Dawn costumes

Look and Feel

"Dawn is the land of valour; the classical images of gleaming plate, of brightly coloured banners and traditional heraldic devices provide the imagery for the nation. Where the Marches is gritty and down to earth, Dawn is the opposite, almost block primary colours. There is a sumptuous nature to the materials and tones used, idealistic in design instead of practical. Arthurian, pre-Raphaelite and the Gothic revival movements all provide strong themes and forms to the nation.

There is a touch of tragic flaw to the people here though also, with elements of Shakespeares tragedies threaded through their lives, leaving shadow in contrast to all the glorious polished armour."

Clothing in Dawn should make a statement. Shapes, colours and fabrics are chosen to stand out - vivid, luxurious and elegant. It can seem like a daunting prospect, involving expensive fabrics and advanced skills - but actually, the clean lines and textures of Dawnish costume lend themselves extremely well to inexpensive and rewarding costuming.

Fabrics

A guide to fabrics for kitmaking

Dawn is a country where you can really go wild with your fabrics and indulge yourself. For high status characters, rich wools, intensely coloured silks, fine linens and velvets are all a wonderful choice. Don't automatically assume that they're more expensive - like every fabric, there's a range, and if you shop carefully you can pick up some superb bargains. Ebay is always good. Try to stick to natural fabrics or natural/synethetic blends - pure synthetics are uncomfortable and wear badly, with very few exceptions.

In terms of the layers of your costume, start with a cotton or linen shift, add a tunic, bliault or kirtle in silk, linen or a very fine wool, then top it with a surcote or overgown in velvet, richly coloured wool or silk. There are several how-to guides (link) describing just how to do this for under £50 per character, so don't be daunted by the fact that your costume is going to LOOK like a million dollars.

Similar nations

Compare it to other nations with overlaps and discuss how to differentiate

Research

Historical/cultural inspiration (and how the nation differs/adheres to it), films, books, tv, google search terms

Google image search for burgundian gowns

In detail

Breakdown of each garment worn, typical layers and fabrics for each

links to patterns, shops, traders etc.

Good substitutions for each garment

Specifics

dumped in from the Marcher brief

The Bliaut is a similar dress, the main difference between this and the kirtle is the wide flowing sleeves and the very tight fit, achieved through lacing on both sides of the dress.

Bliaut

• Drafting instructions for a Bliaut

The other style of dress worn in Dawn is an unfitted robe, gathered in at the waist by a belt. This started life as the Houppelande, a large, robe like garment worn by men and women. Women belted this high under the bust and, over time, the burgundian gown evolved from this, with a similar shape but a deep v-neck. These dresses are far less revealing as the fit is looser than the kirtle and similar dresses, and the belt helps to define the waist. The large amount of fabric used in this style of dress makes it better for wealthier characters.

Houppelande

• Period Patterns 26
• How to draft a Houppelande pattern
• Houppelande drafting
• More drafting instructions

Burgundian gowns

• Simplicity 9058
• Reconstructing History 007
• Houppelande and Burgundian drafting instructions

Costuming high, middle and low status character

Men/Women/children in each category?

What you can achieve at different price brackets? (thinking of doing something along the lines of the Odyssey £30 kit challenge maybe Daisy and Jude!)

Hats and outerwear

Examples, materials, patterns etc.

Bibliography

Both an online “would you like to know more!” and a guide to the amazing books you can get on amazon.

Nation specific garment

Possibly – if we can think of something suitable for each nation!