We all enjoy dressing up. Costumes we have designed and 'built' range
from early prehistoric to Medieval, Elizabethian, Victorian, fantasy and
futuristic. Much fun is had by all as we research, design, construct and finally wear our artwork...
Lord of the Rings costumes on display February 2003.
Costumes - that word often invokes silly Halloween wear - would be better-called period
clothing. Period clothing can be as simple as a loincloth or as complex as a 20 layer,
bloomer - crinoline - overskirt combination.
As costumes we see people cut a hole in a sheet and wear that as a garment and we see
elaborate dresses with embroidery and hidden detailing that takes months to make.
There is no right or wrong costume/period clothing to wear.
In Medieval times peasants would have worn simple cloth covers (much like cutting a
hole in a blanket putting it over your head and tying a rope around the waist) and possibly
but not necessarily simple pants and shoes.
Those with higher status would have worn more elaborate clothing to suit their positions
in life. It should be noted that the Medieval period - 5th to 14th century - did not have all
the extremely fancy clothing of just a century later during the renaissance period.
During most of the Medieval time cloth was made by ‘felting’ or from yarn that was hand spun
with a spindle whorl (spinning wheels were not invented until the very end of the
Medieval period.) All women, no matter what position they held, were expected to spin
thread and yarn whenever they could.
We are hoping to get more pictures
of costumes up in the next few days, to inspire you...
Transferring patterns and diagrams of clothing we have made is going to take a little longer
but we will try to get something up for everyone to look at...
