Don't stress the small stuff

So following last week’s blog I was thinking how often we look at clothing through history. The problem we face in this, fabrics until about 50 years ago were made mostly out of natural fibers. This means they break down. There are moments however when an outfit survives. It may have been kept out of damp and well-lit places until it is discovered and is able to shed light on its time period. Sometimes it is found on a body that has been preserved by the elements and so it sheds light not only on the time period but the person who wore it. Unfortunately, these chance moments are so few and far between.

One of the main sources of clothing is paintings, we sit there and curse at them because they won’t show us the back or the side of the garment. The problem comes when we are trying to recreate them. Here is where I stand on the matter. Here are the five things I think are most important to look at.

1. Fiber available at not only the time but the location. If you are playing a Middle class person from the 1800s you are not wearing silk unless it is an evening gown and even then you are pushing it. Someone in the city is more likely to have this true, then someone in the country. Learning your fabric is as important if not more important than style but even today it is one of the most expensive types of cloth. Also it will effect how your clothes drape. If you are going to an event and you are wearing polyester instead of cotton or linen you will find the garment is going to drape very different and it will throw off the way the style is supposed to drape on you your body. In some cases, it will ruin the effect you are going for.
2. Undergarments are the bases of how your clothing is supposed to fit. Those 16-inch waist in the 1900s, that was nowhere near natural. That was due to training and corsets. The poofs in the sleeves of the 1830s, there was extra fabric inside them that were often removable. Undergarments include extra petticoats, drawers/underwear/shifts, corsets/bras, undersleeves, underdresses, socks, head coverings and the list goes on. To get the outer look right you need to get the under look right. 
3. Colors are very important. If you are middle class, solid colors are the best bet until the Industrial Revolution. After that look at the number of dyes used. The more dye colors the more expensive it would be. This is due to the way they dyed fabric during the early creation of this. For plain fabrics White, red, some blues, gray and others are easily accessible depending on the era. Look at paintings of the class you are trying to portray and see what colors are prevalent, which ones are not and then come to your own best conclusion.
4. Now look at the silhouette. How does the dress show the hip, shoulders, chest or neck? Look at more than just one image from the time here. If you can look at originals. See if you can figure out where the seams sit, and how the cloth might have been cut to create the desired look. This is where originals come in handy. However sometimes there are no originals so make your best guess as to how the desired look is affected by different ways one garment might be made. This is more prevalent in very early garments. When images aren’t clear and there are no originals or badly damaged original garments then think it through, try not to over think it and come up with the best solution.
5. So you have the cloth, the undergarments, colors and the silhouette now to put it all together and add the proper accessories. Think Hat, handkerchiefs, gloves, seasonal coverings, location, shoes, and jewelry.

A well done dipiction of shilouettes through time

Heres where everyone does worry and I don’t think they should.

Thread counting, seriously if I am a house wife I am not making sure that I have 15 stitches per inch when I have a house clean, food to cook, a goat to milk and a baby crying in the cradle. If you are trying to claim you bought it in the store, or second hand go head do the thread count but if you are playing a housewife who made her own clothes, do the best you feel. I am not basting the stiches; I am still trying to go for a consistent spacing but seriously when I hand stitch my spacing is a lot closer when I am mad verses happy. I am sure for my Great Grandma it was the same. (Plus perfection is more of a modern concept)

Thread counting in knitting, also stupid. Anyone who knits can tell you, the yarn, the needles and the size throw off how many stitches per inch you have. Plus knits get so worn, so quickly there are very little originals that remain. They stretch, my socks are proof of this, they wear down and get fixed, and they differ based on size of needle and yarn gage. As long as you pay attention to the gage of the yarn at the time, the material and color at the time, counting stiches is more up in the air. Also if I am a knitter trying to recreate another knitter’s work I am not going to count how many stiches per inch and more cast on my stiches and do what I can to copy the stiches. My piece may differ from the original but I will do what I can to at least make it look like what I saw.

Slight alterations, as long as I get the silhouette I see in fashion plates I see as also fine. If I am a house wife who is making her own clothing guess what I may not see a finished one and so my guess is pretty good. Many of the house wives may be basing their clothes more on fashion plates then an already finished product. Same goes for knitting. If I am self-taught on how to sew or knit, that is going to change how something turns out. If I am taught by my mother, that is going to change how something turns out. If I have a lot of time to sew or knit, which means more practice, guess what, that is going to change how something turns out.

So stress about the five things above. Don’t freak out over thread counts, slight changes in where a seam sits. Yes these matter in some eras. Yes these matter if made by a sewing machine, or by a seamstress, or tailor but if you know who you are playing (their class, where they live, their home life) you can figure out how much you really need to stress about. (This is why I love playing people from the country middle class, I can tell the truth, I am self-taught/my mother taught me and I live a busy life caring for my home.)