Munich Conference 2018

In September  Julia from Sew Curvy  ( the organiser of the Oxford Conference of Corsetry) and I, together with our husbands, flew to Munich for a few days.  The lads were indulging in photography, sightseeing and beer ( not necessarily in that order) and we were busy attempting the conference organised  by the folks behind The Patterns of Fashion – The School of Historical Dress.

The book 5 was also launched there! A treasure!

The conference was held in the Bayeriche Museum and attracted  A LOT of attendees – crowds aplenty!   It was amazing to meet up with people you only knew from the Instagram or Facebook 🙂

 

The programme was varied and interesting, with seveal fascinating lectures, and the museum itself  was a gem too.

a few favourites below…

 

 

The biggest discovery was this – a girl’s jacket and skirt in heavyily slubbed silk…

The dress display was next door to weapons and hunting exhibition, also some fascinating objects!

and the only way to get the best angles….

The hosts of the conference  ran the show nicely,  the food was good ( that soup with sausages was amazing!) and locals friendly…

The only irritating thing – the organisers asked  us not to take any footage of the lectures – especially the slides….  and yet a few folks were doing this…. almost all the time :-(((

 

In the evenings we  made a point of sampling the local cuisine, and for three days we were full of potatoes, sausages, sauerkraut and pretzels…. and cake….

And since the hotel we stayed in had an excellent sellection of  gin, late evenings were spent sipping new mixtures and playing Cards Against Humanity…

On the last day we were supposed to go  on an excursion to a museum of corsets nearby – but the realisatin that the nearby means 3 hours on the coach, each way, we simply couldn’t handle it – too peopled out! And a combination of bad sleep ( Munich centre is very noisy)  and  having spent 2 days surrounded by people meant  the prospect of a busy day like that just too much for my introverted soul. We managed to swap the flights for a day early and had a relaxing morning wondering around the  town, its fabrics shops and cafes instead 🙂

   This was my first conference of this kind  and although I have enjoyed it, I discovered it was far from my natural habitat – I was exhaused afterwards!  Still, glad to have made the trip and to have met with the folks there 🙂

 

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Looking the Part 1: Undergarments

 OK, so I have been in the business for a while.  I have been re-enacting even longer –  my first gig was in 1997 if I remember well, and I got into costume making almost straight away. True, I was …

Eleanor through the ages

 A slightly different post –  mostly to honour one of my most loyal customers – or, to be precise, a customer who, though the years of stitching, fittings, events etc, has became a very close friend. Eleanor now has a rather full wardrobe of Prior Attrie outfits, from medieval to Victorian –  and  I am going to present some of them below.

 The first contact was made through Ebay – Eleanor wanted to purchase one of the frocks i was selling – but needed it shorter..

the houppelande on offer…

Shortening the gown was no problem, so we met at one of the markets and I have sorted it on the spot.. and that’s how it started… that is also how I met Ian from Black Knight Historical – but this i think will be another post… 🙂

the gown on Eleanor, as Margaret Paston here

 12th century

 A gown fit for a queen – clothes for Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine

kirtle in silk, dress in silk with ornamental borders, veil and wimple

 13th century 

 middle / lower class kirtle and dress in wool

 and another early 13th frock, here at the fitting – wool with embroidery

14th century

 a surcoat in cloth of gold – another queenly garment…

 and a bit more modest, a nun’s outfit – 13-14th century

15th century

 most of the work here was either kirtles for the camp or burgundian gowns – i have made 3… some of them below…

at Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury Abbey

16th Century

 here we started with an upper-middle class merchant’s wife..

at kelmarsh

 a bit posher…

at Blickling Hall, with a silk kirtle

and a silk velvet gown, for Peterborough cathedral

 An  early Elizabethan outfit – loose gown over a silk kirtle ( the same kirtle as above btw – it is reversible, plain gold on one side, brocade on the other….., coif and a cap

  17th century 

 alas, nothing as yet…. i think…

 18th century

 a pair of brocaded stays, silk petticoat and brocade jacket. event blog here

close up of the jacket…

 19th century

 Regency – a gown in silk – here as a Mrs. Bennett, with me as her daughter – more details of the event here

 Victorian

 a schoolmistress/egyptologist just a jacket by me. my first ever Victorian item too!

–

 was a 1883 suit for my wedding – Eleanor was my Matron of Honour:-)

then the mourning gown – work at Holkham ( blog  here)

1885 mourning gown

 and a 1884 evening gown, also worn for our Spectacular Ball

 I even did a Halloween corset and skirt for Eleanor – here worn for our Steampunk dinner at Coombe Abbey last autumn – not a best photo but we were too busy eating and having fun – so it is almost the only one I think…

  and for the time being – that’s it! Many thanks to Eleanor for being a perfect client and a perfect friend – hope you enjoyed the journey too!