My resolution for this blog is to finish more projects than I start. Put another way, at the end of 2012 I want to have less on-going projects than I do now. Furthermore, I want to finish by the end of 2012 any projects from 2010 or from 2011. I want to keep a fresh rotation of projects so one doesn't keep wasting away in some closet.
A pipe dream I have is to make a costume set late in the Cavalier period, circa 1610-1630ish, coming off the tail end of the Elizabethan/Jacobian era and segueing into the Commonwealth era.
What I am looking to create is more from the 1630s. The falling band is falling out of fashion, but still can be seen. Trunk hose are giving way to breeches,with boots and spurs and boot hose. The hat is a large brim shallow hat, sometimes with a side cocked up with a feather.
This is the time of the Three Musketeers, after all.
Some inspiration:
Portrait of Charles I, king of England (1600–1649). Oil on canvas, ca. 1635.
Wears a shorter waistline doublet without points. Breeches end below knee and stockings tie off. Long sleeved doublet is unfitted and without panes.
Henri II of Lorraine, Duke de Guise: Antony van Dyck, 1634
Portrait of Henri II de Lorraine, duke of Guise; oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA
Wears a buff leather jerkin and gorget, open at the front. Breeches match the cape. Notice large falling collar and turned back ruffs at cuffs. Breeches end below knee at ruffle. Sleeves are paned.
Royalist Brothers: Thomas Gainsborough, 1638
Portrait of Lord John Stuart and his brother Lord Bernard Stuart (later Earl of Lichfield)
Unfitted Doublets with slashed sleeves and front, unopened front. Large falling collars and breeches end below knee with knee ruffles.
I call this a pipe dream because it currently has a completion date of 'before I die'.
The pattern I'm looking at is the complete Cavalier Man package from Reconstructing History, which I think has everything I need.
A project that has a much sooner completion date is the Irish costume. I already have a pattern for this - the one from Simplicity patterns. I don't know about the authenticity of this - Simplicity is not known for that. Frankly, it's hard to find reliable sources about traditional Irish clothing to begin with.
But it looks fun. And that's all that matters. With any luck, I should get started on this costume this year.
It will be an adventure for sure!
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