tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post6845845463512171270..comments2024-03-24T21:42:17.025-04:00Comments on Loose Threads: <small>Yet Another Costuming Blog</small>: The Bending of the PleatsCathy Raymondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04580681386443534011noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-57045379327961280102011-07-05T22:27:01.977-04:002011-07-05T22:27:01.977-04:00It is AMAZING how much info you have deduced from ...<i>It is AMAZING how much info you have deduced from just a few tiny fragments of fabric on the backs of brooches. </i><br /><br />I'm just standing on the shoulders of giants here. Because Viking art is so stylized, almost all we know about Viking costume is based on deductions by archaeologists from tiny scraps of fabric found in graves. (Or, as Hilde Thunem said, "The answer to what we know about viking clothing can be summed up in two words; 'damn little.'").<br /><br /><i>The idea of brooches over the nipples just makes me giggle. And it sounds really uncomfortable! </i><br /><br />Your reaction is pretty much the same reaction the Viking reenactor community had to Larsson's idea. I think Inga Hägg got it right when she pointed out <a href="http://ingahagg.cybersite.se/text_108109.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> that Larsson's notion of brooch-level brooches arose because she didn't appreciate the fact that a lot of the women were buried in a sitting posture--which would lead the brooches to fall considerably as the bodies decayed.<br /><br />(And no, I can't read Swedish--but Google Translate does a pretty good job with Hägg's essay.)Cathy Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04580681386443534011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-27933146169831956212011-07-05T06:52:00.214-04:002011-07-05T06:52:00.214-04:00It is AMAZING how much info you have deduced from ...It is AMAZING how much info you have deduced from just a few tiny fragments of fabric on the backs of brooches. It's boggling compared to the amount of info I have for my costume detective work (whole garments! And letters and magazines and paintings and photographs and books!).<br /><br />The idea of brooches over the nipples just makes me giggle. And it sounds really uncomfortable!The Dreamstresshttp://thedreamstress.com/noreply@blogger.com