First Post!

    My very first post on my very first (independent) 'blog!  I shall be migrating most of my existing reference posts over from Tumblr, but I wanted to have something as a placeholder before that.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

D&D Thinkpiece: Holy Symbols

Image
    I've been pondering the nature of holy symbols in Dungeons & Dragons and similar fantasy tabletop RPGs.  They're instantly recognizable, with strong lines and bright colors, and can be hugely fun to sprinkle throughout a dungeon as clues or emblazon on a character's shield to show their allegiance.  Yet, there seems to be a distinct lack of real-world analogs for D&D-style holy symbols.  How did that happen?      Although D&D was created by a deeply Christian man, E. Gary Gygax seems to have neglected the real-world use of holy symbols in his own religion, much less outside of Christianity.  Let's look at how the cross is used as a Christian symbol.     The cross or crucifix is, essentially, the ancient Roman equivalent of the gallows.  As the instrument of Jesus' suffering* and death*, it is the quintessential Christian symbol.  It can appear with or without Jesus (or other hanged martyrs), and w...
Read more

1910s Drafting, Tailoring, and Hatmaking

    There are a lot of resources out there for period patterns from the era(s) in question, at least from the 1800s onward, so I thought I'd add yet another series of posts to my blog.  Publication of sewing manuals seems to drop off after the 1910s, picking up again in the 1940s, but I will try to do as many decades as I can! General information      Bryner, Edna. Dressmaking and Millinery . Cleveland, OH: Survey Committee of the Cleveland Foundation, 1916.     Foster, Olivia Hyde. Sewing for Little Girls . New York, NY: Duffield & Company, 1911.      Ginsburg, Marcus O. Chart of Bias Cutting . New York, NY: The Public Press, 1919.     Goodwin, Emma E. Goodwin's Course in Sewing: Practical Instruction in Needlework for Use in Schools and at Home . New York, NY: Frank D. Beattys & Company, 1910.      Van Rensselaer, Martha, et al. A Manual of Home-Making . New York, NY: The MacMillan ...
Read more

A Young Person's Introduction to 18th-Century Western Fashion

     This is an unexpurgated version of a Tumblr post which had to be cut for length.  It was intended to be for those just getting into the subject, or those looking for more on a specific topic.  Unfortunately, it really doesn't treat fashion outside of Britain, France, and their colonies, but for Anglophone readers, I think it's a good starting resource! General information     Cox, Abby. " I Wore 18th-Century Clothing *Every Day for 5 YEARS & This Is What I Learned (Corsets Aren't Bad!) ." YouTube . May 10, 2020.     Dyer, Serena. " How much did 18th-century women know about their clothes? | Fast Fashion v Georgian Dress ." YouTube . July 30, 2020.      Rudolph, Nicole. " 18th century Fashion 101 : how media messes up ." YouTube . May 20, 2023.     Viljanmaa, Maria. " 1780s dressing the different social classes, english fashion ." YouTube . March 30, 2023.      McKnight, Cheyney. ...
Read more