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
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
Something that can be worn over the tunic or doublet, or on its own is the men's Houppelande, also called a Gown. This is a robe like garment that is cut very wide, and can be belted at the waist or worn loose. There are a lot of variations of the gown, as it was popular for most of the medieval period and changed throughout the era. The sleeves can be very large in the middle, but narrow at the shoulder and cuff (called bagged sleeves), narrow all the way down or wide and flowing. For higher status gowns, the sleeves can be split from cuff to shoulder and allowed to hang freely, leaving the arms free. The length varies from on the hip, to floor length.
Houppelande
- Period Patterns 26
- Simplicity 5925
- Reconstructing History 005
- 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.
Jewellery
Armour
Weapons
Heraldry
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!