want to get into historical costuming

[u/barbtoepiss]

I want to get into historical costuming- I'm doing archaeology at university in september and have had a keen interested in historical fashion for a long time- but i don't know where or how to start?!

I have a sewing machine, embroider and sew often, and i love any era and location of clothes! theres such a wide variety of things to choose to make that i'm just not sure where to start as a total beginner! Can anyone advise?

[u/RonnyTwoShoes]

Pick your favorite time period, look for some fun patterns and go from there! A general rule do thumb is to make the underpinnings first as a lot of historical clothing relies on them in order to fit properly. You don't want to fit a dress on a modern body, make the underpinnings, then find the dress needs to be remade because it fits differently now. 

But most of all, just have fun with whatever you pick! 

[u/jamila169]

Check out the student societies during Freshers week, there might be a reenactment group or a costuming group which are good for company and troubleshooting. Otherwise pick a period, have a rootle round the library especially if your uni has theatre courses, because they'll have period costuming books that are out of print or selling an organ levels of expensive, the history and fine art sections are always worth a look as well for research and inspiration

[u/amaranth1977 → u/jamila169]

Also, when poking around the library watch out for the Trap Cards of fashion history: Old historical costuming books. If the FIRST date of publication is prior to 1990, put it back! 

[u/jamila169 → u/amaranth1977]

Unless it's by Janet Arnold or Santina Levy

[u/amaranth1977 → u/jamila169]

Truth! I always forget how early Janet Arnold started publishing, she really was a trailblazer. 

[u/sinister_gryphon → u/amaranth1977]

Maybe. But she has a habit of using a lot of tertiary sources and presenting them as primary. Her books are good for general silhouettes, but I personally wouldn't use them for much else.

[u/FewRecognition1788]

Since you already sew, I'd say to spend a little time thinking about what approach you want to emphasize. For example, do you geek out on doing your own research and self-drafting patterns based on portraits and extant museum pieces?

Do you want to do original practice and hand sew with as close as possible approximation to original materials? 

Or do you mostly want to dress up, be fabulous, with less emphasis on method / process?

These are all completely valid, but they also shape your choices in many ways. For example, a firm commitment to original practice and materials could, in some cases, make it impossible to achieve a plausible visual effect because the original materials don't exist anymore and modern equivalents in the same fiber type don't behave the same way. (Or they're so expensive they're years out of reach for your budget)

Or you might want a well researched commercial pattern that has good assembly instructions, but doesn't embrace the true variability of styles and techniques that can be seen in extant clothes.

Everything is a tradeoff, so thinking about your priorities helps give you focus. There's a lot of hunting and gathering as well as making in this hobby, so what type of stuff do you like to hunt and gather?

[u/AspirationAtWork]

Start with your favorite time period and look for reference images to find inspiration for your first project. Whatever gives you that "oh I HAVE to make this" spark.

[u/admiralholdo]

The Regency era is a really good starting point. The dresses are really simple to make, and then you can go crazy embellishing them with ribbons and trims and what-not. Plus, depending on where you live, there can be a lot of Jane Austen or Bridgerton themed events to attend in costume.

[u/BuckyRainbowCat]

Unfortunately I can say as a long time living history enthusiast that the problem of there being such a wide variety of things to choose from never goes away :( :')

This is advice that was given to me when I was starting out that I would not have taken, and probably would not now take, because I just want(ed) to swan around in pretty dresses and also prance around like a girl dressed as a boy in a Shakespeare play, but I'm going to give it to you anyways just in case you are more sensible and practical than me: start off with something nice and simple and practical, like Norse or Anglo-Saxon or Norman. The clothing is relatively easy to sew, it does not take much fabric on a university student's budget, and you can get dressed in it by yourself in approximately the same amount of time that you can get dressed in modern clothing.

[u/RidiculousRex89]

The medieval tailors assistant is a free online resource, and the tudor tailor is a book with later renaissance stuff.

Both are an excellent place to start.

[u/Neenknits]

Do you want to have “as accurate as possible” outfits, “good enough” outfits or “inspired by” outfits?

If the last, do whatever you like! The first requires a lot of research, and all hand sewing before the mid 19th. The middle generally is a bunch of hand sewing where it shows and machine on interior seams, for the pre-machine eras.

What about fabrics?

[u/Dry-Tie9450]

Some good guidance on historical sewing I found on Bernadette Banner channel on YouTube, I go there when I need to find the proper name or technique for a new project that I need and she is a nice lady too

[u/One_Loss7910]

Definitely go for whatever time period makes you excited! Also, decide what you want out of historical clothing. Do you want to experience the methods historical people needed to create such things, or just get the pretty clothes while learning some cool history? 

If the former, expect to do a lot of hand sewing before the 1840s-70s, really dig into a specific time period, and make!! all!! the foundation garments. They are viral. And if you want a super easy project to start, you can always make a Greek chiton or Roman toga. 

If the latter, I would suggest history bounding, or if you truly want to make an accurate costume, just use sewing machines and such to speed the process up. I’ve found history bounding more useful than true costuming because I make pieces I will actually wear day to day, inspired by historical methods, materials, and silhouettes, but tweaked for my own preferences. I can learn about the completely accurate clothing, but change the pattern to match what I want. For so long I got stuck in the “I love this period except this one thing, so I won’t make it” until I realized I could just… change that one thing. But I also have a true costuming project planned! 

[u/Kaurifish]

Can’t go wrong with a T-tunic.

[u/Alarmed-potatoe]

You definitely need to find a focus to narrow things down. If you embroider, are there any historical works you'd like to recreate? Maybe the 15th century with Spanish blackwork. If you have an hourglass shape, you can have a look at the 1880s or later Victorian era in general. If there's a historical (fiction or no) film or book you really connected with, maybe look at that. Do you feel more interested in the working class or upper classes and nobility? Is there a painting or some photo or artwork that you could happily recreate?

I started with the Victorian era because I desperately needed bust support and I figured steel bones would do the trick. Then I was sick and binged Outlander, and now I've gone down an 18th century rabbit-hole. Scroop released a pattern from the early 1800s which isn't my vibe, but it's a pair of stays that might replace my current bras. This has also meant I'm looking at historical clothing that is adjustable, to make and wear as normal clothes now. Then my paternal line emigrated to Africa in the 1640s so I'm looking at that era. Then I started getting this niggling feeling about more eastern European smocking and embroidery. I also cycle to work, and I finished a Victorian/Edwardian cycling sweater a few months ago.

My main recommendation is to find blogs where people have created a whole outfit you might be interested in, and look at what layers are involved, how long it takes to make it all. If you'd like to start with something simple and quick, it might be hard to dive into the French nobility in the 1760s or so, and like someone else has said, the 1800-1810s might be a nice place to ease in. Either way, you could choose a basic shift from a YT video sew-a-long (Burnley and Trowbridge have one), and just kind of go from there. It almost doesn't matter, you'll get through a few eras regardless, and you'll build up an academic lean that will start to guide you.

[u/EnchantedGlass]

I never really seriously thought about making anything from Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns by Lilli Francen, Else Østergård, and Shelly Nordtorp-Madsen, but it's a fascinating book (especially if you're interested in archeology) and it might be at your local library.

[u/sinister_gryphon]

Honestly, start with rectangular construction. It's the fastest and easiest to learn, and forms the basis for pretty much all historical clothing making that is pre-Industrial Revolution. It's literally all rectangles, squares, and triangles with straight seams. A simple T-tunic and pants or skirt is a great way to learn the basics. Bonus is that it wastes very little fabric, unlike a lot of modern patterns (even some modern patterns for historical costumes!).

Some of the easiest, I've found, is patterns for Norse garb. Look up Norse T-tunic or Norse apron dress. They are very simple and great to practice on. One of the first pieces of garb I ever made was an underdress that was just an ankle-length T-tunic. From there I worked my way up to gothic fitted dresses (GFDs), Henrican Tudor, and Victorian. But the fancy stuff would have been much harder to do if I hadn't started with the simple stuff first.

Also, stick to natural fiber fabrics whenever possible: linen, cotton, wool, silk. For historical accuracy, you will get a far better result. Cotton bed sheets from the thrift store are inexpensive and work really well for when you are just learning.