Magus's Grimoire [Abridged]

Regency Men's Shirt collars?

2011-02-08T17:44:31Z

Anybody have good images showing closeups of a men's Regency shirt, preferably without a cravat covering them, preferably from multiple angles? I'm having trouble finding what I'm looking for.

Images of a well-sourced pattern would probably work as well.

I'm hoping to make a detachable collar which can button over a modern formal shirt of the sort typically worn with tuxedos. If I get this working, I'll make up instructions/a pattern and post it somewhere.

I think I can make up something functional if I know what I'm trying to accomplish.

In my dreams I will have a working prototype to wear this weekend.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[Sorry for the multiple post to people who look at facebook too, but I realized my audience of potential contributors is split.]

comments

Planning: Regency Ball

2010-04-29T03:48:04Z

Sailing Masters Regency Ball
Essex, CT
May 8, 2010, 8-11 PM
$15/person

I'll be driving down. Anybody want a ride?

There's a parade at 2 in the afternoon, and some other fun-sounding activities to follow. There was some discussion of a group attending that stuff in costume. I'm currently undecided as to whether I'll be driving down for that or just the ball.

comments

Conflicting Schedules

2010-02-11T15:22:39Z

[Written 2010-02-04, but delayed due to difficulty with jlj; sorry for the resulting late warning.]

I have two events that are important to me on the same weekend. I hate when that happens. This year:

NonCon is 2010-02-19/2010-02-21.

The Regency Tea Dance in Boston is 2010-02-21. [Note the new location convenient to the red line]

I haven't decided what I'm going to do about this, although I think I'm leaning toward the dance.

In any case, consider this a reminder to those of you interested in either event that they'll be occurring.

comments

Cravats

2009-12-21T18:49:33Z

For the years I've been involved in re-enactment of the English Regency, I have been frustrated by the absolute dearth of information on what seems to be one of the defining features of Regency menswear: the cravat. Given this problem, I've taken it upon myself to do some research on the topic, with limited success. I'd like to put together a good resource so men getting into Regency reenactment have somewhere to turn to learn more about neckwear, but I'm not yet satisfied with the quality of the information I have.

I have a lot of historian-type friends, and I think it's time to turn to you all for help. If anybody can provide any of the following, I would appreciate it greatly:

Access to or measurements of primary sources [material, thickness, and particularly dimensions of existing neckcloths in archives, preferably with information on when, where, and in what context they were worn]
Leads to non-satirical contemporary secondary sources describing details of the construction of neckcloths and their manner of tying. White/Le Blanc's "The Art of Tying the Cravat" is useful, but a work of satire, and thus teasing out what's exaggerated is tricky. The popular-on-the-web "Neckclothitania" is a parody of that.
Links to any treatment of the subject I may have missed thus far. I seem to get a lot of fashion plates and portraits and the like, which are great, but rarely any instructions, let alone instructions with accompanying documentation.

Note that at present I'm looking for about two generations worth of the beginning of the 19th century; if I get enough information to distill it into an instructional form I'll be careful to be clear about likely dates for things. I'd be happy to have sources outside the target date range as well, as I might eventually branch out depending on how this goes.

comments

Jane Austen's Birthday Dance

2009-12-09T23:13:21Z

Jane Austen's Birthday Dance in Rehoboth, MA. This Sunday, 2009-12-13, 13:00-16:00. I'm told Rehoboth is near Providence, and about an hour from the Boston area.

I'm planning to go. I'll hopefully be sporting my new breeches, which will hopefully be the first time I've ever worn a finished pair of breeches at an event. There's emphatically no costume requirement for this event.

This is Regency English country dance. As I keep saying, it's trivially accessible to people who do SCD, and skills in contra, modern ECD, and Victorian contras all apply. The event is beginner friendly, and everything will be taught.

I encourage other people to come. There's currently space in my car if anybody wants to carpool.

Disabling comments on LiveJournal to centralize responses in case there's carpooling discussion, and also so I'm sure I'll see any replies.

comments