middle class costume
The Basics of Middling Duds
NOTE: The first two paragraphs repeat what’s been said before.
Every website, every book, every manifesto on creating garb to wear at faire will tell you the same thing (or should): Always use 100% natural fibers! First and foremost, it’s a matter of how wearable the stuff is.
Cotton breathes, linen breathes, wool breathes, most synthetics don’t (except polar fleece which is another ballgame altogether). Much though I would love to say that linen and wool are the order of the day, it just isn’t feasible in our climate and on a limited budget. I guarantee you one thing, though: barring allergies - you would be more comfortable in a wider variety of weather if you wore only linen and wool.
Don’t just take my word for it, try it out. I’d rather be dressed in wool than polyester on a hot day anyday. Wool will help regulate your body temperature. Polyester or rayon will hold heat in and help raise your body temperature and may induce heat exhaustion.
Not all synthetics are bad, not all of them look bad, but they all do look synthetic and I can tell one from the other 98% of the time by looking at how they drape. Watch the sales and online fabric emporiums and do the linen -- you won’t regret it.
Colors
In terms of color, you should look at every color and ask yourself if it could be attained through vegetable or basic mineral dying techniques.
Based on a survey of period paintings, the middling classes should primarily be wearing rust, white, bright blue, madder red and black. Other colours can be mixed in, of course, but those are your primaries. As with the rest of the village earth tones are fine: ochre, burnt orange, mustard yellow, burgundy, brown, grey, various greens, etcetera. Prints are not period and may not be worn by any class. Patterns in fabric must be achieved by the loom, not the printing press. Subtle damasks (architectural designs, not florals, which are generally Victorian and so so wrong) are okay, some tapestries may be used with restraint. Trims should be mostly plain gards of wool or velvet.
Fabrics
The following and only the following are considered appropriate for guild activities. Chose items for their texture, go for woven looks in your fabrics. Keep in mind the aforementioned color guidelines...
Linen
Linen-Cotton blends
Cotton (Try to stick to linens, please!)
Cotton Velvet (not corduroy!)
Wool
Wool Blends
Silk
Leather (keep it under control)
Appropriate Tapestries*
CAVEAT!!! Do not make a garment before you run your fabric choices, colors, and possible tapestry designs (especially tapestry designs) past the guild master and/or the guild’s costuming director!! Be Forewarned: a garment made entirely from tapestry fabrics will not pass. Use it sparingly if at all. Study the portraits of the time, go and do likewise. If you make a garment that doesn’t pass muster you will not be allowed to wear it at faire. Don’t make us do that!
Construction & Sumptuary Rules
Grommets: Lacing is for the lower classes, so grommets on the whole should be rare except in a corset where no one can see them. That said, as always, any you do use (where they can be seen) should either be couched (covered with thread) or replaced by buttonholes or hand-sewn eyelets.
Closures: Buttons and Hook & Eyes are the order of the day. Shirts may be closed with frogs or laces and doublet/bodice sleeves may be tied on or held on by concealed laces.
Because this is a place where many garments fall flat, here’s a thumbnail sketch to help you gauge the rank of your individual and what sort of closures to use for their costuming. This is based on the following formula:
amount of work + materials = monetary value
Lowest Classes
Lacings
Soft-center felted or wadded cloth ‘buttons’
Plain wood bead, knotted or toggled ‘buttons’
Middle-Middle Class:
Thread-covered beads
Semi-precious Metals (pewter mostly)
More intricate toggle-closures
Upper-Middle Class:
All they could afford/get away with
Nobles
(By way of comparison only)
All of the above made in finer materials/craftsmanship plus...
Precious metals
Pearls & gemstones
Trim: Grosgrain or woven ribbons or even strips of fabric are the best trims to use. Some knotted ’rope’ trims are acceptable as well. Again, whilst the middling classes have more disposable income to wear on their backs, still try to differentiate your social class with material and tailoring as much as you can. That’s how they did it in our period and we should do likewise. That’s not to say “no decoration“. Not at all. Slashing and pinking will get you a long way, witness the finery of the Tailor in Moroni’s famous painting. Trim may be used, of course, but it should be done with restraint and with keeping the admonishments against metallic threads and gemstones in mind.
Embroidery: A small amount of “black work” embroidery, well applied and carefully used is a great high-falutin’ look and we endorse it. More heavily embroidered sleeves, collars and shirtfronts are not beyond the grasp of the up-and-coming merchant classes! Keep in mind that most embroidery and shirt making was done at home so the level of embroidery should equate to the leisure time of ones’ wife and/or the number of people you can afford to pay to do such things for her.
Decoration: Puff, slash, and pink or otherwise decorate your clothing to the content of your heart (and the tolerance of your fabrics) except… no gemstones, metallic threads or obviously silk embroideries, please. While it is apparently true that Scotland has no “Sumptuary” laws strictly governing the dress of its peoples to protect the province of the aristocracy (as England did) for the sake of clarity, we need to maintain a theatrical distinction between the faires’ nobility and the faires’ middling classes. We want to look wealthier than the peasantry but not outshine our faire nobility. Get it? Got it? Good.
Now to break it down further... choose your gender! (click the link)
Both Sexes
Footwear
Guys, unless you’re a horse soldier (in which case you’re in the wrong guild) or a groom, cavalier boots don’t generally fit your character. It could be argued that certain officials need to be able to ride, such as the sheriff, but such cases are taken case-by-case.
Gals… ditto! The thigh-high boot is fun, but it’s not allowed. Sorry. The so-called “Mary Janes” are very period and easy to find in women‘s shoe stores. “Kung Fu shoes are okay but don’t look quite right and don‘t hold up long in the rugged conditions of faire.
Whatever you do, male or female, opt for low, shoes that give a period appearance. Leather slippers are a fallback. Clogs are period, but don’t wear them, you’ll kill yourself on the uneven ground! Go for a natural toe and no topstitching. Conversely, go here and follow the instructions for modifying a modern dress shoe into a period latchet shoe. Middle class characters should not be wearing moccasins at all. They’re barely ok for peasant characters, for middling classes that are right out.
Ruffs
Ruffs were worn by everyone who could afford to maintain them. Middle class characters wearing ruffs should avoid the larger ones. Go for a sedate, narrow band of starched white ruff. No lace, maybe a little edge stitching at wrist and neck for a very period middle class look!
Other Appropriate Accoutrements...
Gloves (frequently scented)
Rings of Keys
Pomanders (either metal or made from dehydrated citrus spiked with cloves)
Kerchiefs
CAVEAT: Do not carry all your worldly goods around on your belt. You look like a peddler. Less is more. (Unless you're playing a peddler, of course, in which case... go nuts.)
Page contents Copyright 2006, Scott W Perkins except where noted.
Page author makes no claim of copyright on historical documents or images shown for educational and illustrative purpses only.
If you wish to use images or text elsewhere, you must attain
the permission of the author first
