Calling Clothing Historians

Pogonip wrote: In Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, slippers woven of vegetable
fibers have
been found, dating to about 4000 years ago.

Jean M.



That is very cool! Wonder who the makers were, or have other
discoveries been made that fill in the history?

couldnt' find much, but it appears that scissors have been around for 2000
years or so
http://inventors.about.com/library/i...blscissors.htm

Pogonip wrote:

wrote:
The Bog People and Oetzie all wore garments of leather. The pictures
in my books show coifs on the men and women Bog People; there is a
detailed description of Oetzie's clothing on one of the websites
(haven't used it for two years; forget the url). The leggings were
leather; the shoes were woven straw, stuffed with more straw; the hat
was bearskin and sewn crudely to fit close to the head.

I have a pair of replica scissors from the eighteenth or nineteenth
century. They would have been forged by an ironmonger, then sharpened.
They cut quite well, but dull quickly. I don't know how much earlier
scissors were "born," but I'm thinking Renaissance, because of the
elaborate pieces of clothing worn. A machine for making silk stockings
dates to Elizabethan times.

Something about taking off all of one's clothing and getting wet, I
think were the reasons for not bathing more often. They thought it
would help one get pneumonia or other diseases.

Teri


IIRC, the Egyptians and the Quechua (Peru) knitted. For footwear and
mittens/gloves, perhaps headgear. Only fragments survive, and it's
uncertain exactly how some textiles were done, and some were so fine
that even with today's machinery, we can't duplicate it. Interesting.

Also interesting is that history of bathing Penny posted. Although I
wonder sometimes if the word "bath" didn't have a wider meaning, since
using dirt or sand is included for the Moslem tribes, and the others
mention a lot of greasy substances. Plus, of course, a steam bath or a
sauna, while invigorating, doesn't do much to clean the person.

Actually it does. Along with the steam bath, skin was scraped or rubbed
down. Soap is documented as being made in Europe at least since Roman
times, although it wasn't a commercial product. Ritual washing was
important for many types of religious rites even before the Romans got
there. Every settlement originated by the Romans in Europe had public
baths which were well frequented. Obviously the wealthier sorts had
baths in their own homes. Those public baths remained well into the 19th
century; most European cities had them and the buildings are still
standing in many places.

The myth about northern Europeans never washing is only a myth. The
settlement of the American colonies followed the same pattern; there
were public baths in most places. Most people didn't strip down every
day and wash head-to-toe because heating water was too difficult to do
in quantity every day.


Scissors were one of those inventions that I suspect opened up a whole
new world of possibilities. I would guess they were originally made of
a softer metal, and wouldn't hold an edge for terribly long.
--

Joanne @ stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us
http://bernardschopen.tripod.com/
Life is about the journey, not about the destination.

Small Change wrote:
Pogonip wrote: In Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, slippers woven of vegetable
fibers have

been found, dating to about 4000 years ago.

Jean M.




That is very cool! Wonder who the makers were, or have other
discoveries been made that fill in the history?


couldnt' find much, but it appears that scissors have been around for 2000
years or so
http://inventors.about.com/library/i...blscissors.htm




Now that's just amazing.
--

Joanne @ stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us
http://bernardschopen.tripod.com/
Life is about the journey, not about the destination.

Pogonip wrote:

couldnt' find much, but it appears that scissors have been around
for 2000 years or so
http://inventors.about.com/library/i...blscissors.htm




Now that's just amazing.

I'm thinking just imagine how valuable a pair of scissors would have
been....

penny

Small Change wrote:
Pogonip wrote:


couldnt' find much, but it appears that scissors have been around
for 2000 years or so
http://inventors.about.com/library/i...blscissors.htm




Now that's just amazing.


I'm thinking just imagine how valuable a pair of scissors would have
been....

penny


It certainly doesn't sound like every woman was walking around with a
pair in her pocket, does it? In fact, they sound like works of art.

--

Joanne @ stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us
http://bernardschopen.tripod.com/
Life is about the journey, not about the destination.

When were scissors invented? Imagine trying to cut woven fabric with a
knife -- even with the new rotary cutters, curves are difficult to
impossible, and they're probably finer and sharper than the old knives.

http://inventors.about.com/library/i...blscissors.htm

(paste together the following URL
http://www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk/detail/d...ex_no_login.ph
p?objectid=UC30939&accesscheck=%2Fdetail%2Fdetails %2Findex.php
shows some Egyptian shears from about 1000 BC -- they looked rather
like hand sheep shears

Kay

G'day

If you practice cutting curves with a rotary cutter they do become
easier, although I do tend to use the 1" cutter for tighter curves and
prefer using a rotary cutter to scissors for a neater, more accurate
cutting line.

We have it so much easier now than they did many years ago.....we are
truly spoiled......I don't think they were the 'good' ole days.

Bronwyn ;-)

Pogonip wrote:

zski wrote:

Pogonip wrote:

Do we have an historian on board who can shed some light on the
history of "modern dress"? Where did we go wrong and why? Men in
trousers fussing with their fiddly bits, and women in dresses must
have an interesting past.



Well, part of it is easy, and comes from whether a particular society
was an agrarian or hunter-gatherer one.

Hunter-gatherer societies make most of their clothing from skins - and
anyone who has ever sew with leather knows that you get lots of
smallish odd-shaped pieces. Logically, you sew them together to fit
your body. You end up with close-fitting garments. Even when you get
cloth traded in, you go on making the same kind of stuff you are used
to wearing.

Contrary to this, weaving textiles is a loooooooong and laborious
process. After you have spent all that time putting together a piece
of fabric, the last thing you want to do is CUT it! So you drape it,
seam it, pin it, and do other stuff to it, and you get robes, chitons,
kimono, and other stuff like that, worn by both sexes.


When were scissors invented? Imagine trying to cut woven fabric with a
knife -- even with the new rotary cutters, curves are difficult to
impossible, and they're probably finer and sharper than the old knives.

Learn something new everyday. Today-about scissors.
Interesting reading.
Emily

The story I read was if the Heathen, beginning with the moors, I
believe, bathed then "good Christians" just didn't need that new
fangled stuff, We'll just embrace Dirt and disease. LOL thus the
dark ages, y'know?

HC wrote:
G'day

If you practice cutting curves with a rotary cutter they do become
easier, although I do tend to use the 1" cutter for tighter curves and
prefer using a rotary cutter to scissors for a neater, more accurate
cutting line.

We have it so much easier now than they did many years ago.....we are
truly spoiled......I don't think they were the 'good' ole days.

Bronwyn ;-)

Bingo! There were no "good" ole days. Some were better than others,
but the progression has definitely been toward improvement for a long,
long time. It's the old "When looking in the rear view mirror, times
may look better than they were."
--

Joanne @ stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us
http://bernardschopen.tripod.com/
Life is about the journey, not about the destination.