Further Fashion Notes
I have now noticed something about Paris fashions that may be of interest to my costumer friends.
In Paris, the coat is much more of a fashion garment than it is in the US (or at least the parts of the US I have lived in recently). Often it is almost a dress in its own right. Here are a couple of examples of the sorts of things I have seen recently:
When a stylish Parisienne checks her outfit in the mirror, she looks at it without the coat, and again with the coat, to make sure that the various silhouettes are harmonious.
So that's nice, and I have almost constant Coat Envy, but the reason I bring this up is because I think it's relevant to costumers.
Another picture:
Here we have a Parisienne (or at least a model) who is (presumably) wearing underwear (chemise!) and clothes (kirtle!) and a coat (overdress!) in the sorts of layers that are familiar to medieval costumers.
In the parts of the US I have lived in, the coat is worn briefly -- it comes off as soon as you're inside anywhere. The main criteria seem to be whether it is warm, and whether it will wrinkle one's "real" outfit. But not everything is heated so well around here, and so you see women in their fashionable coats inside restaurants, inside museums, sometimes in their workplace .. because it's part of their "real" outfit.
Now excuse me, I'm off to the fabric store to stare thoughtfully at wools .....
In Paris, the coat is much more of a fashion garment than it is in the US (or at least the parts of the US I have lived in recently). Often it is almost a dress in its own right. Here are a couple of examples of the sorts of things I have seen recently:
When a stylish Parisienne checks her outfit in the mirror, she looks at it without the coat, and again with the coat, to make sure that the various silhouettes are harmonious.
So that's nice, and I have almost constant Coat Envy, but the reason I bring this up is because I think it's relevant to costumers.
Another picture:
Here we have a Parisienne (or at least a model) who is (presumably) wearing underwear (chemise!) and clothes (kirtle!) and a coat (overdress!) in the sorts of layers that are familiar to medieval costumers.
In the parts of the US I have lived in, the coat is worn briefly -- it comes off as soon as you're inside anywhere. The main criteria seem to be whether it is warm, and whether it will wrinkle one's "real" outfit. But not everything is heated so well around here, and so you see women in their fashionable coats inside restaurants, inside museums, sometimes in their workplace .. because it's part of their "real" outfit.
Now excuse me, I'm off to the fabric store to stare thoughtfully at wools .....