to apologize for the original author's attitude toward women. After reading the actual translation, I found the author to be a totally normal man of his time and while he might have made a modern woman a little flustered, it certainly wasn't cause for actual hurling of knives or general verbal evisceration.
Archeologists! (and pathologists, biologists, & whatever other "ologist" you can think of)
I do love archeologists. Wonderful people who have the Best Time Ever digging in the mud with garden trowels & paint brushes and then sifting literally tons of dirt for some speck of metal/wood/fabric/glass/bone that Means Something. Most excellent people! (oh, and their slaves too- I mean Interns! Yes Interns... that's the right word...)
Definitely experts, though you'll probably go home with a stomach ache from laughing so hard after you talk to them. They certainly have their own sense of humor (which is often edited out in their final publications).
The downside of archeological publications is that archeologists, like other people, come in different flavors. - You have the minimalists, who write like a police report. Just the facts, ma'am. (I actually like them quite a bit).
- You have the moderates, who give facts, a bit of context & maybe some speculation as to use, etc. around the object being discussed; they might link said item to similar items found Here. (I also greatly appreciate them).
- Then you have the dreamers, who give the facts, but then completely overshadow them in speculation, assumptions & embroidered stories about who/what/when/where/why/how and what they were thinking. (While fun to read, I cringe at this Victorian-ish writing style because it leaves so much room for error... much like the Always/Never folks). This is not to say that Dreamers aren't good archeologists, they just aren't very good writers... or rather they ARE very good writers, but they like stories a bit too much for my taste.
These first two categories are Experts, no matter if you agree with their conclusions/findings or not. These are the people from whom all others derive their knowledge. They are the base of the pyramid of history, so to speak.
The Pros:
The next level of historic research is the Professionals. This includes Experimental Archeologists, Craftsmen, Artisans, independent researchers (who can be just as good if not better than academics) and people who do Talks/Demonstrations.There is a wide variety of competence in this category: you have everything from "The Guy At The Country Village Who Bangs Out Horseshoes Once A Month" to "Scott the Gunsmith who makes hand-forged barrels, locks & stocks based on decades of research, different forging techniques & skill... and sells them for more money than I want to contemplate anyone ever spending on a firearm, but will teach a weekend history class that's worth more than a college education." (Can you tell that I like Scott?).
The long & short of it is that professionals make their living from selling their products, often based on years of research and skill development. While not all professionals are experts, many are, and what they have to say about their area of expertise should not be discounted. If you see someone who makes magnificent reproductions, don't hesitate to talk to them - they are a treasure trove of knowledge. Let the junk dealers sort themselves out (they have their place & they do fine in it).
This category has the widest range of competence in it. Many people will focus in on one area of history (like fashion or wars or one battle in a war), and stay there. They become experts in that one thing and that's good enough. Others are generalists & want to see the flow and context of societies. They tend to get the gist of history, and are no less expert in that capacity than the others.
Some people will claim expert status based on having read one history book after college, or having joined some history club or other. Others won't ever share their interests but have more knowledge in the library of their skulls than Alexandria ever thought of containing.
Perhaps the point in this bit of a ramble is that you never know who will fall into the Expert category and who won't based on an online profile, academic title or what history club someone belongs to. The chick you just cut down for not being a Laurel in the SCA is one of the premier silver smiths at Colonial Williamsburg. Just because you don't know her & she doesn't hold a familiar title doesn't mean she doesn't know what she's talking about. Insulting someone who doesn't have a PhD, but has dedicated their life to experimental archeology - planting, growing, harvesting, processing, spinning & weaving flax into linen just to do it, one thing among the 1,000 things they've done... well, they deserve respect for doing it, and you may want to listen to them relay their real-world experiences.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Quick Thoughts on Blogging
I know people use blogs for 10,000 different things, and that's why I adore this medium.
But I want to clear up some misconceptions about what I use this blog for.
While I have some semi-serious research on here, some crack-pot theories, some great tutorials, and some awesome "this is how I made this" garment diaries, this is not a place for uber-super-serious academic scholarship (as you can tell by my Valley Girl chirping of "uber-super-serious"). That doesn't mean that I'm not serious about my research. It just means that chances are, you won't find the actual stuffy-academic paper here. You're going to get the layman's version.
So that's clear, right?
The reason I'm bringing this up is that in the past 3 weeks or so, there have been several online discussions where bloggers (and some of them are indeed serious academic researchers) have self-referenced their own blog posts as serious academic sources. These blog posts did not, in fact, contain any historic references of any kind, no citations, no original quotes - some pictures, yes, (but they weren't even labeled with the museums or original publications)... but the words contained in the posts were those of the blog authors drawing their own conclusions about their own research. Which is fine. That's what research is for. It's just not a suitable reference source. You can't cross-check research that doesn't have references.
So, dear blog readers; please be careful about listing your references, or please refrain from being self-referential. You may well be "the best in the business" in your area of study, but without a bibliography post-post... it's useless to the rest of the world, and makes you look less professional than you may actually be.
Hopefully no one is mortally offended, but it's something to bare in mind.
Serious Research = Bibliography.
No References = Just For Fun.
But I want to clear up some misconceptions about what I use this blog for.
While I have some semi-serious research on here, some crack-pot theories, some great tutorials, and some awesome "this is how I made this" garment diaries, this is not a place for uber-super-serious academic scholarship (as you can tell by my Valley Girl chirping of "uber-super-serious"). That doesn't mean that I'm not serious about my research. It just means that chances are, you won't find the actual stuffy-academic paper here. You're going to get the layman's version.
So that's clear, right?
The reason I'm bringing this up is that in the past 3 weeks or so, there have been several online discussions where bloggers (and some of them are indeed serious academic researchers) have self-referenced their own blog posts as serious academic sources. These blog posts did not, in fact, contain any historic references of any kind, no citations, no original quotes - some pictures, yes, (but they weren't even labeled with the museums or original publications)... but the words contained in the posts were those of the blog authors drawing their own conclusions about their own research. Which is fine. That's what research is for. It's just not a suitable reference source. You can't cross-check research that doesn't have references.
So, dear blog readers; please be careful about listing your references, or please refrain from being self-referential. You may well be "the best in the business" in your area of study, but without a bibliography post-post... it's useless to the rest of the world, and makes you look less professional than you may actually be.
Hopefully no one is mortally offended, but it's something to bare in mind.
Serious Research = Bibliography.
No References = Just For Fun.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
How to Count Centuries
 |
| JMW Turner's "Stonehenge" was painted in the 19th c. (1828) |
An important note on how to refer to the century you are talking about correctly:
Today's date is November 3, 2012. Which means we are in the 21st century.
If someone says "14th century" they are talking about the 1300's.
This is an easy concept once you understand how it works:
- The 1st century began in the year 1 AD (Anno Domini) /CE (common era). It ended in
the year 100 AD/CE.
- The 2nd century began in the year 101 AD/CE and ended in the year 200 AD/CE.
- The 3rd century began in the year 201 AD/CE and ended in the year 300 AD/CE
See how that works? You take the numerical date + 1 to get the century.
- The 2nd century began in the year 101 AD/CE and ended in the year 200 AD/CE.
- The 3rd century began in the year 201 AD/CE and ended in the year 300 AD/CE
See how that works? You take the numerical date + 1 to get the century.
Ex: "1776" 17 + 1 = 18... therefore "the year 1776 was in the 18th c."
Quick Reference for everyone:
1st century = 1-100 AD/CE
2nd c. = 101-200 AD/CE
3rd c. = 201-300 AD/CE
4th c. = 301-400 AD/CE
5th c. = 401-500 AD/CE
6th c. = 501-600 AD/CE
7th c. = 601-700 AD
8th c. = 701-800 AD
9th c. = 801-900 AD
10th c. = 901-1000 AD
11th c. = 1001-1100 AD
12th c. = 1101-1200 AD
13th c. = 1201-1300 AD
14th c. = 1301-1400 AD
15th c. = 1401-1500 AD
16th c. = 1501-1600 AD
17th c. = 1601-1700 AD
18th c. = 1701-1800 AD/CE
19th c. = 1801-1900 CE
20th c. = 1901-2000 CE
21st c. = 2001 - present... CE
Please, please, please... label your pictures correctly and when writing about and talking about a specific time frame, either "state the exact date" or "add one to the number."
(If only to make my life easier when using Google Image Search.)
(If only to make my life easier when using Google Image Search.)
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Re-writing Your Own History
Real Quick:
Ever been tempted to go back & edit the heck out of your old blog posts? Erase all those silly beginner mistakes so some poor hapless (now) beginner doesn't stare into your old pitfalls & think it's a brilliant idea to jump right in?
Yeah... but just coming off chemo, recovering from head trauma & re-discovering the joy of normal hormone levels is probably not the best time to do this.
Who knows what heinous mistakes will be typed out for all to see & how much worse it would be than the 3:00 a.m. ramblings of a newbee costumer?
In other news, I'm feeling much better, the world has stopped spinning (mostly) and I'm slowly getting back to work & starting to socialize again. I've got about enough energy to take me from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. before I crap out on sewing, and that's slow with much cursing & ripping out & face/palm actions. Every time I think I'm ready to start in on Important Orders I make some bone-headed mistake that tells me I'd better not cut that customer's fabric right now. To top it all off, I do forget my head, even though it IS attached. But it is much, much better than it was. We aren't done with Medical Crap, but the worst is basically over.
OK, so because this should have something to do with a relevant topic, I was picking poke berries for dye today. One of my bone-headed friends stopped over (he has no legit medical "brain-not-working" excuse for this question - NONE).
Just as an FYI, the 1/2 gallon milk carton really does have a skull & cross bones on it, with "POISON! DO NOT EAT" written all over it. You can't possibly miss it. I made sure.
Ever been tempted to go back & edit the heck out of your old blog posts? Erase all those silly beginner mistakes so some poor hapless (now) beginner doesn't stare into your old pitfalls & think it's a brilliant idea to jump right in?
Yeah... but just coming off chemo, recovering from head trauma & re-discovering the joy of normal hormone levels is probably not the best time to do this.
Who knows what heinous mistakes will be typed out for all to see & how much worse it would be than the 3:00 a.m. ramblings of a newbee costumer?
In other news, I'm feeling much better, the world has stopped spinning (mostly) and I'm slowly getting back to work & starting to socialize again. I've got about enough energy to take me from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. before I crap out on sewing, and that's slow with much cursing & ripping out & face/palm actions. Every time I think I'm ready to start in on Important Orders I make some bone-headed mistake that tells me I'd better not cut that customer's fabric right now. To top it all off, I do forget my head, even though it IS attached. But it is much, much better than it was. We aren't done with Medical Crap, but the worst is basically over.
Just as an FYI, the 1/2 gallon milk carton really does have a skull & cross bones on it, with "POISON! DO NOT EAT" written all over it. You can't possibly miss it. I made sure.
Friday, June 1, 2012
American Duchess "Yay"!
 |
| They Are HERE!!! |
So, today is the last day for pre-order on these darlings. Just so you know. The good news for all of us is that they are going to be produced as a line because her pre-order requirement got filled. Yay!
http://www.american-duchess.com/shoes-18th-century
I got the Georgianas when they first came out, and they've held up quite well. I still haven't decided on a dye color for them, and I've gone & ordered another white pair of shoes (groan)... but the blacks just didn't thrill me quite as much as the prospect of being able to make them look like the to-dye-for (ha) V&A shoes below.
The shoes are very good quality & a very good price. Honestly, I'm planning on wearing these quite a bit & not just at historic events.
I'm afraid, for a girl who spends most of her life barefoot & has gone years with exactly 2 pairs of every-day shoes, I'm becoming a bit of a shoe-horse when it comes to historic shoes.
Friday, March 9, 2012
How to Phrase the Buckskin Dress Question?
Last week I received an e-mail from a (potential?/not?) customer that was innocuous enough until today. What brought this to the forefront was seeing a stunning leather dress made by a new FB friend, and talking with a different customer about the very same issue, which made me remember all the other women who have gotten dragged out of my store by their guys because "it's not a leather dress," and before you say, "it can't be that many, Gail" trust me - it's a lot... If as many girls that get told to wear leather wore it, we'd see a lot more girls wearing it.
It's bothering me enough to put the situation & question to you, Dear Readers.
Note: I'm not taking any orders right now, so unless she's buying something I have in stock it's not an issue for me, and I don't make leather dresses anyway - so it's just a matter of who I send her on to. But how/who to send her to?
Situation: She is very interested in getting into living history/rendezvous/Rev War, and her husband has been in it for quite some time.
Issue: She wants to dress Colonial, he wants her to wear a leather dress (no indication of tribe/nation or time frame, and she says he dresses Skinner).
First: I'm not a fan of buckskin dresses. When done well, they are stunning - when done poorly, well...
I don't like wearing them - they are cold & damp when it's cold, hot & sticky when it's hot, they make funny noises when I walk; they chafe, rub & pull; they stay wet once they get wet and they smell funny. They leave little flecks of leather-sweat-slime all over me. I'm self-conscious about my hips and they showcase my worst attributes at all times, and I can't stand to wear a bra with the dress, but I'm physically uncomfortable going without. Let's not even discuss keeping all that fringe away from porta-potty water (OK, fine, it's similar to the paniers in the pee-bucket issue -- those things are just not made for pre-20th c. women)...
Overall I'm just not a fan. So it's really hard for me to play them up to anyone... though when they are done well they are stunning.
Second: I'm just stubborn enough to be irritated at one person telling another person what to wear, especially when the person doing the telling isn't the one doing the buying/selling. A gift is one thing, "because I said so" is a whole other ball of barbed wire.
Having duly noted the irony of the above statement (I'm in the business of telling people what to wear) and acknowledging that personality quirk; I'm not in the business of causing marital discord.
BUT... there are high points to buckskin dresses, namely "when done well, they are stunning."
Thinking about this issue, while sewing a lovely (yes, please turn out lovely) 1800-15 bib-front dress, I came to the conclusion that the symbolism associated with the Buckskin Dress can go one of two ways while our guy is holding up a smoky, dirty, clingy, sack-looking thing & smiling at us like a mad-man, while we're trying to read his mind (which we are terrible at, FYI) . He's either thinking...
1: You are my Sun, Moon & Stars; my one and only love, Treasure of my Heart and I want you to be my Indian Princess.
2: Burn this hunk of meat on a stick, Squaw.*
*1927-1993 definition - ick.
It could go either way, really. And us girls who aren't huge leather fans are always wondering if it's #2. There's a big difference between being your Lady Love and being your Old Lady.
In reenacting terms, a good portrayal is priceless.
OK, so you want me to wear a buckskin dress. Why? Who, when & what am I representing? What are the proper mannerisms, lodging, food, hairstyles and furnishings? What is the history of the people I'm representing? What special skills did they know? Are their descendants still around or have they died out/integrated? What goods were traded/produced by those people and with whom? Who were their allies/enemies? What is a plausible back story for this specific portrayal and at what types of events will I be portraying her and to what extent? You're not going to try to talk me into getting a facial tattoo, are you? I mean, you do know that's what eyeliner is for, right?
Is a buckskin dress the goal, and should we therefore build the character around the dress? (totally acceptable).
Or should we research & build the character first, then represent her faithfully even if she would have worn a linen shortgown & wrap skirt & wool leggings?
I could say more about humorously bad experiences with wet leather, but anyone who has ever worn a buckskin dress in a 40F rainstorm Knows.
I will say, buckskin dresses are remarkably easy to swim across a river in. Do not try that in Colonial clothes.
So I guess I have two questions:
1: Ladies, if you love/hate leather dresses - why?
2: Gents, if you love/hate leather dresses - why?
Gorgeous! Stunning! "This is how you do it!"
http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/research/cms/Exhibits/PhotographsbyGeorgeAAddison/tabid/410/Default.aspx
Umm.... notsomuch unless it's Halloween; then go for it... but not at a reenactment, please.
http://www.webnuggetz.com/indian-halloween-costumes-for-women/
It's bothering me enough to put the situation & question to you, Dear Readers.
Note: I'm not taking any orders right now, so unless she's buying something I have in stock it's not an issue for me, and I don't make leather dresses anyway - so it's just a matter of who I send her on to. But how/who to send her to?
Situation: She is very interested in getting into living history/rendezvous/Rev War, and her husband has been in it for quite some time.
Issue: She wants to dress Colonial, he wants her to wear a leather dress (no indication of tribe/nation or time frame, and she says he dresses Skinner).
First: I'm not a fan of buckskin dresses. When done well, they are stunning - when done poorly, well...
I don't like wearing them - they are cold & damp when it's cold, hot & sticky when it's hot, they make funny noises when I walk; they chafe, rub & pull; they stay wet once they get wet and they smell funny. They leave little flecks of leather-sweat-slime all over me. I'm self-conscious about my hips and they showcase my worst attributes at all times, and I can't stand to wear a bra with the dress, but I'm physically uncomfortable going without. Let's not even discuss keeping all that fringe away from porta-potty water (OK, fine, it's similar to the paniers in the pee-bucket issue -- those things are just not made for pre-20th c. women)...
Overall I'm just not a fan. So it's really hard for me to play them up to anyone... though when they are done well they are stunning.
Second: I'm just stubborn enough to be irritated at one person telling another person what to wear, especially when the person doing the telling isn't the one doing the buying/selling. A gift is one thing, "because I said so" is a whole other ball of barbed wire.
Having duly noted the irony of the above statement (I'm in the business of telling people what to wear) and acknowledging that personality quirk; I'm not in the business of causing marital discord.
BUT... there are high points to buckskin dresses, namely "when done well, they are stunning."
Thinking about this issue, while sewing a lovely (yes, please turn out lovely) 1800-15 bib-front dress, I came to the conclusion that the symbolism associated with the Buckskin Dress can go one of two ways while our guy is holding up a smoky, dirty, clingy, sack-looking thing & smiling at us like a mad-man, while we're trying to read his mind (which we are terrible at, FYI) . He's either thinking...
1: You are my Sun, Moon & Stars; my one and only love, Treasure of my Heart and I want you to be my Indian Princess.
2: Burn this hunk of meat on a stick, Squaw.*
*1927-1993 definition - ick.
It could go either way, really. And us girls who aren't huge leather fans are always wondering if it's #2. There's a big difference between being your Lady Love and being your Old Lady.
In reenacting terms, a good portrayal is priceless.
OK, so you want me to wear a buckskin dress. Why? Who, when & what am I representing? What are the proper mannerisms, lodging, food, hairstyles and furnishings? What is the history of the people I'm representing? What special skills did they know? Are their descendants still around or have they died out/integrated? What goods were traded/produced by those people and with whom? Who were their allies/enemies? What is a plausible back story for this specific portrayal and at what types of events will I be portraying her and to what extent? You're not going to try to talk me into getting a facial tattoo, are you? I mean, you do know that's what eyeliner is for, right?
Is a buckskin dress the goal, and should we therefore build the character around the dress? (totally acceptable).
Or should we research & build the character first, then represent her faithfully even if she would have worn a linen shortgown & wrap skirt & wool leggings?
I could say more about humorously bad experiences with wet leather, but anyone who has ever worn a buckskin dress in a 40F rainstorm Knows.
I will say, buckskin dresses are remarkably easy to swim across a river in. Do not try that in Colonial clothes.
So I guess I have two questions:
1: Ladies, if you love/hate leather dresses - why?
2: Gents, if you love/hate leather dresses - why?
Gorgeous! Stunning! "This is how you do it!"
http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/research/cms/Exhibits/PhotographsbyGeorgeAAddison/tabid/410/Default.aspx
Umm.... notsomuch unless it's Halloween; then go for it... but not at a reenactment, please.
http://www.webnuggetz.com/indian-halloween-costumes-for-women/
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Adventures in Wool: Step 1, Skirting Fleece
Long time no post. This summer has just flown by, and in other ways it has dragged - I'm in no rush for it to end despite the leaves starting to turn & fall.
I wanted to put one of those nifty word-list things along the right side of my blog. You know the ones that you click on the big or little word & it takes you to related posts? So cool. Love them.
No deal. This template doesn't support that. What it does let me do is label the post at the bottom by the comments & you can click on that to go to related posts! Yay!
I recently took a small detour from sewing when a family friend gifted me with 30 -yes THIRTY- fleeces. Raw fleeces. From sheep. Smelly, dirty, nasty, BaBa Black Sheep and oh does he ever have some wool. There's more if you want it. It's free, but you have to come get it. And I mean that too. Please... take some! (I'm offering the raw or skirted fleeces - you have to wash your own).
The sheep are hair (not a spinner's friend), Dorset & Finn. The Dorset & Finn are absolutely lovely. The hair is OK for batting, which is fine with me, I do more quilting anyway.
I learned A LOT about sheep, fleece, VM "vegetable matter" (a.k.a. vile muck, veritable mess, very manky), lanolin, "tags" (poop & grease - eew), shorts (second cuts), wool vs. hair, skirting, classing, scouring (ie washing - don't agitate it!), BTW is your Tetanus shot up to date? What gloves fit, how much hot water our heater holds, drying, picking, flick carding, ticks, burrs... oh boy...
Moon LOVES fleece. She's officially left me for the sheep in the basement.
I am not in any way a professional here, I'm just sharing what I learned after making some BIG mistakes.
So, without further delays, I'll tell you How To Skirt a Raw Fleece.
1: DO NOT just pull it apart & toss it in hot water! NO! Bad plan... bad, bad, bad plan.
ask me how I know this... that stuff does not "just fall right out."
2: DO get yourself the following equipment & prepare for one of the grossest things you will ever do (and the most fun).
Tools & materials for skirting wool:
To make the mess
- skirting table (how to build one) OR
- large wire rack
- Sawhorses to set the rack on
To contain the mess
- 2 plastic tarps, the kind that are waterproof & can stand up to some abuse.
- trash bags
- trash can, in my case a big pink tote
To keep you clean (ha)
- rubber gloves
- work clothes; pants, long sleeved shirt, shoes, socks, head scarf or at least a hair tie
- safety glasses (you really want these)
- dust mask; I admit I couldn't tolerate the mask & took it off.
Go for the Hazmat suit & call it a day!
To keep your clean fleece clean
- clean feed bags or cloth bags - NOT plastic bags!
Other
- paper & pen to label the skirted fleece in the bag(s)
- soap & water for hands & face
- tissues or paper towels to blow your nose
- other clean clothes before you ever go in the house
- work apron
- scissors
- broom & shovel (not a dust pan, a shovel).
Location
- NOT YOUR HOUSE!
- an outbuilding or outside is preferable. This makes a genuine mess.
- a place to store the skirted fleece, again, not in your house!
Initial Skirting:
(it will be gross)
Initial skirting should be done on site by the shearer / Shepard - but it may not be. Belly wool shouldn't even come into the main part of the fleece, but it may. So when you go see the Shepard, and are confronted with that Giant Mountain Of Manky Wool you will know what to tare off right away.
A good fleece (so I've read) will stick together even as you pull it off the pile (or out of the pile - which will then fall on you - wear long pants, long sleeves, gloves - it IS a barnyard).
- Immediately remove poop tags. These are generally located at the back end of the fleece.
- Pull off any truly heinous belly wool, it'll be right at the edges & will look like something off of a homeless sewer hippie in a bad episode of Law & Order - NOBODY gets that grungy, nobody. Except sheep, apparently.
- Bag that nasty, mucky, smelly thing so you can move on before your friend tosses the next fleece on your head. Go ahead, fill the back of the truck! There's lots more where that came from.
Don'ts & Do's
Don't take anything that's wet unless you have a place to dry it or can soak it right away (soaking is different from scouring). Wet = mold, mold = trash.
DO NOT TAKE THE RAM! ask me how I know this...
Don't take anything that is hopelessly messed up or falling apart.
Do not take a fleece that is super-dirty from the cut side. Waste of Time.
Do educate yourself on the fibers you want to use & look for those characteristics (under the grunge) hehe.
Do take fleeces that are holding together & look relatively clean from the cut side.
Do look for a Shepard who raises sheep appropriate for what you want to do (and keeps them clean - those nice little coats are just so cute).
Do look into a breed that isn't Merino. Yeah, it's the best but give another breed a chance too.
Do look into paying someone like these guys http://www.woolyknobfibermill.com/ to do this stuff for you! (or at least tell you how).
OK, so now you've got this heaping, stinking pile of greasy, vm-encrusted mess (in feed bags no less)... what do you do with it?
Well, you don't just toss the whole thing in a tub of hot water! Oh NO!
Skirting:
I did this a bit differently than it's done commercially.
Laying Out.
- First, I laid out 2 or 3 fleeces on the downwind tarp at a time (or on the floor of the little outbuilding when it was raining).
- Then I looked for the head, sides & back.
- Remove any remaining poop tags.
- Remove heavy areas of VM (vegetable matter) from the neck area.
- Remove any obvious grease tags - these look like that L&O sewer hippie's dread locks & if you squeeze them grease actually comes out (I think I just threw up a little there). DO NOT try to clean them, they don't clean.
- Remove any obviously stained areas, no point in keeping them if they don't come clean.
Throw the fleece!
- Throw the fleece cut side down onto the skirting table! It's fun. You'll like it. It'll bounce.
- cut side down, grab ahold of it & shake it a little.
- flip it over & take any obvious VM or second cuts off (short hairs that are a re-buzz on the hair cut), any remaining grease or poo tags.
- Shake the heck out of it with the lock side down. Super gross & tons of... stuff... will fall out. I mean TONS - your fleece will lose about 1/4 of it's weight right here.
- Repeat many times.
Now, the fleece is going to start to get loose & kinda fluffy & may start to fall apart a bit. This is where I separate out the different hair types & give myself smaller chunks to work with. If you are selling the fleece, you will want to keep it in one piece (apparently).
- I divided the fleece according to wool types: breech wool (back legs), nice wool (clean-er), and manky wool (pre-wash). About 15" x 15" chunks, or however they divide. (the one pictured is still in that chunk, but you can see the different hair/wool types clearly).
- Back on the table & shake, shake, shake.
Note: when shaking, keep it DOWN. Don't pull it up in the air so that awful mess goes in your face... it's a movement of the wrists & elbows, not the shoulders... get it?
Monkey Picking!
- Remove any left-over bits. Don't eat what you find.
- Maintain the lock structure! Do NOT pull the locks apart! Yes, get the ticks & burrs out, but don't separate those locks, you'll need them later. ask me how I know this...
- Shake it again both sides until it goes light & fluffy, you'll know.
(What's pictured here is actually cleanable, but if it's worse, get rid of it.)
At this point it should look like something you might not be afraid to touch with your bare hands if you have a sink & soap in the near future. Perhaps the cat won't need a bath after rolling in this fleece.
And you are done skirting! Congrats, you just did one of the grossest jobs on the face of the planet! Well done. I'm proud of you.
Storing
- If the fleece is still intact, lay it down, lock side up & then fold the ends in. Roll the fleece into a bag & label it.
Sheep Breed
Name (if it has one)
Date shorn
Date skirted
Date scoured
Date carded
Date dyed/spun/etc.
If you want, just for kicks, weigh it before & after to see how much stuff fell out of it.
If the fleece is in pieces, you can either group like with like from different sheep or keep it all in the same bag & process it as one fleece later. I suggest, if it's in pieces to group like with like even if it is from different sheep; that will make scouring & further processing much easier.
A single fleeces yields a lot of wool. Much more than the original volume, considering that it has lost over 1/2 its weight in the skirting & scouring process. I think what it loses in weight, it gains in puff.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
We Are Always Learning
The day we stop learning is the day we stop breathing & turn into cold clay.
As people interested in history (whatever aspect of history we are fascinated with), we know there is always more to learn... there is never an end to what we can find out, explore, analyze, reanalyze, interpret, interpret correctly, put in context, experiment with, etc.
Some comments on FaceBook & various forums over the past few weeks have made me realize that some people don't understand that any field of study is a continual learning process... this is why it's called "a field of study" even the experts continue to learn. I certainly don't know everything there is to know about fashion history from the day God trussed Adam & Eve up in animal skins! (post-fig leaf fad, of course - the change being spurred on by an intellectual & spiritual revolution prior to the migration from the Garden of Eden)...
While I have a fairly good grasp on the evolution of fashion in Western Europe & North America from about 1300 through the present day; my field of study is middle-of-the-road time frame & rather sporadic-- it's what catches my attention from day-to-day. I've concentrated on the late 1600's through 1839, mostly English & French influences in America, though I've gained an interest in Dutch fashions as well... wait, now that I've learned a bit about the 1780's Irish that looks pretty cool... and the Elizabethan era is just so nifty...
You get the idea.
Some people (like my friend Missy Clark of Barkertown Sutlers) pick an area of study & stick with it. She knows just about everything there is to know about 1740 to 1780 clothing of the working class on the Eastern Seaboard (Middle Colonies)... everything from spinning to weaving to dying to making the clothes (yes, she uses a machine - we all have to eat), she knows the cut of the uniform in this year & how the lapels changed color here & here, and why and how much it cost to reissue those jackets... she has a portrayal of a peddler woman with a cart where she actually sleeps under her cart (super cool BTW, if you ever get the chance to go to one of her talks, do it).
I can say with absolute certainty that she's come an awful long way since 1988, puking in the bushes when she first met my mother -- who was shoulder deep in a cow's uterus at the time... "Mom, Hannah's mom is here to meet you! I'm sorry Missy, she's a little busy right now." Ha!
Other people, like myself, ping around like crazy because there is just so much to love.
In the reenacting & living history community, not everyone picks a character & sticks with it. Some people do & that's great; others float around in the various years of an event, each day perfect unto itself. Not all husband/wife teams match... he might be a longhunter from the mid-18th century, she might be wearing an empire dress from 1813. It all depends on what you love & how you choose your portrayal.
Historic costumers might make a dress out of polyester & never give it a second thought; the fabric is perfect in appearance... or use metal grommets to lace a pair of stays - and that's just fine! Dare I say the word "Steampunk"? Is it "farby" or "fun"? It all depends on the event.
Thanks to http://nativeamerican-art.com/native-american-clothing.html and http://www.halloweencostumeideas.com/girls-american-indian-princess-costume.html for the 2 images!
Some people don't mind machine finished clothing, others wouldn't touch it... that's fine too. Some hard-core Thread Counters (and I use that term with affection), wouldn't be caught dead in a garment that isn't 100% hand spun/woven/sewn - from flax they grew themselves or their own heirloom sheep.
Some people are so enthralled with the past that they build their houses and fashion their lives in a way that reflects a slice of history... others just go have fun at an event or 2 when they can get the vacation time & like watching costume flicks.
When someone in a field of study (here fashion history) asks a question in a public forum, it is not because we are totally ignorant & "can't claim to be an expert - how dare they!"... remember that even the "experts" don't know everything... it's because we want to learn more. It's that desire for knowledge that leads us down new & interesting paths. If we never ask questions, never explore new things, how can we grow as historians? If we sequester ourselves, isolate our learning, how can we say that we are open to new information?
If you closet yourself & do not share knowledge, how does this help us grow? It doesn't. If you never open yourself to criticism & the possibility of being wrong, how can you correct your mistakes?
On the flip side, going public with an admitted lack of knowledge (some would say ignorance in a snooty tone), that does, indeed, open us up to criticism.
It's a risk I'm willing to take. I am 100% willing to be wrong in my quest for good, accurate, right information. And I have the integrity to admit when I am wrong... (please, no one read that Livingston County News article from February - that wasn't my fault! it was so far off, I sent in corrections & it got slightly better, but OMG was that a disaster! Misinformation coming from "me" when it was the reporter who completely misunderstood & took things out of context & jumbled stuff up to make it sound "good." I should scan the article just to make official corrections).
I don't claim to be a leading expert in my field - I have made a career that manages to pay the bills through intensive study & really hard work, that doesn't just border on obsessive, it hops over the line & skips away into the land of "she never shuts up about old dresses!"
I have to refresh my memory on occasion: what understructure was worn with that gown & what was never worn with it? (bum roll, dome hoop, "serving platter" hoop, kidney hoop, oval hoop, pocket paniers, hip pads, etc)... it makes a difference to me, and honestly, I can't remember all of that off the top of my head all the time! What shape stays were worn at this time? What's the proper terminology for that technique & who used it, who made it, how common was it? This thing is super-cool, but was it isolated in Italy, or did it spread through the continent & into the Americas? Was the gown a la Turk worn in America? (because I want to make one, but don't know if I can sell it at an event)... Can I make this garment this way because it works better, or does that destroy the historic integrity of it?
I am beginning to explore the early 1800's a bit more...
The discussion on early 1800's chemises was fabulous... I corrected a mistake (in my brain) on the difference between a Regency Petticoat & the minor changes from shift to chemise, with the help of some people who have experience in that time frame... much more than me! Thank you.
A few weeks ago, I was making a doll dress in my (ha) spare time... after the 2nd try, I realized that the dress was a bib front, not a wrap dress... after all this time of reading pattern plates & sewing, I still made that mistake. Yes, I wasted several hours of my weekend & about 1/4 yd of fabric... OK, 8" of fabric... but still.
Even after years of sewing, study, reading the "experts" books, talking to people, giving talks - I still made that mistake. So sue me, I'm human. Humans are allowed "oops" moments... especially when dealing in doll clothes that have no impact on your life what-so-ever. But nice to learn of my mistake on poor Farby Phoebe vs. on someone's $20/yd material! Now, because of that hours-long mistake, I can make that bib-front dress in real-sizes, correctly. Yay! I learned something! Amazing.
See how that works?
Friday, September 10, 2010
Bad Customer, No Cookie!
I just found out that my nightmare customer is a recurring theme in the lives of other historic seamstresses. Thankfully I can say "no" to this one quite easily. I really think we need a black-list for PITA's, history of non-payment & general harassment.
It's really important to those of us who re-create these garments that they be:
1. correct
2. durable
3. beautiful
4. well made
...We all try really, really hard to make what you (the customer) wants. Most of the time we manage it. Sometimes we don't. These things happen... not very often, but they do happen.
But occasionally there are individuals who can't be pleased. No matter how hard you work, how many times you re-make an already perfect garment, how many hours you put in, how long you research, how many times they approve (and then change) the design... they will never be happy.
There are customers who will actually yell at you. Yes, they will yell, scream, holler & sometimes swear, I even had one physically threaten me (over a coat, people! over a coat).
Before you can even send their money or fabric back to them they will call the BBB... they are on the phone bitching before the lady at the post office can stamp the package. They will call or write to whatever powers-that-be to tell them just how much you suck. They will send hate e-mail, hate mail, trash you to every other professional in the business.
There are customers that are soooo nice until they turn into rabid dogs.
These are the people who make us just want to quit. These are the people who (even if they are right - technically), make those of us who sew want to throw our hands up in the air & say "forget it, I'm just sewing for myself now."
Here's the thing: seamstresses are human. We love our jobs. But we are overworked, severely underpaid & these things take time. Once you add in the sheer volume of garments & customers that we work with in a year, there are bound to be a few things that don't work out. I'm sorry for that. Truly I am. I will fix it. But I may not be able to fix it this month... maybe not even next month. Heck, I'm booked into January right now!
I understand if someone isn't happy. Occasionally I'm not happy. If it's my fault I will do whatever I can to make it right. But for goodness sake, read my Terms & Conditions, understand that I'm not making these things in China or Mexico, I don't have a 6 figure bank account... (I'm lucky if I've got a 3 figure account).
Being yelled at by you on the phone or e-mail is not going to get your garment sewn any faster... no, I can't make the fabric supplier ship that stuff any sooner, nor can I make the button guy cast any faster (he's got a backlog too). Nor am I going to make customers who ordered well in advance wait longer because you want your stuff for the end of this week.
As to the non-payment thing... it's quite upsetting. Those of us who craft your beautiful clothes work very hard. A dress takes an average of 10 hours to sew... by machine. Never mind the hand work, design work, fabric prep, fabric cost (...5-10 yds!).
A man's suit takes 2 or 3 days. A pair of breeches is 5 hours start to finish. That's 5 hours of my life plus materials ($20 in buttons alone) that you just stole from me. And no, I don't have a spiffy insurance policy that will pay me for "that kind of thing." It's just me here, with a sewing machine, scissors, needle & thread.
That literally takes food out of my mouth, literally doesn't put gas in my tank & there's half a day of pay that you took from me. For what? a pair of pants that I'm only charging you $65 for? WTH man, this isn't Walmart! I don't keep a slave in the basement!
I do this because I love it. I sew for you because I enjoy your company, I love the sport & have a true passion for history. I'm not asking for an arm & a leg ( I just want them measured correctly). I'm asking for a fair price (a reduced one at that), so you can play toy soldier on your weekend off. I'm asking you to pay me for my material, my time & probably a little bit of my blood too.
I get blisters, muscle cramps, sometimes I can't move my hands on the weekends, sometimes my whole arm goes numb from working on the sewing machine, or doing repetitive motions wile hand sewing. I stay up for hours researching garments & fabrics & weaves & history of economics so that I know what I'm talking about. Do I always remember? Nope. Can I always get tow cloth (not in North America I can't... and btw, if you've made it this far in the rant & know where I can get tow cloth, please tell me!).
There are few things worse than having someone walk out of your store with something you worked so hard to create & later finding out that they gave you a stolen credit card number, or wrote a bad check. Even worse is "I'll pay you the rest later" and they never do... what a betrayal of friendship & camaraderie.
Nothing leaves my store now unless it's paid for. I'm sorry to the rest of you for that, but promissory notes & credit cards will reserve the item, but they will not buy it until I know that money is in my account.
And it's the same people over & over!
Which leads me back to the desire to have a black-list.
I hear the same things from my seamstress & tailor friends... same people again & again. C / S / M didn't pay me... M is a total PITA... P yelled at me & sent the garment back.
Normally I don't let this stuff get to me. It's just that this incredibly talented & wonderful seamstress (who's work & blog I haunt) may be quitting because of this horrid customer, who I've had bad experiences with. Everyone I know who sews has & she's actually made 2 seamstresses throw in the towel. She's not a bad person, she's just a terrible customer! Which somehow makes it worse. I don't want her to sink a 3rd ship.
Please check out Lauren's blog,
http://americanduchess.blogspot.com/
it rocks.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Regretfully Editing Comments
I most sincerely apologize that I have to preview comments to this blog now.
I had some horrid person put links to highly inappropriate sites in my comment sections and I sincerely apologize to anyone who clicked on them.
To the person or persons who did that: shame on you.
I had some horrid person put links to highly inappropriate sites in my comment sections and I sincerely apologize to anyone who clicked on them.
To the person or persons who did that: shame on you.
Monday, September 7, 2009
I got an Amadeus Award!
http://lithiablack18thcentury.blogspot.com/ gave me an Amadeus Award!
How cool is that?
And how interesting is it that the ones she picked, I would pick too?
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