But in other places not so quiet...
James and I day-tripped Summits Coronet- he suggested it rather have have me totally exhausted from loading and setting up and all of that stuff. We took a dayshade and chairs and such, and made do. The event to was ok- the tourney was very clean and Graf Berek won. Court went on and on and on and on... A bunch of local awards, and Geoffy had to blather on about everything. Then there were two Pelicans made. And then we packed up and left. By the time I got home I was really tired. Sure was nice to sleep in my own bed.
The new Frankish outfit worked really well, and I got quite a few compliments- especially on the hat. I was really happy with the hat, too. Need a little more padding in the back, but otherwise very nice. I'm thinking to do some more Frankish gowns- something comfy to wear while I'm trying to drop weight, and even after I've slimmed down, they'll still fit ok.
I found a cool picture online--> it's 12th c Spanish, and what's interesting is the woman's outfit. She seems to be wearing an opensided gown with no sleeves- almost looks like a gates-of-hell surcoat. But it's laced closed (or nearly so). A bit different from the usual French silhouette that is shown as an example of 12th c clothing.
And I think the fabric looks keen, with the stripes and the stars. And one more thing- the picture is titled 'Mariage', and it is supposed to be the woman being handed over to the new spouse. Funny- she doesn't look very happy about it...
I have a new keyboard! Hugh and Muireann were *giving* it away to a good home, and I snapped it up. Five octaves, all sorts of different settings. I ordered a sustain pedal for it, and next month I'll get a stand, and hopefully the music stand for it. I've been playing it a lot. Dug out my old hymnals and have been pounding my way through. Been more than ten years since I've played regularly, and oooh, it shows. But I'm getting better.
I'm hungry. I think it's time to go find something to eat.
3 comments:
Oooh, cool, a keyboard!
If I were more courageous I would play my roomate's baby grand.. but I must be afraid I'll break it or something.
Ah ha, I knew that picture looked familiar. I've got it in black and white in my copy of Davenport (plate 427) The text for this plate reads, "Spanish costume shows much more use of elaborately patterned fabric than any other of the same period, although the era of fantasy and parti-colored garments is beginning, among people who log for colored patters, which they cannot yet make, nor afford to import from the Orient. .... Lady: the way gown is cut away at sides and laced, on one side, over garment of another color can be seen clearly in XIIIc. Spanish Book of Chess; it foreshadows the universal sideless surcoat of XIVc. Turbaned head began to appear in Europe circa Xc."
The Spanish Book of Chess is found in the same source plates 502 and 503. There clearly is a laced sideless surcoat in plate 503. It says about these dresses:
"The ladies of the rest of XIIIc. Europe, even though dressed in the sleeveless surcoat, are apt to have the look of wearing one, rather than two garments. These Spanish court ladies, however, have a distinct appearance of wearing three garments. The fitted tunic which the rich girl wears beneath her surcoat, has the set-in sleeve emphasized by embroidery into the yoke; below this, the laced portion of the bodice is made of contrasting, dark material with the same light material as the sleeves showing through the lacing under the left arm, like a light chemise under a dark corset. As women's hair elsewhere is being braided or netted into widening headdresses, these Caslitian ladies, with their stressed vertical lines, wear high, turned=up, patterned hats with a patterned chin-strap as a barbette over flowing hair.
Annie, there's not much that you can do to hurt a piano. :-)
Mel, there seems to be a disconnect between the 12th c and 13th c Spanish stuff. I can see the laced outer gown mutating a bit, but the shift from plain undergown to the sectioned one with embroidery is not clear. And the 13th c ones with the weird hats- the gown is really vague. Is it one gown, basically a bliaut with a strange yoke treatment, or is there sort of a strapless corselette happening? Mistress Jessamyn in Atlantia (I think) has been playing with them but I honestly don't know of anyone else trying them.
And those hats are really goofy, but you can kind of see where the formal mantilla comes from.
At the moment I'm more interested in the Frankish stuff. Partly 'cause I like wearing my new hat, and partly because no one else is doing it...
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