Shades & Tones

It is really difficult to describe a shade. Let's take these 'stays'. Teal? Petrol? Powder? Bright? Baby? All these descriptions are subjective and it depends on which part you are looking at! I've worked with colour for roughly thirty years and I still wouldn't count on trying to memorize one. A picture would help - but even that has its limitations as printers still have difficulty duplicating shades and printing onto different mediums. Computer monitors are even worse at portraying what you want to show, using CYMK, RGB, etc is O.K, but when different monitors are not set the same, you are back to square one. Where you put things, ( RED or BLUE), can make it even worse!
In the past, 'Rich' colours meant exactly what it said. You were wealthy enough to have the cloth put twice through the dye bath OR had enough to afford expensive dyes. Presuming, of course, that you could ignore 'sumptuary laws', which were enforced in certain periods of history. What we call 'Sad' shades were worn by the poorer sections of society and were usually duller and more easily available from local sources. How people went on the past with dyes, pigments and paint is still a subject of much debate, conjecture and experimentation. I tell you all this because Jorge has revived his blog on medieval colour & painting here. and his web album is here. Both, well worth a visit.
His lovely work, I think, helps to prove that the world in past times wasn't quite as dull as some people imagine.

The Devil is in the Detail......

I saw a good sign yesterday outside a shop. It read 'Nearly Organic Rhubarb', which had me quite confused. It was almost as good as one I saw some time ago which said 'Crocuses - Last Week!'
It is so easy to get it wrong, to make signs confusing - and at worst misleading. We spend a lot of time trying to get the text on our website right and it bothers us if anyone misreads it. It makes us spend a lot of time checking the wording and saying to ourselves "O.K, what's it not saying that it should"? or "What's it saying that could be misinterpreted?"
Try these:-
95th Rifleman officers Dolman, rifle green cloth, black worsted braid, and silver metal buttons, made in your size, and using the standard frogging, lined with black cotton.
Seems to be O.K? We see a lot like this and for the price, they can be fairly good. What's it not saying? Well I don't see any interlining, which may cause the weight of the buttons/braid to drag down. How much braid? Is it wool? What's 'standard frogging' anyway? How many buttons? Are they Ball, Half ball or flat? Where are the velvet collar and cuffs? Any Austrian knots? We call this sort of thing 'Weasel words' - because if you ask for it made properly, the price suddenly doubles!
Here's an alternative;-
Made from the finest grade, Rifle Green, melton wool, it is interlined internally to support the extravagant amount of wool worsted russia braid and 80 silver plated, ball buttons. The collar and cuffs are of black velvet. Braided round shoulders. Bespoke made. Austrian knots to side back. Braided all round hem, cuffs and front of collar. Lined in good quality linen. Buttons embedded into main cloth.
This actually goes too far the other way. If someone is very short, or young, the chances are that 80 buttons won't be used as the braiding would be too close together. But which one would you read? Which one would you want? In the past, I have ordered things that were what I wanted them to be - not what was on offer. The Devil is in the detail. What I can say is that here you get what you ask for. We go the extra mile, (that's 1.609343994 kilometres), to get it right!

BTW. The above is just an example. The only misreading we've had lately, was on shoe buckles!

For that Windy Old Weather.....

CALASH
Dictionary: ca·lash (kə-lăsh') pronunciation also ca·lèche (-lĕsh')n.
1. A light carriage with two or four low wheels and a collapsible top.
2. A top for this or a similar carriage.
3. A woman's folding bonnet of the late 18th century.
[French calèche, from German Kalesche, from Czech kolesa, from pl. of kolo, koles-, wheel, from Old Church Slavonic.]

As you can tell from the pictures it's not a light carriage with four wheels and a collapsible top but it WAS named after this.
The bow at the top front unties and forms 2 strings which the lady would hold onto to pull the hat forward and keep it in place in windy weather. This one has been reproduced from a late 18th C original found in America and is entirely hand made. The outer is made from silk taffeta and is drawn over canes to form the ridges. The inside is lined with white twill silk. I'd also have a slight quibble with the dates as the Calash went out of use about 1830, making it an 18th AND 19th Century bonnet. This makes it a problem where to put it in the web albums. The solution we normally take is to place it in the album where it makes its first appearance, so you'll find this in 'Various(1700-1820)'. There are now 25 Albums and it's becoming a bit of a drag to keep splitting them up to make them faster at downloading. Nevertheless, it is giving us a good reference file (!) and if we weren't so successful, I suppose it wouldn't be a problem....
Come to think of it - I'd rather have the problem!

Not a Standard Tabard!..

Heralds Tabard (Child size)

We've just completed a tiny order for Kensington Palace in London. I say a tiny order because it was only 15" across and made for a six/seven year old, though it certainly took some time to complete.
When I first saw the photos of the original, I thought it was a bit odd and the lions on it were not the sleek lion/leopard beasts that you're used to seeing on Royal Standards and Tabards, but more like 'pug dogs' with a mane! The Irish harp was also very different to the normal interpretation. Never the less, we were requested to copy the original and we did - after requesting 'flat' photos to take away perspective issues.
Then there were the scaling problems to overcome. Getting a Lion Rampant to fit in a 3" space and still look like same and NOT like a red blob is not an easy task.
It was completed with a mixed technique of applique and embroidery on to quartered silk panels and took over a quarter of a million stitches. Someone in the office said that one of the panels should be bright red. "Why?" we asked innocently. "Because it has a quarter of vermillion stitches"! Groans - and a quick exit!
Anyway click on the picture to see more photos.

When was the original made? Well, it's not that clear. Gini has suggested about 1900, due to the sewing techniques. What was it for? They didn't have educational 'try-on' then. Perhaps Royal children played 'Heralds and Pursuivants' instead of 'Cowboys and Indians'?

Fashion shows.....

It's that time of year again and T.O.R.M crept up on us, well, like an express train! The fashion show with it's theme of "Noble Passions" went very well indeed. Our thanks go out to all those makers, models and backroom staff involved. (The next theme will be "A Night at the Movies").
The highlight for me was the 5 minute improvised argument between The Empress of Austria and The Czarina of Russia played respectively by Sue Lee and Alison Ryder-Hill of U.K Freeforms. Ladies you have my respect and admiration - for an hilarious and consummate performance.
Unfortunately, we don't have photos of the Sunday show but the Saturday show is below- and thanks to Ina Martin for the Photos.

Fashion Show March 2009

Cloning the clothing....

On occasion we are asked to replicate something that has been lost, damaged or God forbid, stolen. If the damage is light, we can usually discern its materials, manufacture and processes and do a good job on duplication. It becomes a little more problematic when the original item is not there to copy and you end up with a sort of 'identikit' picture of what you are trying to do - never an ideal solution.
So, (and I will say this only once)! If you have an item that you love, PHOTOGRAPH IT! and I don't just mean a picture of you dancing with someone else, at a distance, where the only relevant piece that can be seen is a shoulder. I mean the whole thing, front, back and sides. sleeves, linings, facings, embroidery, stitch lines, buttons and fastenings, notions - and then do it again in close-up! It would also help if you can identify any of the materials used, in other words, make notes of sizes and sketches. It will also help any insurance claims!
Another point. We like watching things like the Antiques Roadshow, (one of the few programmes that hasn't suffered from the 'dumbing down syndrome' and interminable advert breaks)! We do spot the odd uniform or similar and we are struck by the fact that the experts, even for insurance valuation, consistently undervalue them. Lets take one example. If a 95th Rifle officers Dolmen came up, (and it won't - shame!) the material costs alone would not be covered by the valuation. 45 metres of Russia braid, 80 odd silver plated ball buttons, wool good enough to carry the weight of all that. Linings, facings etc.- and going by past performance I suspect the valuation they would give to be about £450.00. So check your insurance!- and get out that camera!

Quotations and Enquiries

This month has been quite a busy one on the enquiries front and we've had many interesting items to quote for including 'strapwork' (making the body of material from interwoven and crossed flat tubes of material or leather) and very complicated embroidery and applique items. Tudor and Victorian outfits do tend to be high on the agenda, which, I suppose, reflects the power of the national curriculum.
It seems that organisations are now looking to spend on fewer, higher quality items that will stand the rigours of heavy use, instead of having to replace them annually. We can only applaud their foresight!

Gone for a Soldier...

Quite a difficult project this, as Nikolaus wanted to portray the 37th Regiment of Foot (North Hampshire Regiment), as at the Battle of Long Island in 1776. We normally give a little extra time on uniform to enable us to research properly, but in this case, we had a very short lead time, so it's was all hands to the libraries!

British Soldier (37th Regiment) 1776

We had our work cut out on this one! We have given it it's own album. (Click on the picture) and you'll see most of the process of dressing. We've also added a few Comments by Cuthbertson - who really knew what he was talking about!
Now the Uniform, and Nikolaus, are on their way to Singapore, so Nikolaus can take up a new job there. Good Luck, Nick.

BTW. Do you approve of the Colour change on this site?

Layouts & Dressing

Tudor Dress

It seems a few educational establishments are using the 'Tudor Dress' album as a resource, to show the stages in the way an early Tudor lady was dressed. There are very few things on the net that show this.
Dressing & layouts has been on my mind a lot lately and we're making changes to the website. The first one being that we've given 'Music' it's own sites. If you're interested, the music workshops are here and the ceilidhe band is here .
This is going to give us more space to show you what you want to see.

A Nice Warm Coat...

I really can't believe that it's been six weeks since I last posted on here! The time has just flown.
First there was the 'Christmas rush' and trying to get all the orders out on time. These included a new outfit for Mr White who was appearing in a 'Dickens' production over Christmas - at Williamsburg! We made him a nice warm outfit as it normally snows in Virginia at this time of year, unfortunately the weather had other ideas - and delivered 70 degrees of warm sunshine!
Then I came down with flu' and recovered just in time for us to fly to Spain for the holidays.
Now in the campo (countryside) it has cold nights but in the daytime reached about 20, which was very comfortable. -A little better than an outdoor event I did in Peterborough, in November, where it was minus 6!

Now back in Britain where the new year spreads before us like virgin snow, or should that be Virginia snow?