Dress Diary: Køstrup Apron Dress - Information from the Excavations

[ragnvaeig]

After a couple years of sewing busily for others, I've finally decided that it's high time I make time to make a new dress for me.

I'll be making myself a Køstrup apron dress. In keeping with my interest in promoting lesser-known dress styles in the SCA, this style is another apron dress of a less-SCA-popular variant, but my first closed-front

Comments

[m_nivalis]

That one has been on my to do list for years! I'd love to see your interpretation. Do let me know if you need any translation help.

[ragnvaeig]

Shall definitely let you know if I have a word that doesn't make sense. So far, I believe I have understood the articles just fine.

Had you planned out details for your version yet?

[m_nivalis]

Not really. Last thoughts were a combination of Køstrup front and the Hedeby fragment for the back.

[ragnvaeig]

That still sounds like an interesting combination.

[stitchwhich]

I'm not a fan of the short loops on the back. I think they make the brooch ride too high, although that may be a matter of my fat body vs her thinner one. When I wear an apron-dress, I find that if the brooch sits in the 'notch' formed when one's shoulder is angled to the front (as if you were shrugging 'forward'), then no matter what I do it never interferes with free arm movement or gets in the way of things. It would disturb me to have them so high on the shoulder.

[ragnvaeig]

Hm. That's disconcerting. I've been defaulting to situating the brooches about that hollow for the two dresses I've made so far, but hadn't yet tried the short loops, hence my curiosity.

I'm muscular with curves, and my main concern with making the brooches ride high is my ability to run without bruising my clavicles.

[gwacie]

I wonder if shorter loops would actually help that... giving the broach less room to bounce? *ponder*

[ragnvaeig]

I've found the knockabout from the torsion of the loops more a problem than bounce, per se, but the beads and the *noise* are the worst part when running.

[laurensa]

What an interesting dress!

I look forward to seeing your work.

[ragnvaeig]

Thanks. It's not something you see on everybody yet, which is why I'm interested in it.

[gwacie]

Cool beans :)

I've been thinking for a while of putting together a class on interpreting archeological evidence for clothing (sort of a soap box class :) With an eye toward experimentation and alternate interpretations. I think too many people go with someone else's first guess, you know? Or they're looking for the ONE RIGHT WAY, when there are always multiple interpretations and honestly, when dealing with hand made objects how likely is it that they were all the same?

Anyway, would love to chat and steal some of your sources :)

[ragnvaeig]

I have that same soap box, trying to convince people there is NO One True Gospel of the Apron Dress, not least because of the tiny shreds we have left!

Which sources would you like to steal? Would love to participate. I even think you could put together a lively panel discussion with a couple experimental archaeologists who use different methodologies, and have them compare technique.

[gwacie]

*bounce!* Whee! :)

I was thinking of just presenting the evidence first and what I'd really love are some actual images of the extant fragments we've got. A lot of folks see the adaptations and don't realize just how fragmentary the evidence is. Since it's not my favorite time period I've not devoted a whole lot of research too it, but I've got a few bits here and there that I've found on Jstor and the like.

Aw heck, just send me your bibliography? I can see what I can get on inter-library-loan and the like. My email is grace at case dot edu :)

I was thinking of maybe doing mock ups (doll sized?) or drawings of the different interpretations as a way of visually showing how you could interpret the evidence. So show fragment, show 10 different possibilities, heh.

[gwacie]

Ooo and a nice table comparing the different extant bits :) Yeah... I love tables... somehow I've got to figure out a way to include a graph... heh.

[ext_1708909]

Rad. I've been wanting to make one with the pleats, too- but as a maternity style, since I could easily adjust the pleating to accomodate for forward expansion. I'll be following this.

[ragnvaeig]

Are you sure the original has that much expansion room? Hilde Thunem seems to think the tiny little pleats would give you about 4 cm of uptake, and my baby bump got way, way bigger than that.

I've actually found the wraparound, open-fronted style to be the most conducive to maternity wear.