Steuchlein Update...

[hsifeng]

The furthest I got on the recreation of this piece was completing the Wulst roll (and inspiring a slew of folks to do the same!): amatilda and I are planning on hosting a workshop on recreating this many-layered marvel in detail sometime in August. I am hoping to come up with some sort of coif/hat that will act as the 'Wulsthaube' (pad, roll or ring-hat):

"All the previously described lady’s caps/coifs show a recognizably similar construction. Over a shape supporting under cap/coif, which was at first constructed with a high bow shaped arch, later becoming a light accentuation on the back of the head, was placed an over cap/coif, leaving the shape of the under cap/coif only visible through the impression of the curved shape of the over cap/coif. Depending on place and occasion the materials range from plain linen, to delicately transparent woven silk. The width and design of the appropriate decorated border depended on the social status of the wearer. Wulsthauben” (support cap) are recorded for each type of cap/coif (hauben)." ("Textiler Hausrat" by Jutta Zander-Seidel, translated by jillwheezul

In 'my' version of this hat, there is at least three layers: Wulst, Wulsthaube/coif, Schleier/shapped veil/embroidered over-coif. For those images that have the lighter 'outer layer' I would add a light silk veil as a fourth layer and to protect my embroidery.

Was looking at attack_laurel 's website today: http://www.extremecostuming.com/reproductions/vacoift281975.html 

I think I am going to start testing out this 'sort' of basic shape with more 'room' in the back as my Wulsthaube layer. Holding the Wulst in a position to the extream rear of the head (which was common in the early period) is hard to do without 'cheating' via combs attached to the bottom of the roll. I am trying to get a final form that will hold the roll of the Wulst in place without any need for pinning the Wulst to my head/hair. 

Then I can work on creating a sort of formed Schleier (a modified rectangle, shapped with less fabric toward the front edges and embroidered for decoration). 

Then I can figure out how to pin it all together and add the silk veil. 

Any thoughts on shaping from those with more patterning experiance (everyone?) are appreciated! Thanks for listening.

Comments

[kass-rants.livejournal.com]

Well, this is what I do that takes care of the slippage you get with the Wulst on the back of the head. I dont' know if you have my German Accessories pattern, but in the historical notes, I make a good argument for the Wulst being attached to the hair underneath it. Matter of fact, my hair is so thick that I can make a bulge decent size without any Wulst whatsoever. But I recognise that I have a lot of hair.

An extant wulst that jillweezul posted awhile ago gave me the idea that the Wulst was what my Mum would have called a "rat" back in the 1950s -- something to bolster the hair to make it look like you have more than you really do. I know Wulsts in the 16th century become huge, but I also think that attaching them to the cap without anchoring to the hair underneath is only going to lead to frustration.

So I attach my Wulst to my braids in position on the back of my head. And then I put on my Wulsthaube, which is a coif with a Wulst-wide strip inserted in the middle. The seam that joins the front of the cap to the Wulst-covering strip can be pinned to the hair at the base of the braids/Wulst, and make that nice smooth line you see under the sheer veils. Then you sew an inverted-U-shaped bit on the back and pin that seam to the base of the braids/Wulst in back.

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

I am not opposed to that idea: I just need to figure out how to get it to work well with my hair since mine isn’t long or thick and my braids are *tiny*. I need to experiment with using the roll as a ‘rat’….*hummm* As we have images of ‘marketenderin’ wearing these on the march, I am curious how women got into these in the morning if it was a complex process involving much ‘hair dressing’?

BTW – I think the extant roll you are thinking of was the image of the roll (http://pics.livejournal.com/jillwheezul/pic/0000h7q8/g1)’ that jillwheezul had posted in LJ and on the GermanRenCostume list awhile back?

I will have to look into this idea as well – it is a very different size than the one I made up: I have always been curious if this image shows a type of Zöpfe (http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/IE1ZSBGNjzzzhc4Z2zGcBPwy5UVUlRb3-NK1vr3IE08TxublzxMdSxxPNhuGsOGvUxsg0SCQrh-Vl3hgQtgmtaqW4j7WzUA0UZZF/Textiler%20Hausrat%20Translations/Women%27s%20Headdress/6.3%20Zopfe.txt)’ since it’s ‘limp’ shape seems like it would correspond with the images in the TH that accompany the text.

Anyone know if this was wired, or only displayed in this shape?

Then again, the question of exactly how Zöpfe might have been worn (http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/GermanRenCostume/photos/browse/cead) has been raised in the GRC list as well.

I would have to say, I would discount the idea of Zöpfe braided into the hair as the roll in a Steuchlein for reasons that are probably pretty obvious: 1) the crescent shape is too regular to be braids 2) there is a name for the roll (Wulst) that implies it is a different item than enhanced braids.

As always, thinking out loud only lead to more research! *grin*

[kass-rants.livejournal.com]

As we have images of ‘marketenderin’ wearing these on the march, I am curious how women got into these in the morning if it was a complex process involving much ‘hair dressing’?

I can only speak for myself, of course, but I can get my hair and Wulst arranged and my cap on in a tent without a mirror in about five minutes. Or outside without a mirror for that matter. I'm not the kind of person who fusses with my hair normally, but at reenactments, I'm always doing something with it, and I can pin up braids in record time.

I do this about one weekend per month for a maximum of eight months of the year, probably less. If I can do it in five minutes, I bet marketenderin who did it daily could do it in two. Plus they had each other's help. I do it all on my own.

I really like the way your brain is working. I cannot wait to see where your experiments lead!

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

We will probably have folks with a variety of hair types there to work with, and I am sure that amatilda and I will be making furious notes while shadowd1 makes video of the event. *grin*

With the amount of trouble I tend to have with my tresses, I am sure this will be a PG-13 project...*chuckle*

[bippimalin.livejournal.com]

I've come up with the same idea sa Kass uses.
What I do is get someone to braid my hair, I'm hopeless doing it myself although I guess I'd know how if I lived back then. It's just two simple braids, since my hair is shorter then it would have been worn back then I don't plait the zöpfe/wulst into the hair, instead I anchor it into the hair. Since it is braided it can take the strain from holding up the wulst.
Then I cover the hair with a cloth, this is where I guess the wulsthaube comes in, I have a prototype made that looks quite ok but it's not visible in the picture below. Over that I drape the veil.


This is basically what it looks like. It takes about 10 minutes or less to put it all up if someone helps me braid my hair. I can do all of it without a mirror.
This is a rather moderate wulst, for the larger extremes of the style I would guess that rolls like mine was used to augument the zöpfe that had been braided in.

A more proper end result can be seen in the top post here: http://bippimalin.livejournal.com/tag/rust+brown

[bippimalin.livejournal.com]

Ack, the picture got cut!
Ah well. The general idea can be seen. :)

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

I think the pictures came through OK (at least I can see all of the numbers as they correspond to your instructions): And I love the gold banded veil you have in your icon and in the images on your LJ post link...Yummy!

Thank you for sharing your reconstruction. I don't know that I will be forging much in the way of new ground with my attempt, but I hope I get to try out a few ideas to see how well they work. I love to experiment!

[bippimalin.livejournal.com]

The gold banded veil was a find from the clothes store H&M two summers ago. Cost maybe equivalent to 10 USD.

I figure the more reconstructions are tried, the better we'll know what works and don't work and what would have been possible back then. :)

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

I agree, and I seriously doubt that all people made the same hat everywhere you went. I think the elements were likely to be the same, but the design and application probably varied greatly.

[shadowd1.livejournal.com]

hey, i might be able to borrow a video camera from work so we can record your workshop =)

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

*chuckle*

I don't know if we would want to do that...the editing for profanity would have to be extensive....*grin*

[shadowd1.livejournal.com]

editing? i'd just make it rated R for language ;)

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

*snort*

Seriously though, I will ask amatilda if she'd like to experiment with this concept: I know she and B have been talking about making a 'how to' series for a bit now...