Buyer Beware - Read the Fine Print

As I’m writing these posts about bodices, I can’t help but wonder why we are even having these discussions in 2013, since the inaccuracy of this article of clothing has been common knowledge for years. Certainly, they continue to be an issue because they are still sold by sutlers.  

To their credit, Jas Townsend has now added a disclaimer to their bodice offering, 

“This item is not considered accurate by many organizations, if you are working with an organization or will be wearing this at a judged event please check with them before purchasing this item.” 

They would be doing their customers a greater service if they just stopped selling them. 

Smoke and Fire?  All I can say is shame on you!  They’ve taken a real squirrely approach and instead of calling the bodice what it is, they are referring to it a “sleeveless jacket or unstayed jump”.  Really?  I’m calling you out on this one, that’s an English bodice and you know it!   

Some of the smaller sutlers, etsy and ebay sellers are the worst offenders.  There is one in particular, who knows bodices are inaccurate and sells them anyway because she thinks they are more attractive than short gowns.  

"18th Century Rev War Ladies English Waistcoat"
(A Rose by another other name........)

She admits to it in her disclaimer:  "I will not answer indignant inquires by some women insisting I should only sew drab floppy shortgowns for the reenacting public" nor can she "be responsible nor accept excuses after the sale that style or colors are unacceptable to the commander or director of your group".  Mmmmm, maybe she's had some issues with returns due to inaccuracy?????

There's another vendor on ebay, who includes the phrase. "Colonial Williamsburg" when describing her items.  I hate to break it to her, but that's a brand name that implies a certain level of quality.  A little trademark infringement perhaps?

My favorite is the one that sells a "colonial, civil war era french bodice".  I guess the American Revolution was a civil war, but somehow I don't think that's what they meant. 

Colonial, civil war french bodice

Don't get me wrong, I don't care that they sell these things.  This article of clothing might make a really good boho look paired with a vintage jacket and a pair of jeans, but don't pawn it off as 18th century for reenactors, s'il vous plait.

Once again, it comes down to us.  As members of the reenactor community, let's make sure that we are supporting the  sutlers who do their homework and offer accurate, quality goods and to eschew the ones who'll pawn off anything as "period" to make a buck.  In addition, if you are involved in organizing an event, take the time to vet your sutlers -- you'll be doing the community a big favor!

Be Part of the Solution!

I have a friend who worked in NYC for a summer.  One day, she was walking down the street and she noticed that men were looking at her.  Wow, she thought, I must look pretty hot today.  As she continued on her way, she heard whistles and cat calls.  My, these new pants must really fit me well, was all she could think. All of a sudden a woman came up behind her and whispered, "I'm not going to mug you, just let me walk behind you."  She then told my friend, "You probably don't realize this, but the back seam of your pants has split open and your butt is peaking out. I'm a seamstress at production studio about a block away from here, I'll keep walking behind you and when we get to my office, I'll sew your pants up for you."

So how many people saw my friend's wardrobe malfunction and didn't say a word.  Did they not care or were they afraid of embarrassing her even though she was doing a good job at that herself.  If you have spinach in your teeth, don't you want someone to let you know?  How about toilet paper on your shoe?  

The other day, I suggested that we, as a community, do what we can do make sure the reeanctorism known as "the bodice" goes extinct.  If you own one, burn it, turn it into a dust rag, make a pillow out of it, but whatever you do, don't loan it out.

But the bigger question seems to be, what do you do if know someone who wears one?  Do you say something or just ignore it, even though we all  know it's not correct.  And here when we say not correct, we are talking mythical, made-up, make believe.  Whatever way you spin it, the bodice that reenactors wear is, in fact, a 20th century creation and has no basis in the 18th century. As I said in my earlier blog post, we have known this for over 20 years, this is not cutting edge research.

Now I'm certainly not suggesting that you walk up to strangers and start giving them clothing advice! But I do think we need to consider people that you know. Let's start close to home first.  Is there someone in your group who wears a bodice?  If she's in your reenacting group, you could start a conversation at one of your meetings about accuracy, sharing research and what your group can do to improve their impressions.  If you are not a Battle Road group participant, perhaps you could download their standards and see what they are all about.  Arrange a sewing day where the ladies make bedgowns for themselves - they are easy and do not require much sewing skill.

Bedgown from the Manchester City Gallery c. 1760-1780
Accession# 1972.110

If you live in New England, suggest that she join you at a Hive.  Each year we run a free newbie/tune-up clinic, where we review all the parts and pieces of clothing an accurately dressed woman needs and what works well for someone just entering the hobby.

No one really wants to be out of step. You can be the world's best spinner, know scads about hearth cooking, can talk to the public about every battle in the Revolution, but what the tourist will bring home, is that picture they took of the people in the funny clothes.  We owe them accuracy in the information we share them as well as accuracy in the clothing we wear.

Playing Bodice Whac-a-Mole!

The Bodice -- That mythical garment, created in the laboratories of Colonial Williamsburg long ago as a colonial-like uniform for their guides. They were innocently released into the wild by their Costume Design Center, who using their own words, "thought it was a good idea at the time".  Because they were inexpensive and readily available, they went on to reproduce and colonize throughout the reenacting world during the bicentennial.  As research proved their inaccuracy, movements developed to eradicate them, only for them to reappear every spring like dandelions, with each crop of new reenactors.  Sutlers continue to sell them, even though they know them to be incorrect, and as long as there is demand, they will be offered for sale.

The Mythical Bodice

We see so few of them in the Boston area because of the Battle Road Clothing Guidelines (that have pretty much become the standard around here) though there are a few annual sightings around Patriot's Day at parades and at certain town militia events.  Even here in Hiveland, we are constantly playing Bodice Whac-a-Mole!  Every time you think you've licked them, they pop up somewhere else.

This weekend at the annual Redcoats & Rebels event at Old Sturbridge Village, despite the efforts of the organizers to push authenticity standards forward, the bodices were back, though thankfully in fewer numbers than in past years. So why do they persist, even though we all know they are wrong? To answer my own question, it's because "we" know they are wrong but "we all" don't.

Now, I truly believe no one deliberately chooses to dress inaccurately.  Women wear bodices because they don't know any better and/or don't know that there are good alternatives. It's also been posed to me that one of the reasons bodices refuse to go extinct is that menfolk don't care (or don't know) about proper women's clothing and that they hand their wives a catalog and instruct them to pick something out -- because "if it's in a catalog or if a sutler sells something, it has to be right".   Whatever the reason, bodices are our hobby's perennial weed.

So my dear readers, I ask you, can we work to make New England a bodice-free zone?  Do your part!  Spread the word. Remove them from your unit's loaner clothing stash.  Lend a bedgown to a newbie.  If you are a bodice wearer, make a bedgown (they are easy to make!) or better yet make a pair of jumps or stays and get thyself into a gown.  Bring a friend to the Hive this winter!

Maybe I'm Don Quixote tilting at windmills here, but I think we can make bodices a thing of past once and for all.  What do you say folks, let's make a world where the only one left wearing a bodice is the St. Pauli girl!!!!

The BLOB!

Remember the 1958 movie The Blob?  Classic B-movie fare -- weird red oozing matter from outer space takes over a town.  The thing is, it really wasn't that scary.  You could outrun it and it's krytonite was cold - you could easily defend yourself with an ordinary fire extinguisher or you hide out in a meat locker till it moved on.  Definitely not as scary as zombies, or Godzilla for that matter. What does this have to do with dress forms?  That's what step 3 of the body double is all about -- weird oozing matter!

me

Miss Hallie

It's really enlightening to look at your plaster cast because it reveals your body's peculiarities.  For example,  I have bony shoulders and Hallie has one shoulder that is higher than the other. Not a big deal, of course, but these things definitely affect the fit of a gown.  If you don't know about them you're probably wondering why you always have to make adjustments to your shoulder straps every time you make a gown.  Do you have one hip higher than the other?  That will show up in your form, and you can make the proper accommodations when you fit your gown. Few of us are perfectly symmetrical and a body double will help identify where you have fitting issues and you can anticipate them rather than let them frustrate you.

Now for some sci-fi! With our plaster molds all dry and prepared, we're ready to fill them with foam.  We're using a two part mix that creates a foam that expands slowly -- kind of like The Blob.  A faster or more aggressive foam might blow out the cast.  So slowly we filled the forms. Slow moving oozy matter!  (And like the original Blob, it doesn't like the cold!)

The Blob

Next: The Unveiling

If you can't make our workshop this weekend, we're taking appointments to help you create your own body double -- hiveworkshops@gmail.com  We supply the materials and do most of the work -- you end up with a great dress form.  The cost is $175. By the way, for those of you who do different time periods -- this method works great for you too!

Plastered!

Fembots, duct tape, paper tape...none of them really gives you a great 18th century shaped dress form that you can use over and over again.  One that will keep its shape and not require you to keep your stays on the form.

Enter the plaster cast method! There used to be an on-line site that had the directions on how to do it, though it's not longer available.  But we at the Hive learned how to do it, have tested it out and are making it available to you.  But first, here was how we got plastered...

Now most of you are probably too young to remember that wacky book that came out in the seventies that suggested a good wife should greet her husband at the door wearing saran wrap.  Well, if you ever want to try something that nutty -- you can practice with step one, where we wrap you in cellophane.  Step two we make a body cast of you.  Here's me during step 2.

Now unlike the duct tape dummy, this did not feel constricting and unlike the paper tape, the plaster was cool.  I must say it was a welcome feeling since it was over ninety the day we did this.  After letting the plaster set up a bit Miss Hallie cut me out of my cocoon, which we sewed up and prepared for step 3.

Next step 3: The Blob!

If you can't make our workshop this weekend, we're taking appointments to help you create your own body double -- hiveworkshops@gmail.com  We supply the materials and do most of the work -- you end up with a great dress form.  The cost is $175. By the way, for those of you who do different time periods -- this method works great for you too!

Duct Tape Disaster

In the quest to find a dress form that will allow you to fit an 18th century gown, you inevitably encounter the infamous duct tape dummy.  In theory, it's kind of a cool idea.  Cover your body with duct tape, creating a form, then fill the shape with stuffing or expandable foam. Here's the down side -- duct tape stretches!

When I tried this, I had my husband, a professional duct tape practitioner, apply the duct tape to my stayed body.  As he wrapped the duct tape around me, it got tighter and tighter until I could barely breathe.  Add a dash of claustrophobia and you are talking panic attack!  I couldn't get cut out of it fast enough!

After being released from my constriction by duct tape, the resulting form looked like a cheesy sci-fi alien torso. I stuffed it with polyfil and did attempt to use it as a dress form, though the distortion factor was pretty high and I'm guessing an expandable foam filling would have stretched the duct tape even more. The form actually became quite misshapen over time. Duct tape stretches, which is great when you are using it to seal things but not so much when you need a stable form to work on (or are being wrapped in it). Conclusion: interesting idea but like duct tape itself, a little Rube Goldbergesque.

The second cousin to the duct tape dummy is one that was featured in Threads Magazine and the instructions are available on-line. This method uses pre-glued kraft paper tape -- the kind used to seal up corrugated cardboard boxes.  Though I've never personally tried this method, especially after my traumatic duct tape experience, I suspect this might be a better option.  However, it takes a long time to dry and am not sure that it's as strong as they contend it is.  If I were going to try this option, I'd probably end up filling it with foam.  Conclusion: inexpensive to do, might work - but wouldn't want to do it in the summer since it involves blowing hot air all over yourself till the tape dries.

Next: our experience with plaster and expandable foam

For more info about our body double workshop visit The Hive website.

Dress Form Dilemma

If you have ever made an 18th century gown in a period manner, i.e., using period construction techniques, you know that eventually you will need to put it on a body to fit the top of the sleeves and to tweak the overall fit. This is not a big deal if you are making the gown for someone else and they are available whenever you need a fitting, but if you are making it yourself... that's where the real challenge lies.

So unless you have a friend who is experienced in fitting gowns and has the time to work with you, you will need a dress form.  The problem is that modern dress forms bear no resemblance whatsoever to an 18th century stayed body. The former is an hourglass the latter a cone.  And yoo-hoo, Dress Form Manufacturers: Real women don't have boobs like Barbie Dolls!!!!  So what's a girl to do?

Singer Dress Form

First, if you own a dress form like the ones made by Singer or Dritz, you can make them work (sort of).  Dial down the shape so it is a couple inches smaller than your body in stays.  Then wrap the form with quilting batting taking care to fill in the space under the boobs.  Add shoulder pads from an old jacket to the breasts to simulate your breasts at the top of your stays.  Put your stays on the form, making sure to recreate your measurements (bust, half way between the bust and waist, your waist, and the distance over your shoulders.  You will have a reasonable facsimile of your stayed body - but by no means perfect.  And if you need to wear your stays - there goes your dress form.












Another alternative, (believe me, I've tried them all) is to find a vintage wire form. They were a clever idea in their day.  The concept is that you put the wire form on you, then have a friend adjust the shape to fit.

I've had pretty good success with these, especially if you cover it with your stays.  The catch is, that if you find one, they rarely have all their parts, especially the little rods that hold the shape in place, and if you stumble upon one in mint condition, you'll pay over $100 for it.  Most of the time you have to buy two in order to get all the parts you need. So unless you get score a real deal, this can get pricey.

You'll also have to put your stays on it to really get a good fit. Then you have to make sure the measurements match your own. The good news is, that you always know where your stays are.  The bad news is that you end up always putting them on the dress form and taking them off, which over time starts changing the shape of the wire form. Plus the wire form, even with the original knit cover (if you can find one) is not pinnable.

Then there's the "Uniquely You" dress form that retails for around $200.  The concept is that you start with a shape that looks eerily like a fembot, that gets covered with fabric sleeve that you've altered to fit you. This cover goes over the mushy foam form, and in theory, it's your body.  It takes a lot of effort to make this one work.  And for the price tag, you still aren't getting a body clone.

Next: Duct Tape for Dummies

For Information on your upcoming Body Double Workshop visit  The Hive Website