Historically-plausible (maybe) faun clothing...

[Sev]

**WARNING: Shy lurker though I may be, I WRITE TOO MUCH. This post is like a novel, and I am sorry. I've bolded the important questions toward the bottom so feel free to skim through to those. The rest is mostly just explanation because for some reason I feel compelled to share the inner workings of my mind with strangers on the internet. That makes me cool on Twitter, but probably not so much on here.**

Hi again! I'm de-lurking with yet another silly question... I always say to myself "I'm going to start participating more!" but when it comes down to it I just never have the guts to speak up. As a result I'm not sure where to put this thread, so if it doesn't belong here, Moderator(s), please feel free to move/merge/lock/delete it as you see fit. <3

Okay, so! I am planning to completely remake my faun costume from the inside out, head to toe, totally new... (well, except the ears -- I like those too much!). I'm all set for stilts, fur, horns, etc. but it's the clothing this character is wearing that really needs the most redesigning. I might wind up playing this character as a participant at my home faire this fall, so I need to make sure it's a versatile design, from the heat of early September to the potential snows at the end of October, and whatever rain might show up in between. But I also want it to be historically plausible! That is -- IF fauns existed during this time period, what would they likely wear?

Now, this character is a FAUN, so obviously I'm not against including fantasy elements, haha. But I don't want to look like I stepped out of some pure fantasy stuff, I want to look like I'm PART of this time and place... at least a little. It should also be pointed out that this is a faun who would be coexisting with humans; if she lived solely in the forest, I'd probably just tape my chest (scroll down to see what I mean; not my site or pictures) and call it done, but that's hardly any fun, is it?

Here are some of my first sketched ideas:





Please forgive the horrible coloring job, that's just to see which colors might go where.

So as you can see, I'm still quite in love with the idea of a green bodice/vest/whatever you want to call it, though now I'm trying to keep it a little interesting. #s 1 and 2 have gotten the most votes among my friends and family, but I have problems with both of them. #1's bottom hem on the shirt/underdress is just so... blech. #2 is way too ribbony, though I am still fond of a fairly tattered look, and the bodice as I drew it would be stiffened. I realized after I drew that one that a boned bodice would be incredibly impractical, as my stilts will require that I be able to slouch a bit, and if I'm spending all day with hunks of aluminum hanging off my feet, I ought to take whatever other comforts I can.

The "Seagull" pieces at Moresca later inspired me, with the way they have sort of a controlled tattered look to them.

(As an explanation for my obsession with tatters for this costume, my idea is that this character might look as though she had once been pretty well put-together, but then went running through the woods, totally messing up her hair and clothing.)

QUESTION #1: Here's where I get really stumped: I am not as skinny as I once was... well, I'm still pretty small. But I'm much squishier. So if I make an unstiffened bodice (Campi style) that ends at my natural waist, wouldn't it... squish my hips outward? When a skirt's involved that doesn't matter too much (in fact it kind of helps to poof the skirts haha!), but without a skirt, mightn't that look a little unsightly or at least unintentional? How might I go about designing something roughly along these lines that wouldn't look horrible with my squishy hip-bulges? Even if I'm wearing a shirt/underdress below the bodice, I'm afraid that it would floof out enough to look kinda bad, and I don't have the resources right now to do even a partial mockup. Any thoughts on this issue? Keep in mind I'm aiming for something that won't look too out of place at a faire... even though the faire in question isn't incredibly historically accurate to begin with hehe.

QUESTION #2:And then the shirt/underdress/whatever/thingy. Should I make the hem even all around, finish it neatly, notch it like Moresca's Seagull skirts, flare it...? I've looked at faerie outfits and they've touched on just about every possibility -- but they tempt me so much to delve into crinkle cotton!  Heehee. I just have no idea how these things might look in a light linen...

QUESTION #3: Why is a raven like a writing desk?

Okay, I'm done typing like a madwoman now. Thank you so much in advance for any thoughts/opinions/advice! I really admire everyone on these boards, it astounds me how knowledgeable you all are about your craft, so I can't think of anyone else I'd rather ask about these things. <3

[Becky10]

QUESTION #3: Why is a raven like a writing desk?

Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front 

So my head is a bit foggy from a cold so I think I lost a lot in translation but anyways my two cents worth:

I really like the look you have in #1 and I think having a "skirt" (i dont know what to call it) on the bodice would help with the, uh, "squishy hips" problem and if you do have any squish squarshing out it will pretty much cover it. I am a member of the small but squishy clan and I love my little handles. Unless you're built with hips that tilt in you're going to look like your hips stick out a bit cause they do.
Here is my moresca bodice. It has no boning but has a very large skirt on it that as I said would cover your hips. Its a bit fuller though so if your looking for more stream line then it no work.

This is a medium thats actually way too big for me but I wanted to show what type of bodice I was talking about.

You were talking about not wanting to pt boning in for it to be a bit more comfortable, have you thought about using the large zip ties as boning? It would help give shape and smooth things down but still give you flexibility.
I also feel like #2 is a bit too frilly ( for my taste) but you can incorporate some of that into #1 on the arms and bottom hem of the shirt cause well if you were living in the forest and what not that would be the pieces that would get torn up the easiest.

[Valencia]

I like #1, for several reasons. First, I like the cut of the bodice - it's very feminine, without taking away from being a faun.  Two, I like the ragged hem of the chemise - it just seems perfect for a mystical forest creature. And three, the color pattern of the light brown chemise with the green bodice is very nature-like.

[Elennare]

I like the shirt in #1, with the bodice from #3.  Actually, all of your designs look cool, but that combination is my favorite.

And, if you don't take the side-slits all the way to your waist, it'll cover any hip bulge while still keeping a fairly slim line.

[Lady Rebecca]

I like the look from the side of #4, and I'd love to see what you had in mind for the front. It seems like it would be very flattering, and I love the cut of the blouse.

[isabelladangelo]

A couple of things -for a fantasy outfit, you are fine.  For anything remotely historically accurate...eh, no so much.

First, there are only two colors for a chemise in period white/natural and saffron dear G-d yellow. The reason was due to the fact that most colors run and you don't want to be a smurf/purple person/tomato/ect given that the chemise you wear is going to be the same one you wear for a very long time.  (There is a story of a Princess that wore hers for well over a year but most people did change their chemise/shirt at least one a month or so)

Second, what you *might* want to consider is wearing britches with your outfit over the legs.  They could stop at the knee and you'd still have the very faun looking legs, but have h/a pants (women did wear them) to help "complete" your ensemble.  (You can see a pair here: http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/workbox/extdraw2.htm )

If you can, get ahold of Patterns of Fashion 4 since there are a lot of inspirational ideas in there. 

For the bodice, I'd go with a leather pair of bodice -which is very h/a; QE1 had a pair- or, at least, a faux leather bodice. 

[gem]

Oh, I like Isabella's ideas! I was thinking doublet bodice... and now I'm thinking how glorious it would be to see a faun wearing a ruff!!

Sev, we're making assumptions about the period--do you mean high Elizabethan Renaissance/16th century? Your options will vary depending on the period you're working with, of course.

For the fantasy options, if you're going that route, I like View 3, the sort of "ranger" look with the skirted bodice. But for "plausible historical accuracy," we need to know more about WHICH period you're wanting to fit into!

[Sev]

D'ohh... yes, I meant approximate Elizabethan, 16th century-ish. (See, I knew it. Out of all that writing I did I KNEW I'd leave something important out!! LOL)

Thank you so much for the responses, everyone, I'm feeling a little less lost, haha. Every time I saw a reply to this thread I was sent back to the drawing board with new ideas... but doesn't it figure my scanner's not hooked up at the moment. I'll share the good ones tomorrow.

Isabella, your ideas are awesome and your points are very, very true. By now I've pretty much decided that the farthest I'll stray from a natural-colored chemise is tan, just because I think it would "blend" a little better with the look I want. (Light greens don't look very nice against my skintone anyway! What was I thinking?)

The pants idea would be ALL KINDS of adorable, I think, but might put a glitch in the sense of "pseudo-realism" because I simply cannot imagine a faun with legs as long as mine (when I'm wearing stilts, that is) pulling on pants without hopping around and falling over and knocking into things in the process. Fitting them over hooves would be a problem also. I obviously wouldn't actually run into that problem while putting the costume on, but the character would... maybe I think too much about these things.

I REALLY like the idea of leather. I'd toyed with that thought some time ago but dismissed it because "would a faun wear leather?". You put it back in my mind and I think I've decided that a faun WOULD, or at least MIGHT wear leather due to the whole "waste nothing" idea...

I wonder about the doublet bodice... hmmm.

I'll be up all night drawing haha...

[isabelladangelo]

For the pants, the slits on the sides could easily go up far enough to allow you to put them over the hooves.  You'd then button the cuff and put on the pants while you are putting on the legs (as one unit). Or, if you prefer, you could go the "Turkish pant" route.   

http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/workbox/extdraw1.htm

This has a wider leg opening.