Wearing vs Styling: Introduction

 ***

INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to a brief summary of a recent talk I gave at the Westcoast Elizabethan Clothing Symposium entitled: "Wearing vs Styling: Accessorizing to Create a Period Look".

As it says on the tin, the talk focused primarily on the use (and sometimes the misuse) of accessories.

Accessories are, hands down, my favourite part of historical costuming. They are the little details that really finish off an outfit while also making it something unique to the wearer.

They give a specificity of time, place, and context to historical clothing in a way that few other things can.

However, they often tend to be treated as an afterthought or rushed to completion at the last minute…or even overlooked altogether.

So as a corrective, this presentation aims to re-center accessories as an integral element of historical costuming and focuses on how we can use them to elevate our historical impressions, breathe new life into old garments, and expand our wardrobe without breaking the bank.

Because (and this is the best part) accessories also allow you to cheat...and create a fuller, more period look without a ton of extra cost and labour.

***

Transcribing the entire talk in a single post would be far too long and ungainly, so for ease of use I've divided it into three sections which describe how accessories are: 

~ Elevative

~ Cost Effective

~ Transformative

(Caveat: Because this is primarily based on my own experiments --successes and failures-- it’s going to focus exclusively on female presenting clothing of the middle and lower classes.  However the principles discussed will hopefully be helpful and relevant for all aspects of the period.)

Enjoy!

***