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.