Where to find or how to make girdles/chain belts

[operafantomet]

It's not historically accurate, but it just occurred to me that a hidden pocket might be helpful, for cell phone and money/wallet/ID.

LOOSE pockets are wonderfully period. They were usually worn under the dress, accessed through the skirt split (which would be in the side or front). They could be plain or decorated, colourful or muted. Sometimes they were also worn on top of the dress skirt, but that's more rural. Loose pockets under the dress were in use until Regency style. Here the dresses were made of too thin materials and with too tight fitting models that loose pockets underneath became too bulky. So they started using small, decorative purses instead (enters tons of drawstring purses from Regency style).

More on period loose pockets here:
http://aneafiles.webs.com/saccoccia.html
http://katerina.purplefiles.net/garb/diaries/FLSaccocciaPouch.html

[Rowan MacD]

Pockets are a must for all the LARPers we work for, and Faire is more LARP than reenactment, so adding a pocket here and there is no big deal.  Just conceal them in side seams under bodice or doublet tabs and you'll be fine.  We make ours in sturdy cloth, double seamed (line of stitching AND 4-thread serged, or bound with bias tape), and hide them between outer garment and lining when we can.  To go under big farthingales, you can easily just make slits in the side seams and wear separate 18th C style pockets under them.  These have the advantage of being almost impossible to pick!  Slits in gown skirt, petticoat and farthingale almost NEVER line up exactly, and by the time the pocket has slid round a bit when you walk...

We have several pairs of Venetian slops to make over the next few weeks, and they will all have two side seam pockets in them, hidden under the braid trim.  I'll probably dig out my 18th C pockets to wear under my gowns.  Luckily, by 1628, farthingales were out, and the most they wore was a tiny bumroll.

I haven't seen a skirt yet that you can't hide a pocket in the seam. You can't really stick bulky items in them, but they are perfect for cell phones and reading glasses. I carry a draw string pouch for my money and cards.

[Orphena]

Ok, I know I'm late to the party, but here is my nickle's worth! (They got rid of pennies here in Canada, so my comments are now worth more than 2 cents!)

1. I wear what I call an "undergirdle" to support pouch, tankard, and fan. The best source of chain that is sturdy that I have found is from the thrift store - look for 80's style purses with a chain / leather strap combo. Make sure the strap will fit around your waist, and attach a clasp. That goes on under my gown, but over my petticoat, so it is accessible (My gown bodice and skirts are not attached to each other.)

2. I made my own girdle using flat glass marbles mounted on flat metal disks (I believe thier original purpose was to be brooch backings), surrounded by pearls. I linked the "gems" using 2 - 4 rows of chain, the part around the waist separate than the hanging portion, but it all attaches neatly. If you are careful with the colour of the glass marbles (I have one in browns and golds, and one in sage green), they will really look fabulous. I have had some people mistate the brown and gold as topaz.

[RowenD]

   I'm borrowing that idea for making the jewels, I never thought of using  the glass bits for anything except markers for games and in vases ^_^.


   

[LibraryPrincess]

Thank you all for the helpful tips!

Lady Orphena, where did you get the supplies for your girdle (and/or how did you connect it all together)? And thank you for your nickle's worth. ^_^

[Orphena]

Supplies....well, the glass gems were the easy things - dollar stores have the best price, Michaels has better colours, even Walmart is an idea.

The discs - that was a rare find at a place called Lens Mills (Canadian store), which is like a liquidation world. I've not seen them for 5 years, at the time I bought up all they had. If I were to redo it, I might try wood discs.

Pearls...well, you can find them anywhere!

Attaching - the metal discs have 2 holes in them, I twisted some wire through, created loops for hanging, and then glued the gems on top of the wire to the discs. The rest is just large chain links, another lens mills find.

You might try looking at fancifuls.com for something cool, or if your city has a fabric, bead, button district, try there. Toronto is awesome that way, don't know about other cities!

[Rowan MacD]

   You can get really good, sturdy, fancy metal chain from Lowes or Home depot in the lamp department.
    Look for decorative chandelier chain, not the utility stuff.  It's either sold by the foot, or prepackaged in 3-5 yard lengths.  Sometimes they are in the same location, sometimes not. Perfect for belts and girdles.
    Unlike jewelry grade chain, this stuff will not pull apart or break easily.

[LibraryPrincess]

Thank you much ^_^