Re: [Mid] Authentic Cotton

See, here's the thing, though:

I have a Roman persona. The most common cloth that
Aurelia would wear is wool. However, most of my ROman
garb, currently, was made as the "oh my gosh I'm going
to Pennsic in TWO MONTHS and I have nothing to wear!"
So I have a lot of Roman garb, but I, as a sensible
(occasionally) person would doesn't particularly want
to a) spend a mint on wool when i could spend a
smaller mint of Linin and 2) keel over of heat stroke
because I'm wearing layer upon layers of wool, made
all but a few peices of my garb out of linin, a
linin/wool blend that needs to be reworked because it
shrank even after prewashing, silk and yes, a couple
bits out of cotton.

Did the Romans have cotton? Did the Romans occupy
Egypt? yes. Would I, the daughter of a (then) lowly
Tribune neccesarily wear it? Doubtful, as a family,
most of the money would be going to pay for his time
in office. Of course, now Aurelia's father is the
Imperial Governor of Northshield, so she needs to
dress her station. So I do have a cotton tunica and a
few cotton pallas. Just because cotton is expensive
beyond all imagining (and it was, don't kid yourself)
does NOT mean that if you were REALLY wealthy you
could have yourself a cotton toga. Wool, wool, wool
and ONLY wool. So just leave the bedsheet toags at
home, and everyone is happy.

Bottom line is, there's a line to be drawn of "Well,
*I* will only wear linin because THAT is all my
persona would have worn, and I will only wear linin
that I have spun, woven and hand-sewed myself, in the
dead of winter by candlelight with freezing cold
feet," and "I will wear cotton because it's cheaper
that all that fancy-shmancy linin and wool stuff."
There is a huge grey area between those two extremes.
I will stick with my mostly-correct stolas and
accompanying bits that I can wash, not keel over in,
and enjoy. Where you fall, naturally, is up to you.

(I saw a bedsheet toga once at an event, recently, and
it was not a joke, and I nearly had a heart attack.)

Aurelia

--- "Robin D. Kullick" <asackville@juno.com> wrote:
> Of course cotton is period, but, as someone else
> pointed out it was
> hideously expensive and not available to all of
> Europe. I know for my
> persona, she *might* have a cotton chemise, but that
> would only be for
> very special occasions, as it would be of very fine
> weave and not very
> sturdy for common use. She'd have more fustian,
> linen and linsey-woolsey
> to use for every day. Woolens, linens and brocades
> would be more common,
> as well as sensible for her. She's living in England
> in the 1570's. It's
> not exactly a warm, toasty place. Europe was going
> through a mini-ice age
> then and the average daytime temps for Elizabethan
> England in the middle
> of high summer were somewhere in the mid 50's.
> Gauzy, light cotton would
> be a folly when you don't have central heating.....
>
> Fionnuala
>
> On Sun, 13 Jan 2002 11:08:43 -0500 "Connie Marie
> Carroll"
> <Connie.Bunny@worldnet.att.net> writes:
> > Yes, cotton is period. I don't have my
> documentation with me right
> > now, but
> > you should be able to find it n almost any costume
> book. I wear
> > several
> > layers of cotton because it breathes and I
> embroidery on broadcloth
> > with is
> > also period. They might have had a coarser weave
> than we do now,
> > depending
> > on the spinners and weavers.
> >
> > Mistress Bunny
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-sca-middle@scotland.midrealm.org
> > [mailto:owner-sca-middle@scotland.midrealm.org]On
> Behalf Of Ross &
> > Deb
> > Kerr
> > Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2002 10:46 AM
> > To: Middlebridge
> > Subject: [Mid] Authentic Cotton
> >
> >
> > I realise this would not qualify as
> "documentation," but perhaps
> > it will
> > make some gentles feel better about their cotton
> garb. Unless all
> > these
> > websites I googled in about ten minutes are giving
> our incorrect
> > information, cotton was indeed available to people
> in Europe during
> > the
> > Middle Ages. It may have been difficult to
> acquire or expensive,
> > but
> > nothing in these websites addresses those issues,
> so I do not know.
> > But,
> > logically, would you think it would have been as
> available and
> > pricey as
> > silk?
> > The one thing I do know, I see a lot of cotton
> worn as garb, and
> > it has
> > never offended me. I buy linen and silk when I
> can afford to and
> > cotton
> > when I see a piece in a color I like, and do my
> best to turn it in
> > to garb
> > that is as close to period as my slowly improving
> sewing skills
> > permit. One
> > thought that comforts me: the women who lived in
> the Middle Ages
> > had sewing
> > teachers. I don't have one and learn as I go, but
> I'm sure would-be
> > seamstresses of any period figured out creative
> ways to hide their
> > foibles
> > and goofs to keep from having to throw away yards
> of fabric, the
> > same way I
> > do. Some of my methods may not be "period", but I
> would challenge
> > someone
> > to prove that they're not. The wool I could
> wear might be period,
> > as
> > would be the rash and stuffy nose it would
> probably give me, but I
> > think
> > I'll pass on that, thanks
> > If necessity was the mother of invention, then
> creativity was its
> > child.
> > We best keep in mind there are more things about
> the Middle Ages
> > that
> > documentation doesn't exist for than the opposite.
> If we are only
> > going to
> > utilise that which can be documented, we are going
> to have a narrow
> > scope on
> > what life was like in the Middle Ages. Creativity
> can fill in the
> > gaps now,
> > much as it had to have done then.
> > Research is an excellent pastime, and keeps one
> out of the pool
> > halls.
> > Some folks have more time and resources than
> others, as we know. I
> > applaud
> > all who make the effort, whether they have their
> volumes of
> > documentation
> > pinned to the front of their pearled Elizabethan
> gown, or whether
> > they are
> > wearing a pickle barrel covered by what was once
> their blankie. We
> > all
> > evolve, and I thank you all for showing up on the
> weekend and
> > sharing the
> > good time I'm having.
> >
> > http://www.ecottonindia.com/history.htm
> >
> >
>
http://www.kings.k12.ca.us/central/cuesd.a/tq/ag/history.html
> >
> > http://www.fabriclink.com/History.html
> >
> > http://www.curlbros.com/cottinfo.htm
> >
> >
>
http://my-scarf.com/Info/The%20Yarns/Cotton/Cotton%20History.htm
> >
> > I'm sure there are plenty more, but these
> satisfied me.
> >
> > Medb
> >
> > Lady Medb ni Ciaran MacMurchadha
> > The Smiled Upon
> > Widow by Trade, Ret'd.
> > And Wielder of the Dreaded Longspoon of Doom
> >
> > "Quanti Canicula In Fenestra?"
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: "Connie Marie Carroll"
> <Connie.Bunny@worldnet.att.net>
> > +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ to
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> > message to
> > `~-, ,-~`~-, ,-~`~-, ,-~`~-, ,-~`
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> > . | | | | | | | |
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>
>
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=====
Domina Aurelia Rufinia
House Iron Maiden, Barony of Nordskogen
Principality of Northshield, Middle Kingdom

"There's a snake over here."
"What kind is it?"
"I don't know and I don't want to ask it. Can someone please shoot it?"

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From: Aurelia Rufinia <aureliarufinia@yahoo.com>
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Received on Sun Jan 13 20:18:33 2002