A rich and luxurious
costume, decorated with embroidery and dyed naturally.
Under-dress
Undyed linen ground
length long sleeved (U) with round neck.
Dress
Pale green wool,
ankle length (D) with wide flared sleeves and round neck; slightly
tailored at waist. Cuffs embroidered with 'Lindisfarne
Dogs', appliquéd red linen band down front.
Cloak
Yellow wool semi-circular (C) lined
with brown linen with hole for head.
Leg-bindings
Blue wool strips of cloth wound tightly
round the legs from ankle to knee.
Shoes
Flat-soled leather shoes, with central
seam and thong fastening.
Hair
Possibly braided or
bunned and pinned up.
Head-covering &
Band
Rectangular cream wool (W). Edge placed
on left shoulder, taken across the top of the head, under the chin,
around the back of the neck and over the right shoulder. Held in
place with tablet-woven wool band.
Black text - items
in the picture; Red text italic - items not made;
Pink text - items not visible; Green
text - items made but not in the picture; Blue
text - correct item, which is different from the one in the picture.
Under-dress
The under-dress
I wear with this costume has undergone several changes over it's lifetime. Again,
I made it too short and wore it like this for several years, until finally deciding
to lengthen it at bottom and cuffs to fit properly. It is made in the classical
T-shape, with seperate arms, under-arm gussets and godets in the sides for extra
movement. The neck is round and the edges are rolled and overcast in plain crochet
cotton. (Inside seams are machined as they are stronger and quicker and don't
show.) It is made of coarse cream linen, with the extra bits
of 'mixed' fibres in light-brown. I have had to repair
it several times too, as seams have ripped
and children have tried to force it over their heads, etc. It has lasted quite
well, really.
This dress is one of the few items that
has remained pretty much in it's original form. It came out the right length,
with the right size neckhole and the sleeves were long enough.
The colour of the wool in the
dress could be gained by dyeing first with yellow dye (very cheap) and then with
woad. (Woad is a very famous dye, which is yellow as a liquid, but turns blue
when the fabric hits the air - see the Fabric page in Ælflæd's Guides.)
Update
6/3/03 - I have put on a bit of weight since I made this dress (contentment) and
have let it out a bit. The new panels are in purple wool.
The 'sleeveless overgarment, with
and without hood', as it is referred to in Gale R. Owen-Crocker's book 'Dress
in Anglo-Saxon England'. A marvelouos piece of clothing, double thickness, ground
length, beautifully warm, but hard on the shoulders. As it is such a large garment
having lots of fabric in it, it would probably only have been worn by those with
money.
Mine is semi-circular in shape with a hole for the head, though
they could be oval, rectangular or square and has no hood. I have made mine of
yellow wool, which would have been a cheap fabric and colour, but lined it with
brown linen, which is not so cheap. The edges
are decoratively blanket stitched with cream wool. Update
12/9/01 - I had begun to embroider some decoration
along the bottom edge, but sadly I fear this will never be completed as I have
now stopped going to shows, so have no need to bother.
These are about the easiest item
of clothing to make. Simply take a strip of fabric and hem it, then wind it around
your legs from ankle to knee (see the Leg-bindings
guide also). I have short legs so mine are about 141 inches long and average 2
inches wide. I wear socks underneath my leg-bindings,
which helps keep them up and my feet warm (and who's going to know in those shoes!).
My shoes,
I had made by Tony Sayer, the 'chieftain' of 'The Vikings' society. Very reasonable
at £40 a pair and they have lasted me three years, with only a few studs
lost. Believe it or not they are waterproof, though you do have to soak
them in oil and dubbin to give them a nice, dark waxy coating (and lots of elbow
grease).
As a little luxury, to go
in my shoes I made some 'insoles'. Basically, I cut out 2 foot shapes, taken from
an existing insole, stitched them together leaving a little hole and then stuffed
it with fleece and stitched the gap up (do 1 for each foot obviously). Lovely
and comfy on your feet. (You could of course use Kapok or interfacing which would
work just as well, and as it won't show is perfectly acceptable).
These shoes have studs on them, which is not authentic (see
Footwear guide), but essential if you don't want to break your neck wandering
around on grassy battlefields. Everything else about these shoes is correct.
Hair It is most likely that the
Anglo-Saxons had long hair and that this was entirely covered by the veil/wimple/head-covering.
(See the Wimples guide for further details.) My hair is just tied up at the
back to keep it in some order.
The head-covering is a rectangle
of loose weave natural wool, with the edges
folded once and blanket-stitched in red wool. (See the Wimples guide for further
details on styles.) The band is tablet-woven wool in a mix of colours (see the
'Regia
Anglorum' site for details on tablet-weaving).
The amber bead necklace is awaiting
repair, as the wire it was on broke. The pouch
is just a circle of leather with holes cut for a thong, threaded round twice so
it tightens up. Incidentally, this is the very first piece of 'kit' I made and
is still going. Update 6/3/03 - I have now made a belt
for this costume of purple wool decorated with green and yellow embroidery. It
fastens with a little hook.
