Compromise.

[gurdymonkey]

Funniest thing I've read today. Funnier even than the Passover plague toys.
"If the Shogun weren't wearing cotton..you probably wouldn't be" was just quoted to me. (Attributable to
kass_rants. On a web page that currently has a dead link, which means I have to take it OUT of my CC26 class handout, DAMMIT!)

By someone who wants to make a fencing "doublet" for a rapier fighter with a Japanese persona, who lives in a kingdom with long, hot, humid summers.

She doesn't have a problem with the fact that the garments I suggested would have to be seriously tweaked to make them safe to fence in. (I suggested either suikan or hitatare, with the side seams and sleeve backs sewn shut. Possibly sewn directly onto a kosode underlayer.  Both these garments have drawstrings in the sleeves, which would allow them to be tied closed for fighting)

She doesn't have a problem with suggesting the voluminous sleeves be cut down to less than authentic dimensions that will be easier to fight in.

She doesn't have a problem with using linen.

But she reached for that cotton mantra like someone had beaten it into her.

I'm not going to pooh pooh the use of cotton. I can't. That uwagi I was working on today has a cotton lining, as do the sleeves of the rest of the kasane. (Some of my older closest-to-skin-layer kosode are also made from cotton in sturdy weights.) That was a compromise I was ready to make in terms of budget and wearability.

Sometimes in our game, we have to compromise. Her entire project screams it. She's making something that will have to (a)meet safety requirements, (b)not bake the wearer at the same time, and hopefully not end up looking totally wrong and un-Japanese while doing (a) and (b).

Silk is strong, and light, and authentic for Japan. It is a natural insulator: there's a reason they make long underwear out of it. It will also rot from frequent and constant exposure to human sweat and we're talking about a fencing jacket here.

Linen is NOT authentic for Japan, however, many of us use it as a compromise, because it has similar properties to hemp and ramie, which were available.

(As for cotton? There was an article in Tournaments Illuminated a couple of seasons back about cotton production in 16th century Japan......)

Comments

[aeddie.livejournal.com]

For certain styles of clothing I recommend that people get a modern fencing jacket and wear it under their clothes. This would appear to be one to add to the list.

[moonflake1978.livejournal.com]

So what would you suggest to someone who is making a fencing doublet that has a Japanese persona? I actually just bought fabric to make my new armor. I am not as concerned with the fabric being period as I would rather it be safe.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

I would suggest she go back and read the third paragraph of what I wrote in this journal entry. 'Cause I did bother to put it in there.

[channel6.livejournal.com]

All of us as fencers have to compromise when it comes to making fightable outfits, whatever our period. We're all very used to it. The gal in question (since I'm a fencer, I know quite well whom is being discussed here) I believe might be pushing for cotton based on color. As you know, linen doesn't hold certain colors as well as cotton does and I think she is trying to stick to a color scheme in her fighting garb.

Fencers all have to tweak our fighting garb sooo much sometimes it might just be that she is drawing the line at the type of cloth she wants--and since she has already given up on the lines etc. of the "doublet", she has drawn the line at using linen. Since silk is period but not really practical (though I know one gal who made hers out of silk--and used it for all of a year!)and she knows that cotton WAS used in period--she's drawn the line there. Perhaps. LOL. Anyway, let us know how it goes.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

She's not from our kingdom, so I'm not certain whether this is someone you've encountered on another list. No big either way.

If you've seen that blue and white number that Hosokawa Yukiko fights in, it's a kinda-sorta-Japanese-ish-looking-suikan-thingette, which illustrates the sort of compromise one could come up with. The kariginu Nyteshaed was in at the Fettburg event looked really good and obviously got through inspection.
(Note to self, find out if they're going to Beltane - I promised to do some pattern geekery with her one of these days....)