How historical clothing, cloth, jewelry and dyes were made, shown in construction diagrams drawn for this site and museum photographs traced to their sources.
Pages that gather one topic in one place.
Ring Settings: Cellini's Closed Backs Hid Colored Foil
Jeweler · Jewelry Anatomy
18th-Century Clothing: A Woman's Pocket Was a Separate Bag
Tailor · Historical Clothing Construction
Types of Weave: Satin Is a Structure, Not a Fiber
Weaver · Weaves & Patterns
Weaver Weaves & Patterns
Tartan repeats one stripe list in warp and weft, usually woven in 2/2 twill. See why three yarn colors make up to six on the cloth, and why blends can cover half of it.
"Kenneth Sutherland, 3rd Lord Duffus, d. 1734. Jacobite" by Richard Waitt — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kenneth-sutherland-3rd-lord-duffus-d-1734-jacobite.jpg — Public domain (Richard Waitt d. 1732, PD in US and EU)
Tailor Historical Clothing Construction
Two surviving pockets, of about 1784 and 1799, are separate bags; a museum record says such pockets were tied on under the skirts. Each layer, shift to gown.
"Pocket" by Unknown maker — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pocket_MET_1996.2_CP4.jpg — CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
Weaver Weaves & Patterns
Plain weave, twill and satin all cross warp and weft at right angles and differ only in where the crossings fall. Satin names a weave, not a fiber.
"Weaver" by Vincent van Gogh — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Weaver_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg — Public domain (Vincent van Gogh d. 1890, PD in US and EU)
Jeweler Jewelry Anatomy
Six ring settings in cross-section: bezel, prong, closed back, pavé, channel and gypsy. In Cellini's 16th-century account, a closed back hid colored foil.
"Stirrup Ring" by Unknown maker — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stirrup_Ring_MET_DP701987.jpg — CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
Dyer Dyes & Pigments
Tyrian purple came from sea snails. In most species analyzed, its main pigment is indigo with two bromine atoms. What Aristotle, Pliny and a dye test show.
"Murex brandaris" by Wenceslaus Hollar — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wenceslas_Hollar_-_Murex_brabdaris.jpg — Public domain (Wenceslaus Hollar d. 1677, PD in US and EU)
Tailor Historical Clothing Construction
Sömmerring's 1793 treatise blamed stays for reshaped ribs and moved organs. A small 2015 study reported bent ribs in seven skeletons; breaks remain unproven here.
"Corset" by Unknown maker — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corset_MET_CI39.18.1_F.jpg — CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
The tailor cut
How Western women's dress of the 1700s and 1800s was cut, sewn and put on and how its silhouette changed, with corsets read from period sources and a skeleton study.
3 entries
The weaver woven
How plain, twill and satin weaves are built, and how tartan and houndstooth form on the cloth as it is woven, drawn thread by thread.
3 entries
The jeweler set
How jewelry is built: ring settings cut open, hairwork braided with bobbins, and cameos carved down through a shell's color layers. Construction, not value.
3 entries
The dyer dyed
Tyrian purple, indigo and arsenic green on dress: sources, chemistry, process and names, told as history, with what tests on surviving cloth can show.
3 entries
Look closely at the picture. What is this part called, and what holds it in place? The entry has the answer.
This week's part
"Broche met haar van de dichteres Petronella Moens" by Unknown maker — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Broche_met_haar_van_de_dichteres_Petronella_Moens,_BK-NM-1120.jpg — CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
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