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This page last modified July 3, 2017

Clothing and Textiles

The Surviving Garments Project -- Now Open for Business!

A searchable catalog of surviving garments of Europe and the Mediterranean area from the dawn of time through approximately 1500.

ATTENTION: Unfortunately, a change in how database files are handled by my ISP has "broken" the current interface and I simply haven't had the time or energy to figure out how to fix it. The data all still exists, but other projects are eating up all my attention currently. Sorry.

Dig That Doll! (Dolls illustrating archaeological clothing finds)

This is partly for my own amusement and partly a more transportable way of illustrating the surviving garments research. I've been creating dolls dressed in reproductions of some of the clothing I've been studying. Some day I may have a selection available for sale.

Secrets of the Silk Road Sketchbook

My notebooks and extensive analysis of a museum exhibition of material from the Tarim Basin in China.

Medieval Welsh Costume to 1300 **not yet available**

Source materials for the research of clothing in medieval Wales. This isn't the full text of my pamphlet by this title, but only a presentation of the underlying raw materials.

Medieval (and Earlier) Welsh Costume FAQ

A link to one of my various FAQs for medieval Welsh re-enactors focusing on clothing and textile topics.

Articles and Class Handouts: Garments and Accessories

Overview of Tunic Design **to be added**

A stylistic survey of garments that are basically geometric in design.

The Shepherd's Purse: Anatomy of a Research Project

From a class tracing the steps from the initial observation through data collection and analysis to experimental reconstruction.

Another Look at St. Louis' Shirt

An article originally published in Tournaments Illuminated concerning a 13th c. French alb associated with King/Saint Louis. This version of the article has annotations based on other people's observations that add even more angles.

So how tall was St. Louis? And who was wearing his shirt?

A detailed comparison of the relative proportion of a wide range of tunics and albs from the 11-15th centuries in order to try to answer the question, "If the tunic attributed to St. Louis was actually his, how tall was he?" In addition to a lot of numbers-geeking, I step through the methodology of my analysis in excessive detail.

Simple No-Sew Shoes **to be added**

These are the handouts from a series of workshops I've taught on medieval shoe designs that require nothing more complex than summer camp-level leatherworking skills. They are intended to help "lower the bar" to wearing authentic shoes with one's medieval clothing, although they come primarily from the Migration Era and early Medieval period.

Gathered-toe shoes

Sometimes erroneously presented as "Celtic" shoes, these are taken from Iron Age finds of northern Germany.

Simple ankle boot

A style found throughout northern Europe over a fairly broad subset of the first millennium CE.

Net-top shoes

An Iron Age style found in several locations in northern Europe.

Articles and Class Handouts: Sewing and Embroidery

Archaeological Sewing

A survey of functional sewing from various archaeological reports and analyses. The article spans the Bronze Age through the Renaissance, with somewhat uneven coverage. Diagrams of the stitches.

Embroidery from the Mammen Find (10th c. Denmark)

A survey of the embroidered fragments, their historic and artistic context, and color-coded pattern charts for the embroiderer.

Early Coptic Embroidery (Egypt 1st millenium) **still under construction**

A survey of surviving embroideries from Egypt dating roughly to the pre-Islamic period (although a few later pieces are included). Some charted patterns are included.

Medieval Egyptian "Blackwork" Embroidery

Counted-thread, double running stitch embroidery from medieval Egypt (primarily the 13-14th century). This includes a beginner's step-by-step how-to section as well as half a dozen charted patterns.

A Survey of Medieval Chain-Stitch Embroidery of Europe and the Near East **not yet available**

An article originally written for the West Kingdom (SCA) Needleworkers' Guild newsletter. This version of the article has color figures.

Embroidered Clothing before 1000 CE **not yet available**

An examination of the evidence for embroidery on clothing (as opposed to furnishings) in the first millennium.

Multilingual Glossary of Embroidery Terms **not yet available**

This is a reference I've put together for my own use that I thought might be more generally useful. A glossary of the terms for various embroidery stitches in several languages, including an illustration of the stitch.

 

 

 

 


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