Monday, December 17, 2012

Red Riding Hood

Before there was the caped wonder of Superman, there was Red Riding Hood. I'll decline to comment on the fairy tale or any of the accompanying adaptations(though I have enjoyed some episodes of "Once Upon a Time"), since I've always thought it all a bit odd and easily taken wrongly. But I had this gorgeous crimson wool, and as I researched 18th Century women's capes quite a few of the examples I saw were red. I'm also coming to see the value of re-creating movie costumes. There seem to be a great many people in the world who like the idea of dressing in movie costume reproductions. So, for my 18th C wardrobe and also just for fun, here's my own Red Hood.

Everything I'm wearing here I made, except, of course, for the socks and shoes. I'm wearing my silk-lined mitts, which are the same red wool. The hand-made quilted white petticoat is cotton, pleated at the waist with ties. The back-lacing stays are brown linen with red trim, and the shift is also linen. The basket is from Russia. Almost everything I bought for myself in Russia was with the purpose of use for reenacting.

The cape is just a simple circular cape, made with red wool from Hancock's. I bought the wool last spring when all the winter fabrics went on sale. The clasp is also from Hancock's. After looking online at 18th C capes. I decided to add a shoulder caplet and hood. It's very warm! I made the hood small, both because I wanted it to be practical and keep in warmth and also because I didn't have a hood pattern and that's just how it turned out. I'm hemming it by hand, but the seams I did with machine.

 Thanks to Jennifer for taking the pictures.

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