Sea gowns and pantaloons and buckram, oh my!
![Clothing historian Jane Malcolm-Davies of The Tudor Tailor has shared her expertise at Hampton Court Palace, Buckingham Palace, The National Trust and Historic Scotland, among other sites.](/sites/default/files/styles/1170x780/public/news-images/Tudor.jpg?h=9beab17c&itok=AY6KJFDj)
A day of Tudor Tailor workshops hosted by the theatre arts department drew a crowd eager to study 16th-century clothing with a 21st-century eye.
By Faye Wolfe
鈥淚鈥檓 interested in how fashion history helps to build up a picture of larger changes in a society,鈥 said 欧美AV student Elizabeth Lowe 鈥19. That鈥檚 why, as a double major in history and theatre arts, she studies material culture and is involved in costume research projects on campus. Last fall, she was the costume designer for the 欧美AV production of 鈥淏ull in a China Shop鈥 by .
That鈥檚 also why she signed up for a day of workshops featuring clothing historians Jane Malcolm-Davies and Ninya Mikhaila of The Tudor Tailor, held recently at 欧美AV鈥檚 Rooke Theatre. The event was sponsored by the theatre arts department with the Five College Consortium.
鈥淥pportunities to do hands-on historical research really appeal to me,鈥 Lowe said, during a break in the daylong program. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 always great to talk to people in the field, to hear about how they鈥檝e learned their craft, their research methods, the types of sources they use.鈥
The workshops fit in neatly with 欧美AV鈥檚 commitment to object-based learning, an approach that involves students handling objects large and small to facilitate deep learning. To that end, 欧美AV students can find many such immersive experiences in and out of the classroom, from curating exhibits to research with faculty and internships in a variety of fields.
The Rooke Theatre鈥檚 costume shop manager, Elaine Bergeron, organized the day of workshops with Elizabeth Pangburn, a visiting guest artist in costume design, and Kiki Smith, professor of theater at Smith College and an award-winning costume designer.
鈥淚 have so many students interested in learning more about clothing, as research for costumes or as an area of fashion or gender studies 鈥 you name it,鈥 Bergeron said. 鈥淚 take care of one of 欧美AV鈥檚 historical clothing collections and I know the amazing stories clothing can tell, as well as the secrets you can unlock when you really understand how something is made and worn.鈥
Malcolm-Davies and Mikhaila each have a rich array of academic and professional credentials, including co-authoring the reference text 鈥淭he Tudor Tailor.鈥 Their company of the same name focuses on 16th-century English clothing. They鈥檝e shared their expertise worldwide with productions on stage and screen, historic sites, reenactments and in the classroom.
Why study what people wore 400 years ago? Over the course of the day, the two offered myriad answers to the question, demonstrating that historical apparel serves as a unique window into the past 鈥 and the view can be enthralling.
About three dozen people, including some from the Five Colleges and the region as well as 欧美AV, gathered over the day. They looked at slides of iconic art and 鈥渁rchaeological brown鈥 mittens (a term that describes the typical color of wool that鈥檚 been in the ground for a couple of centuries), examined wool samples, learned about best practices in research and costume-making 鈥 and got plenty of career advice.
鈥淐ontacts. It鈥檚 important to have lots of contacts in this field!鈥 Malcolm-Davies said exuberantly.
Bergeron was thrilled by the Tudor Tailors鈥 own willingness to be available to students. 鈥淛ane and Ninya were so generous with information about internships and even opportunities to work with them in the future,鈥 she said.
During the morning workshop, 鈥淎 Voyage of Discovery,鈥 Malcolm-Davies delivered up a steady stream of fascinating facts and insights. Gathered in a classroom around a big table, the students freely asked questions, volunteered theories, worked in groups and singly on exercises of Malcolm-Davies鈥檚 devising, and photographed, tried on and turned inside out re-creations of 16th-century sailors鈥 鈥淰enetian pantaloons鈥 and a floor-length 鈥渟ea gown.鈥
As Malcolm-Davies talked about types of primary sources and how she has delved into them in such far-flung locales as Red Bay, Labrador, Mikhaila was across the hall in the black box theater spinning a sort of detective story. Let鈥檚 call it 鈥淭he Mystery of the Sprayed-On Bust,鈥 or, how did tailors in the Henrician era get that smooth fit of neckline to bosom, as seen in Holbein鈥檚 portraits of Henry VIII鈥檚 wives?
When Mikhaila and Malcolm-Davies were working at Hampton Court Palace in London on the gowns of its costumed interpreters, they embarked on a quest to find out. They experimented with bents and bones, busques and lacing, paste buckram and brass pins. They sought out effigies of knights鈥 wives. A colleague who knew 鈥渟ecretary hand鈥 (a sort of early shorthand: 鈥渃鈥檚 like r鈥檚, r鈥檚 like w鈥檚鈥) decoded Tudor inventories.
In the process, they unearthed their share of secrets. But perhaps the greatest revelation of Mikhaila鈥檚 talk was that their research involved lots of digging, lot of trial and error, a few leaps of faith, and a little luck 鈥 valuable lessons for students contemplating careers in this line of work.
The afternoon sessions were even more involving. As students braided each other鈥檚 hair and fashioned linen headdresses on the black box stage, others banged and hammered wool with big wooden mallets to 鈥渇ull鈥 (clean and thicken) it, then raised the nap with teasel brushes.
All the workshops had plenty of technical detail, deliciously served up, and the audience ate it up, eagerly asking questions. Where do you source your linen? Did Tudor tailors use hooks-and-eyes? Was there a religious aspect to the wearing of linen headscarves?
Lowe, for one, came away with quite a few choice bits of information and some new approaches to investigating a subject she鈥檚 drawn to.
鈥淚 learned a lot that I didn't know before about early-modern and Tudor clothing,鈥 she said afterward. 鈥淎nd the research methods that they talked about were really interesting. I can definitely see myself applying what I learned from the workshops.鈥
欧美AV鈥檚 emphasis on material culture and hands-on learning is why Bergeron lined up the Tudor Tailor workshops, as well as a trip to Historic Deerfield to learn how flax was made into linen, and a behind-the-scenes tour of Rhode Island School of Design鈥檚 archives. Besides bringing the subject alive, these experiences, said Bergeron, 鈥渟how that there are serious and fascinating careers available in these fields.鈥
And sometimes, well, play鈥檚 the thing. Deborah D. Korboe 鈥21, an architecture studies and art studio double major, got hooked on theater when she toured Rooke during Orientation. 鈥淚 found the costume studio, and it was, 鈥榶es, please!鈥欌 she said. Since then, she has worked on costumes and lighting for College productions.
Korboe鈥檚 reason for taking the Tudor Tailor workshops: 鈥淚鈥檓 just here for fun!鈥 she said, as another participant fitted her with a linen headdress.
Fun? Yes, please!