Then and Now - Cauls

[chargirlgenius]

I was digging up my old artifact for the "Then and Now" display at Storvik Novice this weekend, and I decided to look for some pics and class notes that I'd written as well. Yes, I wrote class notes on this plasic monstrosity. :-D

I was so very proud of what I'd accomplished. I wore them to my first Twelfth Night, which was, I believe, my third event. I'd been in the SCA less than 6 months.

Oh, and the dress! I thought it was so dreamy. It was my first "cotehardie" and I cut it from this cranberry colored cotton broadcloth. The color was beautiful, but I don't think that's why I kept getting complimented on it... I was quite clever with it - I used elastic looped trim that I found at JoAnns, and little wooden beads for buttons. I knew how to make fabric buttons, and eventually did for the sleeves, but it seemed like so much work to do all the way from my neck to the hem. But the hem - the hem was 5 inches longer than it needed to be - I understood it as conspicuous consumption (but was always annoyed at it). It was my second dress - the first I'd made pre-SCA, from various t-tunic instructions, to wear to the ren fest.

I don't have any of my old dresses anymore, alas. This one picked up close to $40 at a silent auction. Come to think of it, I suspect the winner may have been somebody on my f-list...

The cauls? I will *always* keep those.









I'll have this on display this weekend. Who else is going to bring their funny old things to show? I may or may not have something more recent to sit beside it. I only have one foam head, after all. :-D

Comments

[melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com]

Aw, those cauls are cute. :)

Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess), I've sold, given away, or repurposed my early work. My the body panels of my wonky first v-neck gown made excellent sleeves for my houpelande. And the body panels of my first linen kirtle just last night got hacked into false sleeves for tomorrow's ensemble.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

All of my pre-2003 (or so) dresses are long gone. I gave most of it away - for the most part, the fabric wasn't what I'd want to wear anyway.

Actually, I still do have a wool supportive, straight front kirtle that I made in 2002. If I replaced the machine stitching in the buttonholes, it'd be good to wear (albeit a bit low cut).

[reabhecc.livejournal.com]

this is me trying really, really hard not to LOL at my desk.

Those are... precious. Adorable. and Hilarious. Who knew you could be a blonde and brunette at once?

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

I later dyed my real hair to match my fake hair. SRSLY.

[silverstah.livejournal.com]

Aw, you're so CUTE!!!! I want to reach through time and space and pinch your lil' cheeks. :)

I LOVE the idea of showing off our first projects. I talk to a lot of folks who are overwhelmed by all the wonderful stuff they see folks making now - not realizing that we all started with plastic cauls. Or, in my case, panne velvet. ;) (See icon.)

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

They were cheeks, all right! That was taken about 6 months after my first wedding. I think everybody gains a little right after they're married.

(Let's not talk about how much I gained in the 6 month after my *second* wedding. Hi Henry!)

I love this display. I hope a lot of people bring things.

[silverstah.livejournal.com]

Aw, there are starlets who would pay big bucks for cheeks like that. I think you look adorable. :)

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Hee hee! Of course, I look past the good bone structure to the fat parts...

Can I see a bigger version of that panne velvet? :-D

[silverstah.livejournal.com]

Yep - except for some reason I can't pull up the one I have on my website. I'll re-upload tonight - it's on my old laptop. :)

It's truly, truly awful. It even involves a ZIPPER!

[sskipstress.livejournal.com]

Want a second foam head? I have 2 in my kitchen.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the offer, but it's also an engineering feat to get them to stay put on the head. I think the cauls can sit on the table, and people can put them on for goofy pictures, if they'd like. :-)

[sskipstress.livejournal.com]

If you had just a little more time you could do a photo album of various Atlantians wearing your cauls as inspiration to everyone else to try them on.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

It might be fun to get pics of as many people as possible wearing them. They go especially well on bearded guys.

[maggiebowgirl.livejournal.com]

Wow, those look a lot like the cauls I attempted to make not all that long ago. Luckily they did not come out right. Heh. But, yeah, like melaniesuzanne, a lot of my first garb is gone, or in the loaner gear...so people might actually see some of it.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

That's because I took somebody else's pattern, and taught my own class off of them!

[cathgrace.livejournal.com]

please, please, please, could you print off these pictures to acompany your display? You look so happy and proud, I love it!

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Your wish is my command, m'dear. I also have the "documentation" that I wrote. Instructions, so you can make your VERY OWN set! :-D

[cathgrace.livejournal.com]

Awesome!

[woodwindy.livejournal.com]

OK, call me crazy, but you were right to be proud! Sheesh, that's so much better than some of what I see on people who've been around for ages... including me! :)

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Silly you. You always look great. You don't have to make it yourself, but when you get stuff from others you get *good* stuff from others. I can't imagine you wearing plastic with plastic gems glued on!

[ornerie.livejournal.com]

hey, dont knock it. it is WELL within the requirements for the SCA ie "an attempt at pre-17th c. costume". the look and proportions are spot on. you didnt cover it with ab unch of celtic knotwork or other inappropriate embellishment.

you have a lot to be proud of!

and for the record, one of my first costumes was a cotehardie right out of NOrris in black crepe back satin, complete with a train and goblet cuffs, princess seams, and the piece de la resistance, wide metallic trim in gold AND silver with plastic gems at the perfectly shaped off the shoulder neckline, goblet cuffs and the hips (for an erstwhile plaque belt)

I looked stunning :) (no really, I did. I was HOT when I was 22! and an off the shoulder form fit princess seamed dress (complete with black lace corset underneath) suited me to a T :)) I should try and dig up photos.... I still have the dress too. havent had the heart to get rid of it!

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see those pics!

I posted this at the wrong time, because all of the people who helped me at the beginning of my journey are all off at a big camping event. They really did point me in the right direction, throw books in my hands, etc. I had some *special* things, but for the most part they kept me out of trouble.

Heck, I was less than two years in when I made a dress that I'd wear today, were I to sew over a little of the machine work.

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

Oh, geez, I did that, too! A parti-colored cotehardie cut from cream and pale berry polyester bridal satin trimmed with beige and garnet rayon China braid... beaded with garnets. I had six yards of each fabric (and I used every scrap of it), and it puddled on the floor because it was ten inches too long. I was 32"-26"-33" and about 117 pounds at the time.

Ah, youth. Totally wasted on the young.

I gave it to my ex-roomie and she still has it, so my tracks have not been quite covered.

[woodwindy.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

You should've seen me in my initial SCA phase, though: Indian gauze gypsy pieces and mall-bought fake Ren faire stuff, followed shortly thereafter by my poly/cotton, poorly fitted angel-sleeve gown phase. It wasn't until after I had the "why am I playing this music on the wrong instruments?" revelation that I started caring about the garb being wrong too...

And yeah, I have a plastic gem set. :) It might not be quite as obvious, because the headband and templars are fabric-covered and the gems are more subdued -- pearls and "amber." I like to kid myself that with a veil draped artistically it's more or less passable; the truth is my lack of hair (real or fake) is probably what strikes people first, and then they notice the fake gems. :)

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

Wanna borrow my foam head? Anne Boleyn won't need it this weekend. :-)
EDIT: Saw someone else already asked. Ah, the problems with attempting to read things on the blackberry first!

Hopefully, I'll have my first Renn dress ever next to my 1560's Venetian. It should be ummm...interesting? The Renn dress has a big ole zipper up the back and elastic in the faux chemise sleeves...

[ladyaneira.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful smile! And that little dimple in the chin . . . See, you should have sent me this photo a month ago. ;-)

[belfebe.livejournal.com]

I am bringing my "Captain Planet" doublet. It was my first. I patterned it after a denim biker's vest that I had, and it was a violent shade of purple trigger, had huuuuge epauletes, closed with velcro, and it featured lovely plastic imitation leather buttons.

Yeehaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[reabhecc.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to really, really enjoy this weekend. :D

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

I'm with you!

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

Ok, I'm on the other side of the country, so I don't get to play other than by LJ.

I present to you this little horror of cottonpoly broadcloth, lurex trim, poly blanket binding, bias tape and silver-painted plastic beading. Note the machine stitching on the turned back tab on the left holding the bias tape down:

(http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v233/ciorstan/?action=view&current=shameful.jpg)

It's over twenty years old and I STILL HAVE IT-- I kept it because I wanted to shrink back into it someday. The only thing right is that it fit perfectly at the time, and that the petticoat was pointed to the bodies.

::hangs head in shame::

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

See, now I think that dress isn't all that terrible. this was my first dress (http://www.modehistorique.com/elizabethan/firstdress.html), made by my mom from Elizabethan Costuming from the warped minds of by Winter & Savoy. Complete with corset pocket in the bodice!

I owe a lot to Ms. Winter & Ms. Savoy... If it weren't for them, I'd never be wearing things like this (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2122/2172943791_0628263ca6_m.jpg).

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :shuffles feet:: I, too, used Winters & Savoy, because the local library's copy of Norris had been stolen and you couldn't get it any other way back then for love or money unless you knew someone with an illegal photocopy.

I still have my old sketchbook with my 'notes' from Norris from the first time I saw [Bad username or site: marymont'/ @ livejournal.com]'s photocopy in the early 80s.

Note the silver grommets holding the petticote points... they fit the color scheme!

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

Norris rocks my socks, at least as far as his 16th century stuff goes. No, he's not always able to rip the Edwardian veil off from over his eyes, but he's a darn sight better at getting things right than other, more recent costume historians.

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

Cute! You couldn't tell they're plastic, honestly... Very well done. :)

[salviati.livejournal.com]

My first "Italian" gown was made from green polyester velvet that came from a parade float. Seriously. I was in college at the time, and a friend had witnessed some alumni dismantling their Homecoming float. Yards and yards of green velvet, that apparently was going to be pitched in the trash. My friend rescued it and turned it over to the College of Rencester (my SCA group at W&M). We were ecstatic! Free velvet!

The dress also had white bridal satin sleeves, with some kind of floral ribbon/trim along the neckline and sleeve edges. I tied the sleeves to the dress with rattail. The worst part is, I didn't wear a camicia or any kind of shift under it. Bare arms. Sigh.

I do still have it; now that you've reminded me about the "Now and Then" display, maybe I'll have to bring it with tomorrow. I could bring my 1580's Campi gown as a recent example. Worlds apart! :-D