History of Costume

Celtic Clothing During the Iron Age- A Very Broad and Generic Approach

by heather smith

Draft copy

While few archaeological finds remain concerning dress during the Iron Age of the Celtic Tribes in Europe, if we... more While few archaeological finds remain concerning dress during the Iron Age of the Celtic Tribes in Europe, if we consider historical commentary, Celtic art, oral traditions and archaeological data together we can amass a generic idea what might have been available and worn by them. This broad approach to dress is not with out bias however and it must be noted that regional differences must have existed. The document tries to amass not just the generic view of dress but also emphasizes the issues of lack of evidence and culture and region differences that impact this information.

Tönerne Distanzplatten – Ein Beitrag zur Tracht der Wietenbergkultur - Spacer plates made of clay - A contribution to the Wietenberg Cultures adornments

by Oliver Dietrich

SCIVA 61, 2010, 161-170.

Spacer plates made of clay - A contribution to the Wietenberg Cultures adornments

For the Wietenberg... more Spacer plates made of clay - A contribution to the Wietenberg Cultures adornments

For the Wietenberg Culture, until now, nearly nothing was known about dressing habits, as
the few bronze and bone adornments surviving come mainly from settlement sites. Little attention
was paid to spacer beads made of clay, of which three are known, including a new find from the
settlement of Rotbav. Their function as spacer beads in a complicated necklace arrangement can be
deduced from an anthropomorphic statuette found at Satulung-Finteuşul Mic, which has to be
contemporaneous with the Wietenberg Culture judging from the depicted bronze ornaments, which
are to be found in the same combinations in hungarian bronze hoards and, partly, as single finds in the
Wietenberg area. Further the article discusses a possible relation between the clay spacer beads and
those made of amber. Similar necklace arrangements with amber spacer beads are known from
southern Germany, but not from Greece, an area often employed as source of origin for inventions
(like „mycenaean“ swords and spiral decoration) in the Wietenberg area.

You Are What You Wear: Scythian Costume as Identity

by Margarita Gleba

In M. Gleba, C. Munkholt and M.L. Nosch (eds.), 2008, Dressing the Past, 13-28, Oxford, Oxbow Books

Review: Roman Military Dress, by G. Sumner

by D B Campbell

From: Classics Ireland, Vol. 17 (2010), pp. 136-139.

‘í litklæðum’ – Coloured Clothes in Medieval Scandinavian Literature and Archaeology

by Thor Ewing

published in Pre-print Papers of the Thirteenth International Saga Conference

Sagas draw our attention to colour in clothes, and coloured clothing is also mentioned in poetry. From sagas and... more Sagas draw our attention to colour in clothes, and coloured clothing is also mentioned in poetry. From sagas and poetry, it would appear that coloured clothing is noteworthy in itself; it is usually blue, but red is more imposing, and most impressive of all is red scarlet. Undyed clothing is also mentioned, often as the dress of slaves, but it can be worn even by kings. White clothing appears to symbolise piety.

To what extent is this picture supported by archaeology? Finds from medieval Greenland suggest that dyed cloth might indeed have been a rarity in the saga age, but interestingly the picture changes slightly when we look back to Viking times. This would appear to point to increasing isolation of the Atlantic settlements in the second millennium. Nonetheless, dyes are best represented on the best cloths of Viking Scandinavia, such as fine tabbies, Birka-type twills and pile woven cloaks.

Chemical analysis of excavated Scandinavian textiles by Penelope Walton Rogers has confirmed a remarkable predilection for blue clothing among Vikings. Red clothing is limited to high status contexts. 'Red scarlet' refers to a type of luxury cloth that was unknown in the Viking Age; however, the dye that was used to produce it (kermes) has been found on Viking silks. White clothing appears to have been popular not only with the pious but with the ungodly too, though its religious significance was important from the Conversion. The archaeology of dyestuffs reflects a similar pattern to that of dyed clothing.

In the light of this, I argue that blue clothes occur in the sagas simply as best clothes, and the colour does not in itself have any special symbolic meaning when it is worn before a killing. I also consider how red clothes are used as a status marker in sagas and poetry.

As well as a general analysis, I look in more detail at some specific instances of coloured clothes in poetry, such as Atlakviða's 'serki valrauða ' (st. 4), Sigurðarkviða inn skamma's 'valaript vel fáð' (st. 66) and Rígsþula's 'serk bláfáan' (st. 29). I also consider literary and archaeological evidence for coloured clothes in other Viking-age societies, and find that the colour of Viking dress was distinctive, and was recognised as characteristically Scandinavian.

Ambrosius, Julianus Valens und die 'gotische Kleidung'. Eine Schlüsselstelle historisch-archäologischer Interpretation

by Philipp von Rummel

published in: S. Brather (ed.), Zwischen Spätantike und Mittelalter. Ergänzungsband zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 57 (Berlin, New York 2008) pp. 45-64

Poor Taff to Dame Venodotia: visual representations of Wales in the nineteenth century

by Rhian E. Jones

Independently written and researched, 2007.

The first half of the nineteenth century saw the social fabric of Wales reshaped by a myriad of economic, political... more The first half of the nineteenth century saw the social fabric of Wales reshaped by a myriad of economic, political and cultural changes which proved to be decisive in the forging of a modern Welsh identity. Here I am concerned with the visual expression of this identity, the ways in which it differed from earlier representations of Wales, the complex discourse surrounding it and the variety of influences on which it drew. The following discussion will outline the political and social factors which facilitated the growth of a distinct national identity in early nineteenth century Wales, as well as the explicit criticism of Welsh life in the 1847 Education Commission which necessitated a counter-expression of national character. I will then look at the promotion of a specifically female symbol of Wales which flourished under the influence of Romanticism and its relationship with the Welsh tourist industry. The third section explores how the images of Wales produced in response to the Education Commission blended the Romantic idea of Welsh womanhood with older images of women as dispensers of popular justice and defenders of a community, extrapolating these qualities to work on behalf of the nation.

Gotisch, barbarisch oder römisch? Methodologische Überlegungen zur ethnischen Interpretation von Kleidung

by Philipp von Rummel

published in: W. Pohl/ M. Mehofer (ed.), Archäologie der Identität. Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 17 (Wien 2010) 51-77.

'Sobieski Stuarts and Eilean Aigas',

by Andrew Wiseman

Scottish Islands Explorer, vol. 13, iss. 3 (May/Jun.), 37–39

'Girls Who Arouse Dangerous Passions': Women and Bathing, 1900-1939

by Catherine Horwood

Published in Women’s History Review, Volume 9, Number 4, 2000
JOINT WINNER OF THE CLAIRE EVANS MEMORIAL FUND PRIZE ESSAY, 1999

This article focuses on the struggle by women to achieve unsegregated access to beaches and swimming pools in Britain... more This article focuses on the struggle by women to achieve unsegregated access to beaches and swimming pools in Britain from the beginning of the twentieth century until the start of the Second World War against a background of bureaucratic regulation. Through a variety of sources that contrast official material with the mood within popular culture, it exposes the clash of patriarchal prudery against changing public opinions. It poses questions on the notions of female modesty and emancipation as women’s swimwear reflected changing perceptions of the female body and explores conflicting discourses of glamour and sex versus health and efficiency.

‘Top-knots and lower sorts: popular print and promiscuous consumption in late 17th Century England’.

by Angela McShane

Co-authored with Claire Backhouse, in British Printed Images to 1700, edited by Michael Hunter. Ashgate, 2010

Print was disseminating fashionable ideas long before the advent of glossy fashion magazines. This paper explores how,... more Print was disseminating fashionable ideas long before the advent of glossy fashion magazines. This paper explores how, in late seventeenth-century England, the cheapest printed products on the market could circulate information about fashionable dress and promote debates about its consumption. Top-knots were head adornments made with ribbons and lace. Worn by women, they provoked moral and social controversies which became the focus of satirical ballads and pamphlets of the period. These printed works were consumed by a broad cross-section of society across the country, making them an intriguing counterpoint to the more expensive visual sources that usually inform fashion historians. By locating the fashion for top-knots within the context of the production and trade of clothing textiles, this paper examines how high fashion could be encountered and appropriated by the ‘lower sorts’, and demonstrates that the eighteenth-century luxury debates, encapsulated in Mandeville’s ‘Fable of the Bees’, were already developing in the humble broadside ballad in the 1690s.

FORTHCOMING: Long coats, flowing fabrics: fashioning masculinity and desire in film and television.

by Sarah Gilligan

Invited contribution (book chapter)
Surface Tensions: Surface, Finish and the Meanings of Objects.
Edited by Victoria Kelley and Glenn Adamson, Manchester University Press.
Forthcoming 2013. Manuscript scheduled for peer review Winter 2011.

This chapter examines the role of screen costume in fashioning masculinity, focusing upon two recent film and BBC TV... more This chapter examines the role of screen costume in fashioning masculinity, focusing upon two recent film and BBC TV drama representations of Sherlock Holmes (Guy Ritchie 2009, Gatiss and Moffat BBC TV series 1, 2010). Masculine dress within these texts supports the ongoing reimagining of the character of Holmes, but also creates intrusive spectacular interventions. A complex three-way tension is created within these two texts, between surface adornment, space and the body. In the interaction between garments and the moving body, the former are raised to the level of fetish, offering visual pleasures that classical fetishism cannot fully account for.

Traditional Textile Of India Kashmir Textiles

by Parul Bhatnagar

Kashmir was a pivotal point, through which the wealth, knowledge, and products of ancient India passed to the world... more Kashmir was a pivotal point, through which the wealth, knowledge, and products of ancient India passed to the world although Islam and its enduring influence in Kashmir took root only in the 14th century. By the time of the Mughals the influence of Persian and Middle Eastern arts was considerable and is still evident in Kashmir's crafts. Kashmir was most famous for its intricately woven and embroidered shawls, which for centuries were a cornerstone of European fashion until the invention of Jacquard looms enabled the production of less expensive paisley shawls. Thirty thousand rural workers still weave and embroider Kashmiri shawls, which remain a status symbol in India. Another forty thousand weavers produce hand-woven fabrics, and the total output makes Kashmir one of India’s leading producers of handloom textiles. Men wear shawls with patterns expressed in tapestry weave over a twilled ground, mostly made of Pashmina, goat's wool.

Revealing Mary

by Angela McShane

Published in History Today March 2004

Images used to depict Mary II in broadside ballads were immensely varied. In 1689 there were twelve woodcuts of quite... more Images used to depict Mary II in broadside ballads were immensely varied. In 1689 there were twelve woodcuts of quite different women used to depict the new Queen. William appears on ten of these and again, each woodcut is different. Apart from their representational instability, however, the most striking aspect of these images is the way in which the modest and virtuous Mary was continually represented as openly baring her breasts. In an age when the way a woman was dressed, her ‘air’ and general bearing could give a clue to her character and standing, these images of Mary give distinctly ambiguous messages. Dressed in this way, Mary could, at the very least, be held guilty of ungodly ‘self confidence’ by proudly displaying her breasts, and of vanity by patching her face. In the later images she would have been vulnerable to the charge of excessive luxury by wearing a topknot – the cause of some considerable ballad debate over sartorial morality in the 1690’s. Representations of Mary and other monarchical figures that were used interchangeably on love, advice, pastoral and political ballads were the vehicles by which ballads could offer readers and hearers a fantasy. While the images displayed nobility and monarchy, the texts sang of people they could relate to and thus, through ballads, buyers could access the glamour, romance and seduction of the courtly world.

The cap of St. Birgitta

by Isis Sturtewagen

Co-authored with Camilla Luise Dahl, Published in 'Medieval Clothing & Textiles v. 4', 2008

In 1971, a small, partly damaged, linen cap, attributed to Sweden’s most famous saint - St. Birgitta - was delivered... more In 1971, a small, partly damaged, linen cap, attributed to Sweden’s most famous saint - St. Birgitta - was delivered to the department of conservation of Sweden’s Riksantikvarieämbetet (National Heritage Board).
In 1971, the cap was in the possession of the Marie Refugie convent in Uden, Brabant, in the Netherlands. The members of the convent in Uden wanted the headwear examined and
conserved. Because of its possible connection to Sweden, the task was given to the Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm. The conservation was carried out by Margit Wiklund and Anne Marie Franzén, and in 1973 the cap was displayed in an exhibition of St. Birgitta relics at the museum. An article on the conservation, including the creation of a modern reconstruction of the cap, was published in 1975 in the catalogue for the exhibition. In the article, Aron Andersson and Anne Marie Franzén describe the conservation and the cap’s possible origin, attribution, and dating.This paper will examine and reconsider some of their interpretations in light of visual and documentary evidence from the period, and in turn will propose some alternative conclusions about who might have worn the cap and in what context.

The fretwork veil of Catherine De Beauchamp, countess of Warwick

by Isis Sturtewagen

Publication in process

Catherine De Beauchamp, wife of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, died shortly after the 4th of August 1369.... more Catherine De Beauchamp, wife of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, died shortly after the 4th of August 1369. She was buried in a tomb in St. Mary's Chapel, Warwick, England, together with her husband. This tomb, dated c. 1370-1375, shows Catherine wearing a dress with front-lacing that runs down from the neckline of the bodice to the top of her thighs, a wide mantle hangs down from her shoulders, a narrow belt decorated with mounts encloses her hips, her sleeves are buttoned from just above the elbow down to the finger knuckles. On her head Catherine wears a frilled veil, which consists of two elements: one twelve layered veil with a 'checker'- or ‘honeycomb’-pattern and a single layered veil with small rounded pleats or frills on top. Some of the female mourning figures on the sides of the tomb also feature the ‘honeycomb’ veils.
There has been discussion about the construction methods used to create these fretwork veils. This article provides a short background on this type of frilled veil with a discussion of period artwork depicting it, and examines several possible construction methods.

"Een gouwen rync ende een ransse" De gerimpelde hoofddoek in het modelandschap van de Lage Landen der late middeleeuwen, Een interdisciplinaire studie

by Isis Sturtewagen

MA-thesis (in Dutch)

Simple frilled veils were already in use long before the mid 14th century, in the Low Countries as well as in most... more Simple frilled veils were already in use long before the mid 14th century, in the Low Countries as well as in most other European countries. From c. 1340 onwards frilled veils with multiple frilled edges became fashionable, and a greater regional variety of types of frilled veils came to be the order of the day. Around 1350 this multilayered style first appears at the courts of the Low Countries and about 1360-70 it reached the middle classes. After c. 1460 the frilled veils seem to disappear as a noble fashion, wealthy townswomen held on to wearing them until at least c. 1475. The ranse was a precious piece of female attire that was worn mainly by noble women and the citizen elite. Rarely it can be seen being flaunted by the working class as well. The occasions at which the ransen were worn were generally of a formal nature, but were not necessarily ceremonial.
Comparisons between late medieval art and (post-)medieval sewing- and weaving techniques allow us to have some understanding of the possible construction methods used for this headwear. Experimental studies have resulted in a better understanding of the construction and arrangement of the frilled veils, allowing a better typological categorisation of iconographic sources. The experiments also show that with limited resources a wide variety of veils could be achieved.
Thanks to the compilation of a database containing more than 200 sources from the Low Countries it was possible to construct a detailed typology of the frilled headwear in this region.

"Synaesthesia and Textile Analogies in Fourteenth-Century Music Theory," Viator 41/2 (Fall 2010): 317-331

by Luminita Florea