frualeydis | Entries tagged with research

These last days I don't even know the state of my exhaustion - because I am in too much pain to think anyway. I am not a fan of having to take tramadol in the morning, I try to limit my usage of opioids to one at night so that I actually can sleep.

But there isn't much one can do, and if I take one I can actually get somethign doen AND be able to take a long walk after work. I can almost always walk unless I have a flare in the joints in my legs, fmovign with a purpose helps to distract me from the pain. Before my exhaustion just thinking and focusing on intellectual work worked to distract me, but that ability has been worn out by too much pressure the last decades. But walking (or biking) is still fine. And it is going to be sunny, though not very warm (max 17 degrees C) today.

But now I hope to be able to focus on "my" 17th century probate inventories, I have foudn some really nice ones (as in content, the German handwritign is often horrible) recently with interesting clothing and textiles.

My presentation at the IMC was about clothing and textiles in six courtly romances translated to Norwegian and Swedish in the early to mid-13th and early 14th century respectively. One of these, the so-called Möttuls saga was probably based on the Old French Le Cort Mantel, and was adapted into Old Norse by a cleric known as Brother Robert, probably of Anglo-Norman origin, for King Haakon IV of Norway (1217–1263).

The Norse text can be found in its entirety here.

The tale is about a wondrous cloak which tests the fidelity and virtue of the woman who wears it, and the story in the Norse version is rather comic and somewhat bawdy. The cloak is very beautiful; made from red silk and is gold embroidered all over with leaves. it is held together with cloak ties and if the woman wearing it is virtuous, it should reach all the way to the floor. A man brings the cloak to the court of King Arthur and demands that all women at court should try it on.

Unsurprisingly all but one of the women at King Arthur's court fall short in this test; the cloak is eithr too short or too long, and often both at the same time, indicating, according to the tale, in which position the woman had been unfaithful.

So much about the story, but when I worked with this material I felt a very strong urge to have such a cloak, though without the magic. Silk cloaks are not unheard of in medieval Scandinavia, I found three in Norwegian wills when I did my PhD dissertation:

* One, from 1349, is made from blue silk and has skillmala, an unidentified type of ornament.

* One, from 1353, has no mention of colour, but was lined with ermine and edged with sable and also had lade, a word that means woven or embroidered trim.

* The latest one, from 1366 was green, lined and edged with ermine and had gold ornaments, These were probably cloak clasps, since bezants, the metal ornaments so common in medieval fashion were usually silver or gilt silver.

Cloaks from this period were semi-circular - one such cloak was found during excavations in the church of Leksand in Sweden. The cloak, which is dated to the 12th or 13th century, was made from a diamond twill wool and had a border of woven trim along the straight edge of the semi-circle. This cloak was probably long enough to reach to the wearer’s feet in the back. Marc Carlson has a page about it, which shows an estimation of the cut, and more information can be found in Margareta Nockert's article ’Textilfynden’, in Tusen år på Kyrkudden, red. Birgitta Dandanell, Falun 1982.

As I wrote in my last post I looked around for reasonably priced silk when I was in London, but I didn't find any in a colour I liked. However, this week I passed the town of Borås, known for its textile trade, on my way to a friend's 50th birthday celebration, and there, at a shop called Furulunds, I found a gorgeous raspbetty red silk. The photo does NOT make it justice.

A little more than one year ago, when Contessa Isabetta del Verde was queen of Drachenwald, she founded the Society of the Golden Egg. The Society of the Golden Egg is a challenge household for the arts and sciences in the Kingdom of Drachenwald, within the Society for Creative Anachronism.

This is the web page of the society, which will tell you much more, including ongoing projects. Members of the household are either in the process of making their challenge or have finished their challenges, after which you remain a member of the household for three years. After that you will have to make another challenge if you want to stay.

There are currently eight challengers, and I am one of them.

I liked the idea of the society from the start, but since I research and make stuff all the time I wasn't sure if I needed this/it was for me. Especially since even the largest projects, such as Valeria's Eleonora di Toldeo gown, tend to be finished much quicker than in a year.

But then I found this, which if we take into account the fact that I have started working 75 % instead of 50 % probably will take a year - at least if I include research, blogging about it and making an article. It really is the perfect project for me:

A quilted auqueton from 13th century France

A Golden Egg challenge by Aleydis van Vilvoorde

The project is to research and recreate the auqueton of St.Isabelle of France, the sister of St. Louis, who lived 1224-1270. While St. Isabelle did become a saint the garment in question is not a religious habit, but a secular garment worn for warmth, and a rather fashionable one too, since quilted garments had recently become popular under the influence of muslim manners of dress. The garment has its name from the Arabic al coton. While fashionable it was not only a high-status garment; quilted garments made from linen or half cotton/linen and with cotton wadding were made as ready-to-wear, at least in Italy, in the period and since the materials were relatively cheap (and labour very cheap in the Middle Ages), they were actually a cheaper alternative to wool garments to keep warm.

When making it I will be using the correct materials and with period sewing techniques but make the garment in a size that fits me. The aqueton will also act as the focus for wider research on quilted non-military garments in medieval Europe. Included in the challenge is that I will blog about the research, tests and finished results. I will also write at least one article on the subject for Dragon’s tale and present the finished aqueton and the research on a web page at my blog.

The project is a challenge in several ways: I have never quilted a garment before, so I will learn new skills. Patterning for a quilted fabric will be an interesting challenge which will mean making samplers to see how much the fabric shrinks from being quilted. it will also be a challenge to make all that hand quilting in less than a year. My goal is to finish the challenge so that I can present it at Double Wars 2019.

To sum it up why it is perfect for me:

• It is from one of the time periods I mainly make and wear.

• It’s a preserved garment

• It involves the new fashions for quilted clothing, and cotton, which is something I am very

interested in researching further.

• It will provide opportunity to continue my research in the field of cotton and quilted clothing of

the high Middle Ages.

• It is rarely done, the reconstruction of Sihame Cornetet linked to below, being the only example

that I have found.

• It will be a challenge to make all that hand quilting in less than a year, and I need something to

push me.

• It is a practical garment to keep warm. Though wool I does this admirably, so this is the least

concern.

I have started on the research: The garment is one of those included in the recent book by Elizabeth Coatsworth and Gale R. Owen-Crocker: Clothing the past: surviving garments from early medieval to early modern western Europe. I have also studied Sihame Cornetet's analysis from her blog. There you find many interesting photos and information, and she has also has begun a reconstruction.

Apart from reading my first step was to make a test quilt, to see how much the fabric would shrink from quilting.

Yesterday, during the sewigng meeting that I host for the barony of Gotvik every other week I took some linen scraps of the approximate weight that I am going to use and I measured and marked a rectangle on it.

The cotton batting is spread very thinly, just like the original. When I make the actual pieces I will probably comb it to make it a little more even though.

I then quilted it with waxed linen thread, using running stitches. The finished piece is still flexible, due to the thinness of the cotton wadding, and it didn't shrink noticably.

The next step is finding if there are any older publications in French about this garment and if possible hunt them down. Actually starting on the quilting will have to wait until next salary, because I have bought quite enough fabric this month already.

So instead I cut out and started on the short sleeved linen shift that I mentioned in my precious post.

The other challenges include cooking, brewing, clothing reconstruction, spinning and weaving and lace making - you can read about them here.

There is also a facebook group for the Society, which will keep you updated about what is happening with the various challenges.

So, I have this side research project gong on, studying you, and myself, for a conference paper, and I would like you help me. I have made a survey on the re-creation and wearing of medieval dress.

About the survey:

This survey is a part of a research project on the choices and priorites made by people who re-create medieval clothing. It is inclusive and tries to cover both re-enactors, groups such as the SCA, LARPers and those who make medieval clothing In other contexts. For the purpose of the study "medieval" has been defined as the priod 500-1600. The 16th century has been included even if it's not part of the Middle Ages, because one of the largest groups which re-create medieval clothing, the SCA, include the 16th century in their re-created time period.

There will be questions both about your own choices and practices and about your opinion on the choices and practices of others. In the latter case "others" can be other people in general, or people taking part in the same re-creating activity as you do, the interpretation is up to you and you can define which in the comments if you want to.

You do not have to answer all questions, but the results will be more reliable if you do, so I am grateful if you complete the whole survey.

The point of the survey is not to judge, either from a point of period correctness or based on any moral criteria, but to study practices among those who make and wear medieval clothing. I will not judge you either for making all your garb from polyester and glue, nor for wanting to (metaphorically) burn those who do. It is anonymous, and the information you provide about yourself will only used for statistics and not published in connection with any individual comments or answers.

About me: My name is Eva I Andersson and I am a historian working at the Department of Historical Studies at Gothenburg University in Sweden. I eared my PhD in 2006 on a dissertation medieval dress in Sweden and Norway. Since then I have mainly studied Early Modern dress, gender, and consumption. My professional web page can be found here

I have also made historical clothing, mainly medieval, since 1993, and this experience lies behind my interest in the practices of re-creating medieval dress. (You know this if you're reading this and/or my costuming blog ;) )

The survey can be found here.

With permission from the chronicler I have also published my article that I wrote for Drachenwald's kingdom newsletter Dragon's tale on my blog. It's here.

I got accepted to the "Inside out: Dress and Identity in the Middle Ages" conference at Fordham University next March!

This creates all sort of trouble, since we had planned, and announced that we would have the SCA event St.Egon's feast that weekend and I really have to be there because a)I'm stepping down as baroness, and b) I'm the feastocrat.

So now I've dumped this problem in the lap of my poor friend Alfhild, who's the seneschal, and also autocrat for the event.

It makes me sad and stresses me - but still: New York!

I am very excited, since I've never been in the US before.

A bunch of photos:

Today's outfit: A 2nd hand linen blouse, trousers from Heyday inherited from Anna's sister. They were given to Valeria when Sara (the sister) grew out of them, but I nicked them today (with Valeria's consent), a ten year old cardigan that I think was from H&M. The checked jacket I made this spring, the cap is knitted by me some years ago.

The cardigan is now way too big, so I have to tied it in front if I want to use it.

Since I have short legs the trousers are too long, but they fit Valeria as they are so I won't shorten them.

My latest article arrived in the mail yesterday. There's some very interesting other articles in this, the 2nd issue of 2017, of Costume too.

And I got the best idea for the first slide on a power point presentation for my lecture of fashion, body and gender through history:

Other updates: Berlin was nice, though I didn't get to see much of the actual city since I arrived late on Wednesday, spent two days indoors at the Kunstgewerbemuseum, from 10 am to 6 pm and caught the train back 7 am on Saturday. Being environmentally responsible means 12-13 hours of traveling instead of 1,5. But apart from sleeping too little the nights before traveling, and worrying about delays, since I had to change three times on the way, I actually enjoyed the train trip.

it is very interesting to see the typical Swedish mistakes I make, when getting editorial comments on articles. You can really see the Swedish construction of sentences, phrases and use of prepositions in some places :) Swedish academic writing is done very much in the passive form, which leads to phrases and constructions that just don't work in English.

...I defended my PhD dissertation Kläderna och människan i medeltidens Sverige och Norge (clothing and the individual in medieval Sweden and Norway).
Most of you were around then, and before that, so I won't go into details.

In a way can't believe it's already ten years, it doesn't feel like that. In other ways I can see what those ten years have done to me; I am so much more confident in my role as a researcher and teacher now.

I will not celebrate it in any particular way, except not working any more today and instead have some tea and continue on a craft project.

So, a frined and I have decide to run for baron and baroness in our little barony of Gotvik, principality of Nordmark, kingdom of Drachenwald. Sicen he said that he wantd to wear 2dersses" I ahve temprarily put my 16th century (and 15th century) projects aside to get back to one of the periods that I have doen the most: the 13th and early 14th century.

This far I have made a new veil, gone through my garb from this period, bought wool, and silk lining for tunics and ordered silk brocade for another tunic.

But most of all I have collected more images and written a lot of (mostly) research-y blog posts.

I made a silk brocade pouch

Patterned clothes in the 13th and early 14th century

Some coloured and patterned veils in the 13th and early 14th century

More lined veils

13th century underwear

Fancy, patterned braies in the 13th century

My murrey sleeved 13th century surcoat

A 13th century striped veil and blue silk cotte that I made

Par vestimentorum - a set of clothes

Clothing in Isabella de Bruce' trosseau from 1293

I also finally finished my Isabella di Toledo silk stockings.

Work takes most of my energy, but yesterday I made the collar for my new short coat while having tea with my neighbour Anna and later keeping Maja company before she went to bed, she has a cold and needed her mummy.

It's a for me typical mix of machine and hand sewn. Since the fabric has a tendencey to unravel while you watch it teh pieces are zig-zagged, but it is sewn together by hand, because it is easier to combine with a social life. To make the collar stiff enough it is interlined with a heavy cotton satin and the lining and interlining are padstitched together before the top fabric is added.

Yesterday I also put up an old presentation, from 2011, that I gave at a fashion history conference in Brighton, in my other blog: Clothing and perceptions of gender and body in the medieval an early modern period. You can read it here, if you haven't already.

I am actually not yet well from the flu, but yesterday I got back to work on my usual sick leave of 50%. It was no slow start, since on Thursday I have a 40 minute presentation on clothing and its social meanings in 17th century Sweden at a research symposium at our town museum.
I haven't done the additional research on late 17th century probates from Gothenburg I had planned since I was ill, so I will have to have a more general discussion based on the probates from Stockholm that I have worked with on and off the last years.

I got a bit of a flow this morning, but then I had a meeting at work and after that I needed some rest in the sun on my balcony. First I read the latest Crimes of Fashion book, "Lethal black dress", which arrived on Friday for a while and then I read Clare Haru Crowston's latest: Credit, Fashion, Sex: Economies of Regard in Old Regime France for an hour before going back to the computer to work on my presentation.

I think that it will be interesting enough, not much new content for me, but that doesn't really matter, because it will be new for at least most of the other participants. It also got me thinking that I really should write a book about 17th century dress in Sweden - I think that I will soon know the subject well enough. That put me in a good mood, even if I don't see it happening soon- I'm not even well form the flu yet really.

My trip to England was not only beer, rock'n'roll, dolls, fabric shopping and lovely friends; it also had a higher purpose, since I was presenting at at conference called "The geography of luxury: east, west and global directions" held at the University of Warwick in Coventry. My paper was on Swedish sumptuary law and can be read here.

Last friday I ran out of yarn for teh sweater I'm knitting. With most of the last sleeve left to do. On Monday I went to the yarn shop, but they wouldn't get any until the end of next week. So I went home and ordered it online and today it arrived. My plan was to knit the whole sleeve and finish the sweater today, but I still ahve most of the sleeve cap left to do and I really must sleep. But tomorrow! :)

While waiting for the yarn I knit a pair of cosy socks for Inger and started on a shawl for my mum. It's her birthday today, but I won't meet her before the weekend, so it ought to get finished in time.

Knitting aside, I'm working on an article on dress regulations for prostitutes and other sexually transgressive women in medieval Scandinavia. The deadline is tomorrow, but I got an extension so I can work on it next week too.

Yesterday at 8.08 my collague Aufur called me and asked where I was, since I was goign to have a lecture at 8.15. I had totally forgotten about this, but of course she was right. So I jumped out of sweatpants and t-shirt and into a skirt, tights and a top and then jumped on my crutches as fast as I could to the university. Meanwhile she talked a little about the coming examinations. I got uinto my room and dug out my old notes, though I didn't have the time to find the OH-transparencies that are in another room and at 8.28 I was there, ready to teach. I did have to draw a map of Africa, due ot the lack of transparencies, but other than that it went pretty well.
At the break I got the transparencies for the next hour, which dealt with the early history of China.

Considering how it started I think that I did a good job.

Then I went home and made the final revisions for my article for Fashionable Encounters: Perspectives and trends in textile and dress in the Early Modern Nordic World, which will be published by Oxbow Books next spring. Our web mail wouldn't let me attach more than one file per message, but eventually it all got there in time.

Today I have a meeting about our fashion history course and then I teach Fashion 1900-1950 - an overview.

You can find my presentation at the Pasold conference here.There will be more of this and about sumptuary law and concepts of nationhood in Sweden in an article that will be published in a book in the Ancient Textiles series by Oxbow books next summer.

I've been away from here for a long time (two weeks I think)..I read your posts, but I don't write much. I do some blogging at my other blog, mainly because I don't have to fill it with content, but can just post some pretty pictures, or because I write about specific Swedish stuff.

My health is really bad now. The arthritic flare isn't getting better and I have also
( TMI )
Yesterday I started on prednisone, which will hopefully "break" the flare, but I got a bad reaction and spent most of yesterday being in lots of pain from all ove rthe body and sweatign a lot. This happened after my injection a few weeks ago too and then went away, so I hope it's just the initial reaction and that it will pass. Unfoirtunately this meant that I slept maybe three hours this night and I teach between 18 and 20 tonight. Maybe I can nap a little after I have sent Valeria to school.

I currently work half time, which is good, but I am still very stressed about work, since I haven't been able to focus on my presentation for the Pasold Conference next week. Not panicking yet, but a lot depends on making a good impression there - for example I want to write an article about the things I'm going to talk about and have it published in Textile History.
That presentation is on Saturday, in Stockholm, but on Thursday I give a totally different one at the Gothenburg bookfair - one of the biggest agencies for funding research in Sweden has asked me to present some stuff I wrote about the transition from viking to medieval manners of dress around the year 1000. I think have that presentation ready, which is good.

And finally the deadline for the final revisions for my article on foreign goods in 16th and early 17th century Sweden is on Monday the 1st. I plan to make most of that on the train to and from Stockholm.
.

I have just stopped thinking that the 17th century is really boring, which I've always thought before. Intriguing, must be "my" 17th century probates.

Well, it seems that I was accepted to the Pasold Conference in Stockholm in 2012 after all. They were supposed to give notice to those who were accpted on the 15th of March and since I hadn't heard anything from them I didn't think that they wanted me (or at least my abstract). But they were just late in giving notice.

Allrighty - that means that I have to start transcribing 17th century probates now.

The gigantic excel file with imported materials used for clothing in probates from Stockholm 1589-1649 is finished!!! Tomorrow: to figure out the best way to analyze and present the data - one week until deadline!

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frualeydis

Evas historical costuming blog

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Eva's journal

I take pleasure in many things

Entries tagged with research

Navigation

Stupid arthritis

The tale of the Mantle

SCA: The start of a Society of the Golden Egg challenge

Help me research YOU!

My article on cotton in medieval Europe

Yaay! I'm going to New York!

Instead of text

Editorial comments, the joy of

Ten years (and a day) ago...

Lots of 13th century stuff

Small progress

Back to work

What I talked about in Coventry

Knitting abstinence

Living with a non-functioning brain

What I talked about

Ill and busy

How did this happen?

Accepted after all

Drumroll please!