suggestions on what types of garb to look for Middle Class (mostly womens garb)

[JJames]

Hello......

I think I am ready to ask a few questions regarding garb and character! Hopefully I will be comprehensible with my questions so anyone reading may be able to give their kind and much needed input. First, just a brief concept of whom, (wife and I), plan to be;

We are planning to build our characters around the concept of Merchants of the middle class (possibly during Henry VIII's reign or the Elizabethan period). We are more determined to be Middleclass+ being that, we like many of the noble characters and garb, however, it is pretty pricey and we felt that would be starting off a little out of league for our experience and expense. From what I've learned and read, middle class has a wide variety, in regards to positions, titles, and jobs in society, from lower middle class to upper middle class, and that there are many types of characters and backgrounds to choose from. Further more, I am understating that middle class has many concepts of nobles clothing, however may lack in the type of materials used as well as colors. Of course we are not attempting to be H/A, however, we want to be somewhat close and still have fun building our characters and garb.

I think my garb will be far easier to pick out, however it's my wife's that we have been wondering about. Any of you have suggestions on what it is she should be looking for when it comes to choosing such garb? I understand comfort is one thing; however, are there any rules of thumb to follow when building garb for such a character as explained above ( I guess that would be a wife of a Merchant)? I know she wanted  to go for something that was somewhat nice or dressy, but again, nothing too extreme or noble. I know this is probably vague, so if you have additional comments or questions, please fire away!

I have literally visited countless websites from Ren Faire sites-merchant sites- and sites simply coving history of clothing , however, there is a lot of information out there and at times its over whelming to a point I have not clue what to focus on.

Thanks for your interests!

~James

[Lady Amy of York]

Here is an article that I saved on middle class garb, that might be helpful.


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Middle Class Garb for Renaissance Women

The women of the middle class Renaissance wore a long chemise next to their skin, most often with a high collar and lace or ruffles at the neck and wrists. Over this, she would wear a bum roll, a hoop skirt, and her corset. She wore an underskirt of some fancy material and a matching bodice and overskirt. The overskirt was often left open in the front to show off the underskirt.

Middle class women would always wear a hat, usually decorated with feathers or ribbons. Her clothing was as opulent as her finances allowed. She would use ribbons, lace, and embroidered trim wherever she could. Her shoes were usually small fabric slippers, she carried a pouch and her house keys, but no knife, and she would wear jewelry.

Fabrics and Colors for Renaissance Middle Class

Middle or merchant class Renaissance people had more choices in colors and fabrics. They would wear woolen, linen, and cotton, but it would be of finer quality. They also wore silk for shirts and tunics, brocade, velvet, and sometimes had satin linings in their clothing.

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With that said my suggestions are :
                             a basic chemise -does not have to be anything fancy. I own three , a simple cooton off the shoulder one for warm days, a  basic long sleeve muslin one,  and a fancy chemise with an attached ruff at the neck  for when i wear my noble court gown. I would  start out witha simple basic one until your wife decided exactly what type of charcter she wants to play.

                        - a bodice- get awell made one that fits right. a good bodice will be a life time investment. You don't wanta cheap one that does not fit  right.

                        - a  underskirt

                         - a overskirt

                         - hoop skirt ? -depends on the style of the gown.  Some middle class gowns  can get by without wearing a hoop.

                          - shoes --go for comfort. i personally  wear my black sneakers under my gown. No one sess them, and my feet thank me for it at the end of the day !

                           - hat-- straw hat, bonnet, flat cap, tall hat,  snood, 




Hope this helps  a  bit.

                         

[gem]

This site might help:

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/mappeople/

[isabelladangelo]

Of course we are not attempting to be H/A, however, we want to be somewhat close and still have fun building our characters and garb.

I know you weren't trying to be, but this sounds very insulting.  You've basically said that people that attempt H/A aren't any fun.   Honestly, that is not the least bit true.  When you do H/A, it's a great deal of fun because you learn a heck of a lot.  It becomes almost like an anthropolgoical/archeological study on your own by finding out what our ancestors really did and not just some Hollywood interpretation based on an old 1920's silent film.

That being said, since you asked for middle class Henrican, pretty much everyone here will give you links to H/A sites.  Your garb doesn't need to be perfect, but most people who go for more than beer get drawn into the H/A side of things over time and end up "perfecting" their garb.

http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/sca/tudor/  -> a lot of period portraits and woodcuts depicting dress.   Some of the portraits and almost all the woodcuts show lower nobility/middle class ladies

The link to Elizabethan Costume that Gem gave you is extremely good.  That site really has many amazing articles.

Check out http://www.wga.hu for a lot on period artwork.  Their search engine is amazing.

http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/wardrobe/wardrobe.htm -> if you want to go Italian, particularly Venetian, this is the first place to check out.

Once you decide on a set style (aka, I want to recreate something like this paintings/sketch), many of us can help you further with fabric and construction ideas.

[verymerryseamstress]

Welcome to the forum!  You're going to be thrilled at how many helpful people will be pleased to assist you!

Before you look at typical working-class clothing you see sold/worn at faire, spend a bit of time looking at period portraiture to understand what people really wore. 

I made a typical working-class ensemble a few years back, and you'll see that the look is a bit different than the typical "Modern Ren" chemise/hoopskirt/skirt and brocade bodice you normally see at faire.  My ensemble was made using this image as the model:



Here is a link:  http://verymerryseamstress.com/peasant.htm 

You don't necessarily have to buy your goods.  You could consider making them.  I used a lot of information from the book 'The Tudor Tailor' to make my ensemble.  Their book is well-written (in my opinion) and easy to understand and work from.  You can buy their book from their website at:  http://www.tudortailor.com/

I have worn both period correct and 'Modern Ren' clothing.  Both can be equally comfortable (as long as you use natural fibers).  Historically accurate attire can take longer to sew because there's more hand sewing, but the end result includes an enormous amount of pride knowing that you did a bunch of research and made something that took a lot of time and care to create.  ;-)  It's like the difference between making a no-bake cheesecake and a 3-layer homemade triple-chocolate cheesecake. 

There's no such thing as BAD cheesecake, but the homemade one is, without a doubt, a kazillion times more tasty than the no-bake.  ;-)

In the end, though, it should be your choice as to how to dress.  Wear what makes you comfortable and makes you happy.  And have a GREAT time at faire - be sure to post pictures of you and your wife in your outfits!  We'll be eager to see what you come up with!

[Master James]

I think the first decision is to figure out where is the social cast you are going to fit.  Are you a money changer (Banker) in which case you would be quite wealthy, or are you a candle merchant, in which case you would be better than a peasant but not super wealthy.  The decision on vocation I found really helped me determine not only my character but my garb as well.  My first character and name sake on this forum is a wealther mercer (fabric merchant) and as such can afford to wear very fancy clothing but nothing as fancy as a noble would even though he is wealthy enough to afford the sumptuary taxes (wearing clothing above your station).  He is an upper middle class individual and the garb then goes with that station.  And by fancy clothes, that could be something as having a lot of black in your garb since black was one of the only colors that could not be made colorfast and had to be redyed from time to time, therefore the expense in using it since in order to redye it, the garment would have to be taken apart, redyed and reassembled.  Hope this helps.

[JJames]

Isbelladangelo (and anyone else); Please excuse my choice of wording, as reading that I now can see how one may take that statement as insulting , and as you graciously noted, it was not my intention.
I most certainly like to learn about things, and have gained an entire different view and respect of the Renaissance in the last couple of months through reading and searching!

I appreciate everyone's posts as this is just the type of input I was searching/hoping for! It is sometimes helpful for me to get a more tailored direction to follow when I start something new, and it seems I am on the right track and at the right place for help/ questions and advice, much appreciated!

Master James, I find your advice quite reassuring that I am on the right track in regards to determine a social status (station). With a little more research and creativity, I believe I can find a middle class position that accomdiates my interests.

Thanks. James

[verymerryseamstress]

JJames,

I was just going through my bookmarks and re-found this page:
http://www.lepg.org/gallery.htm

There are a lot of great working-class images in there to use as reference.  Hope this helps!