Even The King Likes a Little Fun...

From the Loseley MSS (pages 55-56): 

Directions from Michael Stanhope to Sir Thomas Cawarden to create six Masks (including costumes) for men of King Henry's stature so that the King might wear one and disguise himself among the other men. No known intention of this 'prank' other than to keep the other guests guessing as to who the King was. There si a scene in Shakespear's "Henry VIII" which is referenced in this part of the MSS wherein Cardinal Wolsy is attempting to discover the Henry while he is in such disguise. There is also a reference to the "Life of Wolsey" describing this same incident.

When I saw the scene of Henry in disguise in 'the Tudors' (yes, I fell prey to that series while sewing one afternoon), I thought it was simply a bit of fluff from the screenwriters. I had no idea that there was actually a historical basis to the incident!

Steuchlein

 

So, I am in the process of updating my Steuchlein. Last weekend I did some work with hair taping and played around with a new Wulst roll: I liked the results enough that I am proceeding with phase 2 this weekend – creating a Wulsthaube/Unterhaube to hold the roll in place and cover it.

 

As a reminder to myself as I move on with this process, the known components of a complete Steuchlein (mushroom hat) are shown in the following list. As no extant versions survive today to show us exactly how they looked, or how precisely they were assembled, I am guessing at the reconstruction – just like everyone else…*grin*:

Wulst (wool stuffed roll)
Wulsthaube/Unterhaube (linen cap over the roll - one layer or two is the question...)
Schleiertuch (linen veil..again, how many of these?)
Kinnbinde (chin band), in earlier periods, which makes for both a modesty cloth and a good protection against the dust of the trail.

In my opinion, the Unterhaube or an underlayer of Schleier is what we see covered in embroidery which shows through the lighter outermost Schleiertuch. Once I figure out how many layers I am going to have in my hat, I will work out some embroidery to make my hat pretty!

 

The manner hair taping that I did last weekend at Korneburg (it was under my hat most of the day, so not everyone would have seen it if you were there), is demonstrated here. Juliana got her hair taped by the ladies who wrote the 'Tudor Tailor' book and has recreated the experience on YouTube for the rest of us. 

I plan on building a cap like the one she puts on at the end as my Wulsthaube this weekend.

BTW - images of the original hair taping, as well as the other hat sessions from the 'Tudor Tailor' workshop held in 2007 in San Jose can be seen on sstormwatch‘s Flickr page.

 

Any thoughts, suggestions or input would be appreciated!

Waffenrock (update)

So, hubby’s Waffenrock is complete. (*w00t!) I will work on posting more ‘detail’ shots soon. Thanks to all those who assisted in the idea process.   This was a fun project, but I am glad I am done with that trim! *chuckle*