Sorry I’ve been quiet – very busy lately with a family medical crisis, new technology, garden worrying, trying to go paperless with professional stuff, and learning about personality types.  All completely engrossing…but not very medieval. One thing emergency rooms are good for is the spending of time.  Fortunately Lavena had passed on Honnoria’s book to me ("because I do textiles when??") and I’m really glad she did. Not only because it was apparently Just The Right Thing for several-hour-chunks of worrisome uncertainty and waiting, but because it’s a terrifically dense little resource, that is exactly what it claims to be.  … Continue reading Book Review – World Textiles, A Concise History

(under construction, I’ve got a LONG WAY to go, cleaning out my del.icio.us files) GARB RESEARCH Google Directory of medieval clothing sites Marc Carlson’s collection of extant garments, see the page on sewing techniques Kass McGann’s Reconstructing History patterns The Highlander’s Saffron Shirt Getting yellow without saffron Red & green stitching on yellow shirt Marie Cadeaux – Gallery of costumes Silver Desert: multiple timeperiods and places Dress patterns from Smoke and Fire Mesterinde Karen Larsdatter Lots of links here And here: Medieval Frocks Pre1000 Midgard Basic Clothing Standards Viking Apron Dress, by Marie Cadeaux 1000-1200 Regia Anglorum – Anglo-Saxon, Norman, … Continue reading Useful Links Elsewhere

The Society of Medieval Archeology has just put volumes 1-50 of Medieval Archeology online.  In toto.  That’s 1957-2006.  I will definitely be spending some time on their site. Continue reading Medieval Archeology Online

Okay, this isn’t a medieval post…except maybe it’s about how not to behave in a ‘medieval’ fashion. However, this list of bad habits from What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (blogged by Trent) struck me so hard, I have to share it.  I am guilty of practically all of these from time to time, so I have printed out the list and taped it to the back of my daily notebook to try to work on them.  Also notable: I think about those individuals who have made a fantastic positive impression on me…I can’t imagine any of them … Continue reading The 20 Habits That Hold Us Back

Jutta Zander-Seidel, Textiler Hausrat : Kleidung und Haustextilen in Nurnberg von 1500-1650, 1990. How do you review a book written in a language that you can’t read?  Well, I can review the pictures. I inter-library-loaned this one after seeing it referenced in several German garb articles, and my experience with it was a mixed bag.  First, if you ever get a chance to buy this one, and you have any interest in German garb, get it.  There’s frequently-excerpted illustrations shown in whole, second-tier illustrations that are sometimes hard to find, pictures of extant garments together with their ‘portraits’, and just … Continue reading Book Review – Textiler Hausrat

Mercy, it’s been quite a while since I blogged what I’m reading.  Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings, copyright 1963, by Amy Kelly.  Daan brought me home a library discard copy from his school (they throw out some of the neatest things).  It has a great map in the endpaper – I don’t know if that paperback copy Amazon is selling for $16 has that. Anyway, although Eleanor (Alia-Anor, apparent original spelling, after her mother, Anor) is definitely most of the twelfth century, which is not the 14th century of my current garb construction, she is so influential, and … Continue reading Book Review – Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings