[HN Gopher] The Fashion Police in 16th-century Italy (2014)
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The Fashion Police in 16th-century Italy (2014)
Author : ohjeez
Score : 42 points
Date : 2024-03-10 19:14 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.medievalists.net)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.medievalists.net)
| ChrisArchitect wrote:
| (2014)
|
| Syndicated from https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/fancy-
| pants-skirmish...
| perihelions wrote:
| They're not the same link--the articles' text are the same, but
| they come with different sets of images.
|
| The cam.ac.uk seems to be the "correct" version, since it
| contains the drawing described in the corresponding text as:
| _"...such as the lady in a litter seen in this image taken from
| a travelogue (owned by Strahov Monastery) of... "_. The
| medievalists.net version erroneously omits this drawing. The
| medievalists.net version is... whatever the digital equivalent
| of a "misprint" is.
| sorokod wrote:
| I thought that it was well understood that the purpose of
| sumptuary laws was to prop up social hierarchies.
|
| With this in mind the "startling discovery" is not startling at
| all.
| perihelions wrote:
| - _" "It's interesting that the majority of the offences relate
| to an outfit of black silk - taffeta, satin or velvet -
| ornamented with some sort of precious metal stitching or with
| lace. Just such an outfit appears in a portrait of an anonymous
| Genoese nobleman by the artist van Dyck which, to modern eyes,
| looks relatively sober. But black was a clear status symbol in
| Renaissance culture. Black dye was one of the most difficult to
| fix effectively, so we should be careful how we interpret these
| apparently 'plain' portraits," said Galastro."_
|
| Here's a related explanation from /r/AskHistorians,
|
| - _" Black fabric was indeed more costly in the Middle Ages than
| many other colors, but it's not a straightforward question of dye
| expense. In terms of dyestuff, cost depended on two things:
| source of pigment and duration of dyeing process. The most
| popular option for dying fabric black in the Middle Ages was not,
| of course, "black pigment." It was to use woad, the bog-common
| blue pigment, to dye fabric to the darkest possible midnight
| tint. Then a second dye, typically a red (madder) or yellow
| (weld), would be added over the top to eliminate the blue
| tinge."_
|
| - _" Woad, weld, and madder were standard dyes, not prohbitively
| expensive for a decently-endowed monastic order. Benedictine
| monks could adhere to their Rule not to spend too much money on
| individual habits..."_
|
| https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4b7lke/black...
| Simon_ORourke wrote:
| That's going to annoy any old school Goths out there!
| senorrib wrote:
| I hate it when someone takes scientific research and willingly
| distort its meaning for whatever reason.
|
| The job of these magistrates were not to police "fashion", or
| what people wore, but to police ostentation -- two very different
| things.
|
| To reduce this to fashion significantly changes the
| interpretation of social rules of the period.
| pvg wrote:
| This is a bit like complaining the people who fit the modern
| meaning of "Fashion Police" are not, in fact, officers of the
| law.
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