Robin Netherton's lectures

[anotheranon]

(Note: tried to send thru email last night, but LJ post by email wanted to be squirrely. Whatevah! My hands are a little less numb now but am trying to rest - as I plan to fence today and all the wrist action that entails!)

Giving a (quick) rundown of the lecture series today:

Quick by necessity, as my hands are still almost numb from taking notes! It never ceases to amaze me the wonderful logic and simplicity of medieval clothing. Looked at carefully, the gothic fitted dress and Greenland gowns are not as complex as they look - indeed, they can be made without any sewing experience or patterns, because they weren't made that way 600 years ago! It's a shift of perception for me, as I am accustomed to the modern methods of pick pattern, cut out, fit. With these, it's fit, sew, cut out :)

Finally heard the Victorian Meets Medieval (or, why/how Bad Victorian Costume Books Got That Way) in full, and am reminded yet again that researchers of any historical subject need to be aware of the biases of those who came before them, as well as of their own.

I should refrain from typing further for now, but if anyone (hi jlsjlsjls!) wants my notes from these lectures I'm sure I'll type them up some day - let me know what you're interested in.

Comments

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Definitely the bad Victorian stuff! Stephen Jay Gould's essays on Victorian error/rewriting of history long ago gave me a taste for this topic!

I'm also interested in the cutting after sewing ... I know that, before the age of mass cloth production, cloth was generally custom woven for the making of particular garments (far less wasteful than our modern method), but know little about this third stage of construction.

But let your poor hands get lots of R'n'R first ... those are two of your most valuable tools and need LOTS of pampering! :-))))