An 18th Century Cloak

This past fall I finally made myself an 18th century cloak. They're really quite necessary when you reenact in a cold climate! I decided to cave to historical trends (though I rarely deign to acknowledge modern ones 😄) and make my cloak in the red so popular among the ladies of the 18th century. Besides, red is a great color anyway!

I got the very warm and thick wool from my friend Gabe at The Period Tailor, and stitched it together at Fort Ligonier just in time for the chilly evening weather. I hadn't brought my Costume Close Up book with me, which contains the grid pattern for the cloak, but my friend Brigid came to the rescue and let me measure off her cloak made from the same pattern.

I lined the hood with silk scraps from my 1950's Cocktail Dress, and added the draw string channel to close the hood against the frozen wind... on the way to Fort Wayne in January... Is anyone else noticing a trend of putting off projects to the last minute here? 😄 I always seem to have this crazy super-speed sewing zone right before (and/or during) events... It's so stereotypical that we have a saying amongst our reenacting group "Is it even an event if at least one of us isn't sewing a project in the car on the way?" Ah well, it makes for an exciting life...😉

There was a delightful patch in the woods that looked almost like a small stream running through!

I love this close-up shot of the skirt... you can catch a glimpse of the layers of petticoats that both add warmth to the ensemble and create the full skirted silhouette of the 18th century.

Our cat, as always, wanted to "be where the people are".

Here you see a rare glimpse of my photographer... he was cold... my cloak kept me warmer than his coat kept him. *chuckles gleefully* Or was it the 5 layers of other clothes beneath the cloak that kept me toasty?

Below are a few fun photos we took of us cloaked folks from Nouvelle Annee

The color grade cloak line-up. :)

I decided to snap a few photos with my "normal" clothes and my brown boots because it reminded me of "Little Red Riding Hood" which I've heard that particular fairy-tale was actually inspired by the red cloak obsessed 18th century ladies!

These boots were NOT made for walking in the snow... they have zero traction, which I found out rather quickly to our amusement. Here you see as I confidently approach the small hill... oh take care, for your confidence is your downfall... literally.😉

And here you see me clinging desperately to the tree whilst dying laughing..

We did manage to get a couple decent shots between falling over and laughing hysterically.

Photo credit goes to my brother as always.
Reenactment photos were taken by my friend Gabe.

An 18th Century Winter Ensemble

Recently we had a lovely thick snowfall which provided an unexpected opportunity to photograph my 18th century winter wardrobe.

This thick red wool jacket was the first one I made for myself back in June 2018 (You may be asking why in the world I chose wool for a June reenactment... the short and very simple answer is that it was in my stash, and I was in a hurry... Wool is actually quite insulating and probably saved me from dehydrating myself. 😉)

The bayonet made a splendid bread toasting stick. :)

I elected to do ties for closures on this jacket, which I've seen done in several paintings and extant garments, though usually tied with fancy silk ribbons rather than simple twill-tape. But the simple bows are fun and I like them. :)

I finally added the cuffs this past fall and I love them! They make the jacket look so much more like the popular fashions of the 1750's, and as an added bonus they lengthen the sleeves and keep me warmer on frigid days. :)

The mitts are made from an old wool scarf and are stitched by hand with linen thread. The kerchief is made from a pleated wool skirt I got at the thrift store. The icing on the cake is that the two different wool items just happened to perfectly match! They make a night and day difference at chilly reenactments, especially when you need your hands free to cut vegetables for stew!

I've been saving this beautiful brown and blue tartan for the perfect project, and I finally settled on making a warm winter petticoat with it, and whipped it up by hand just before heading to the Nouvelle Annee reenactment at Fort Wayne this past January.

I'm really excited to share my 18th century cloak with you in the next post! More warm woolen happiness is yet to come. :)

Photo credit goes to my brother.