Red & black Viking apron panel

Photo credit ©Mysticus Photography – my new embroidered apron panel

In my Viking Age Capsule Collection post I mentioned that I wanted to slowly transition my Viking Age wardrobe to a red / black / grey / blue colour scheme. I found this red and black twill fabric at the Grandmother’s Fabric Sale in spring 2017, and since it was only 0.6 meters, there wasn’t really enough to do much. I reserved a piece for this apron panel, and then used the remainder for reverse facings on my black and red wool (blend) coat.

Current Viking Age Palette

I decided to do one side of this apron panel with the red, and the reverse with the same black I used for the coat. No real reason other than I had pieces of both leftover, and both match my current desireable colourway.

Burgundian V-neck Gown – research

15th century horned hennin. In this photo you can see the length of this particular veil.

To accompany my new horned hennin, I want to make a V-neck Burgundian gown. This has actually been on my wish-list since 2014, so this is a good time to start looking at the styles.

This is specifically for the elevation of my friend Philippe to order of the Laurel this spring. Philippe is a lawyer in 1431 Paris. Based on my brief look at visual sources for the style of horned hennin I made, I’m placing it 1400-1460. This means I’ll be looking for V-neck Burgundian gowns from the same era.

Horned hennin documentation

Selfie in my new horned hennin

On January 20, 2018 I’ll be presenting my research, documentation, and finished hat for comment only at Montengarde’s Twelfth Night. I’m not entering the competition to be Montengarde’s next A&S champion (since I only stepped down as Kingdom champion in November!). I wanted to share my documentation here – in case I need a digital version at the event!

Horned hennin documentation PDF

To see the full blog post with even more photos of construction/etc, visit my horned hennin blog post, or click the category for 15th century French to see more research, accompanying garments, and other projects from this era.

UPDATE
Here’s a photo that the Baroness of Montengarde took of my display at Twelfth Night!

Horned hennin competition display

Egyptian faience necklace

Selfie wearing Egyptian Faience necklace

Although I haven’t even started pleating the fabric for my linen Egyptian dress (based off the synthetic ‘practice’ one I did in 2017) I still wanted to make a more period-appropriate necklace to go with this outfit. Originally I wanted to blend the Faience beads I recently got back from a friend’s kiln with some lapis lazuli beads I bought locally, as as explored on New Egyptian necklace research, but ended up not liking the combination together, likely because of the shape/size of beads and the texture difference. (As discussed in Lapis Lazuli necklace.)

Lapis lazuli necklace

Hand-strung Egyptian-influenced necklace of lapis lazuli beads

Although I haven’t even started pleating the fabric for my linen Egyptian dress (based off the synthetic ‘practice’ one I did in 2017) I still wanted to make a more period-appropriate necklace to go with this outfit. I picked up some lapis lazuli beads from The Bead Store Fashion Jewellery Outlet in Calgary, as well as some lapis beads from Michaels, and thought I would use them along with the Faience beads I recently got back from a friend’s kiln.