The Finished Garb

Jaine finished the in progress garb and took it in to the office for a photo. She pinned the veil on too quickly, it isn't hanging correctly, but you will get the general idea. This is a cotehardie and surcoat on Jaine. She's lifting the surcoat slightly and you can see the lining fabric, that's not a shoe.

Just putting on the outfit for a few moments for the photo taught Jaine some interesting things. First, having friends help is a good thing. All those buttons are difficult by yourself. Also pinning a veil on over curly hair is not at all easy. The white band you can see under her chin is called a barbette. Sometimes they were much larger, but not usually much narrower. Getting the barbette fastened on tightly is not easy, even with the aid of a mirror.

The surcoat and cotehardie both drag on the ground but it isn't difficult to walk in this outfit if you know how to move your feet. You have two options, shuffle and don't lift your toes up, or kick your dress with each step. Never, never lift your garment and show your feet. It just isn't done. Forget about running. The sleeves are so snugly fitted that they limit arm movements. No lifting heavy objects.

This dress is still rather comfortable to wear. It is precisely fitted to Jaine, it won't fit anyone else. It is all natural fibers, it breathes. While the whole outfit weighs several pounds, the weight is evenly distributed over shoulders, hips and torso. The veil will keep sun off head and shoulders enough to reduce the need for sunblock.

This entire outfit can be tossed in the washing machine with no worries. All the edges are finished, inside and out. All the fabrics were prewashed and shouldn't shrink now. Irons were not regularly used in period, so crumpled, wrinkled linen is correct.

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