Evolution of My Personal Garb in the SCA.

I've collected these images over the years from different sources and personal photographs to showcase how my persona and garb have changed since I first entered the SCA in 1991. While I lack images from the first few years, this should show how far I've come and what's changed.

A special thanks to Mistress Barbara Sterling for her Gleann Abhann Historic Calendar, which helped me get some of these connected to the correct event.

Samhain 1996. My attire consisted of a modified black velvet sleeveless dress from Dillard's, a flat black hat I made myself, a red chemise top and... actually, I have no idea what was underneath.

Paul fought for me at the Fourth Gleann Abhann Warlord Tourney in May 1997. I'm wearing a simple white chemise, a broomstick skirt, a shawl and a flower wreath.  

Merchanting at Border Raids 1997.

Diamond Wars 1997. Daydress (made of herculon!) and chemise (purple flannel) made by Tamra.

I'm on the left at the second Woodland Wars, August 1999 (my first autocrat job). White simple chemise, red and purple cotton Gates of Hell in Evensong Forest colors (see the gold tree?).

Some time in the spring of 2000 with my brother Zack. That's my purple macrame belt I made in 1997. I still have it today. Blue corduroy flat hat bought at Gladenfeld 12th Night December 1992. Blue and gold chequey tunic, violet blue striped pants, blue and black striped socks... yeah.

 

Tig'r Toggs shirt and pants, doublet with gold brick-a-brac, suede beret. Welcome to 2001.

Masque of the Red Death 2001, heralding for Princess Gabrelle. Sane shirt and doublet, plus some very large baggy red and white striped pants I made myself and red and white striped socks. My first protege belt, a taekwondo belt Carlwyn gave me. I wove a gold macrame version a short time later.

This image says July 2001 - I believe that's Princess Rainillt to the left, which would make Connor and Gabrielle Tanist and Tanista at that time. Biggest clue would be I have no yellow belt - I took my belt from Carlwyn at Samhain 2001. That waist, though. That's a white drawstring chemise, black leather (!) skirt and Sarah McGreggor's black Gleann Abhann ram bodice. 

 

Winter Coronet List 2002. Plaid arisaid (think woman's kilt) over white chemise, plaid tube hat with white veil. That's me center back.

Sunburned at Gulf Wars 2002. White felt hat, white shirt, T'ger Toggs doublet with sleeves.

Meridies Coronation, April 2002. I still have my big flouncy black hat, somewhere. Bri is getting her County from Artan.

This may be Gleann Abhann Spring Investiture 2002. I'm behind the GA folder far left. Last court of Connor and Gabrielle, which would make it morning that day. I got my GOA that evening.

Shadowcon 2003. My photos are pretty bad, but this was an attempt I made at an Elizabethan. I wore the same dress when I took my belt in 2001, but by this point I had augmented it with ribbons and cat pins. Only photo I've found so far where I have on the big ruff. The red woven chemise was made by Tamra and it's over a white chemise. 

Gleann Abhann Summer Coronet List 2003. Sari, long sleeved velvet choli and yes, that same damn straw hat. I like hats.

Simple black dress with the woven gold belt. The dress was probably from Holy Clothing. Heralding for Uther and Kenna, Gleann Abhann Fall Investiture 2003. That's Luther and Dex behind me. They're both knights now. 

Masque of the Red Death 2003. That's my heraldic cotehardie. Not that you can tell it when I'm laying on the ground.

Another view of the cote.

Heralding for Radu and Bri at some point in the winter of 2003. Black chemise and skirt, red bodies, same damn hat. 

Heralding for Martin and Gwyneth at Spring Coronet List 2004. Notes on the outfit below.

This was a default for me through the middle part of the oughts. Tig'r Togg pants, shirt and doublet. "Sleeves" added with a HolyClothing shirt. Striped socks, gold belt, floofy hat. I'd wear a variation on this any time I dressed boy-style or heralding through... well, maybe 2010.  Alina took these two photos.

Just hanging at a Fayne party at Gulf Wars. Bodies over a red chemise.

This may be Aphar Faire 2004 or it may be from Coronet List. White shirt, blue heraldic Gates of Hell with my badge on it, which of course you can't see.

Court at Winter Wonders in 2005 in my heraldic cote and dpurple felt hat.

Most I have ever weighed in my life. Gleann Abhann First Coronation, November 2005. The dress and bodies were originally made for a wedding. 

 

By the time I autocratted Known World Heraldic and Scribal in June 2006, I was out of control. That's three layers of skirt, a T'ger Toggs doublet over a Holy Clothing piece, all over a gray chemise and with a purple hat. 

 

I cannot ecall if I borrowed the dress from Sara or Sarah, but it was neat and had its own hood. I had epic hair back then. This would have been at Gleann Abhann Fighter's Collegium in 2006.

I don't know if I just gave up or what. This is one of my mundane tie dye jackets over a T'ger Toggs shirt with a fuzzy Russian hat. Crown List 2007. It was cold.

Probably Spring Crown 2007. Maybe Coronation. Black bodies, red woven chemise over white chemise. I would note, I am roughly 40 pounds lighter in this photo than at First Coronation.

Fayne party at Gulf Wars 2007. Party clothes - steel boned bodice, tie dye chemise, leather skirt, leather boots. 

Similar outfit but with apron at MSKD 2007.

Diamonds 2007. Holy Clothing dress.

T'ger Toggs shirt and doublet and black leggings at Diamond Wars 2007.

I wish I had another photo of the Dorothy dress. This was for Orc Wars 2007.

Holy Pail, November 2007. Two years, 79 pounds. I wish my thyroid still worked. Handmade ruffle shirt, T'ger Toggs doublet, patchwork pants, platform boots because I didn't have good period shoes.

Crown List November 2007. I got a LOT of use out of that cote. You will likely note I switched back and forth between the purple and gold belts over these years. I was... a bit conflicted as to how to proceed after Carlwyn died.

Estrella Wars 2008. I was in my Hindi phase. It was very cold. 

Gulf Wars 2008 in a Salwar Kameez given to me by friends.

I'd decided to go Hindi for a while, and this was one of the outfits from Gulf Wars 2008. 

You don't argue when your friends tell you Alton Brown is in town. You don't even change. He's the reason I missed most of Beltane 2008. That and morning sickness.

Fighter's Collegium, spring 2009. I know it was Sophie's first event. Hunter had gone to ShadowCon before. At this point anything that fit went. Blue velvet skirt over white chemise.

MSKD 2009. My post-baby bust didn't really fit right in that black bodies. Purple cotton skirt, tie dye chemise. 

Diamond Wars 2009. I was cooking. I don't even.

Also Diamond Wars 2009. Diamond Wars was at Taloha that year. I was doing the lower feast. Three day event. This outfit became common after Hunter was born - large white drawstring chemise, blue bodies, red raw satin skirt.

 

I wish I had more photos of this dress. I made it at the Marshin Fayne Pennsic Pity Party in 2007 and got some wears out of it before Hunter came along, but heck if I have any front photos of it. It had a GA badge on the front and consisted of a tight back lace bodice and open front skirt.

Some Taloha event in 2010 with Hunter. Same blue bodies, white chemise, but purple skirt and the purple felt hat.

MSKD 2011. When no hat is available, make a turban. 

Diamond Wars 2011. White chemise and batik caftan. And blue apron. I was in the kitchen. I wasn't even trying.

Candlemas 2012. When I say I wasn't trying, I am not kidding. That's just a Holy Clothing dress with a shawl.

Ronald McDonald House dinner 2012. I will give myself a pass - it was a mundane thing.

Some point in 2012. Red raw satin skirt, Holy Clothing shirt over white drawstring chemise. At least I wore pearls?

Gulf Wars 2013. I had been through baby, divorce, new job and a lot more, and had to order clothes to have enough for my first Gulf Wars in five years. Green velvet daydress over black chemise and purple skirt. This was the event I gave my gold belt to Cormac for his first protege. Kept me from thinking I should wear it.

This is probably from Candlelight 2012. That overdress has been passed around our section of the SCA for some time.

Beltane 2013. That dress, which I bought online for Gulf Wars, bled over everything I touched. I found this out while washing dishes after lunch. Also, you'll note this is a pre-Jali Grav.

I still have the white version with the fleur de lis. Don't wear it much, but it still fits me well. Also, could Hunter get any cuter than this?

This was the Small Gray Bear investiture event at St. Paul's in Conway. Grav and I are in the back, and it's one of the few shots I have with my great coat. You can see the back of that coat in the feast scene on the front page of SCA.org. Neat.

Heralding for the Ashikagas at Diamond Wars 2013.

I'm not really proud of how I look here, but this is Samhain 2013.

Corvus 2014. I look old. And yes, that's the heraldic cote again.

Brawl 2015. When you need to Mongol, add a hat.

Spring Coronation 2015. The blue velvet daudress. 

It was about that time that Grav decided I needed to up my garb game. He made this gorgeous dress for me for TOC 2015. Still trying to figure out if I can convert it to something that fits my new persona.

Candlelight Camp 2015.

Candlelight Camp 2015.

Aphar Faire 2015, taking my belt from John. This is a blue linen dress Grav made me specifically for the occasion. What's not apparent is that I am sewn into it - we didn't get the back finished. Yes, same 1997 purple macrame belt. I had to wear it alongside the yellow leather belt for a while because otherwise I couldn't keep my pouch on.

Gleann Abhann 10th Year, September 2015. First appearance of the first del Grav made for me. He went back and attached a blue collar to it in-between courts. I had no idea what to wear with it, so yes, more T'ger Togg pants.

This was the point where I really started to dig into the idea of a new set of garb. Grav was going Mongol. I didn't want to go Mongol but I was concerned going Hindi would cause cultural appropriation issues mundanely. So I started my research.

We got four outfits together before Gulf Wars. Sadly, that was Gulfnado. I don't have photos. But that's OK.

Spring Coronation 2016. White patterned caftan, brocade del, small hat with veil.

This hat was created with two hats put together. Blue and white caftan, red del (same as the one for 10th Year), peacock cote, belt (I hadn't started to notice the lack of women's belts at this point), single veil. 

Tournament of Champions 2016 - my first basket hat. This combination includes white and brown caftan, brown brocade del and red del, with belts. Still just using one really big veil. 

This sht shows the veil tucked into the chinstrap. Also, all my gray hair.

Hat attempt #2 - two veils on a soft basket. Still not quite there. Hard to tell but that's the blue and white caftan with a white raw silk del over. 

A little insanity - deciding to complete a new wardrobe in four weeks for a ten day event. More research and just a lot of determination ended up giving me enough garb to have something different every day of 50th Year. I started with two hats but nade two more on-site, figured out how to bandolier my belt ad finally got the veils right. This is blue and white caftan, white raw silk del, red del, wool basket hat, sheer underveil, red overveil.

Aquamarine and white caftan, teal del, soft basket hat, two veils.

Blue linen caftan, white raw silk del, belt (this does not work), single veil, soft basket hat.

This was new hat #1 made at the event from a pillowcase that matched the short caftan from a sheet. I blew the sides and they didn't cover right, but the new blue paisley coat made it work. This is the only hat I made with a top knot. 

Added a veil. This was also the first day I decided to try the belt bandolier style.

The hottest day of the event I ditched the hat and went with straw and the peacock cote. 

There was a party of some sort, and one night I broke out Grav's rainbow del and matched it with my rainbow dupatta for this craziness.

It's worn open with one of the caftans underneath - also my belt bandolier style to hold my pouch and mug. Two veils on the soft hat.

At the Gleann Abhann 50th Year display with the blue and white caftan and blue paisley cote. I later gave this caftan to Jac for dyeing in indigo. 

Aphar Fair 2016. Grav is wearing a slit sleeve del and I've tied his sleeves back. Aquamarine and white caftan and teal del with double veils on the soft hat.

Here's where the feathers start coming in - that's the aquamarine and white caftan, red del, blue linen del and a blue linen hat with two veils and feather pad. Fall Coronation 2016.

Grav getting his Onyx Chalice, I think. He's wearing his version of the peacock cote over his rainbow del. I'm wearing something similar to the  Fall Coronationn combination, heralding for Martin and Gwyneth. Did I mention we were also cooking at this event? I also added a turban, though it's hard to see.

Harder to see, but I am on the ground on the right, preparing to shoot Jac's elevation. Aquamarine and white caftan, teal del, red del, double veiled blue brocade hat.

By Newbie 2017 I felt I had down my look, with the turban under the hat. This made it a lot more comfortable to wear for a long time. 

Heralding for Martin and Gwyneth's last court. I wore the blue del closed over other dels and caftans for a more normalized look and to go with the color scheme.

I hit my stride at Gulf Wars. I was dealing with a lot of pain most of the event, and it was very cold (30s-50s until the end of the war) but man, Grav made me look good. This is a selfie he took at opening ceremonies. I'm wearing the overcote - a thick two-layered split sleeve coat, over a short sleeved coat, two dels, a caftan, and the slip underwear. Also, that's not a new hat - it's the blue brocade hat I wore at Jac's elevation, covered in a thick scarf.

From the bottom layer - undershift, indigo-dyed caftan, white raw silk del, brown brocade del, overcote, red veil as underveil, pashmina as overveil. Also, three layers of socks in sandals, which you can't see. This get-up makes me very tall and hard to overlook.

I bought a few dupattas at War and started switching them out. This is also the first of my overlong caftans (refer to Babur's grandmother again). It's a full caftan that's two inches past my feet and six inches past my fingertips, slit on the inside so I can function. It's topped with the red del, a red brocade cote and the overcote, a green washed underveil and new beige and gold dupatta on another hat covered in a scarf. Did I mention how warm I was?

Also, people who had known me for years did not recognize me at this event. I stood next to a peer I had worked with on several events for about 10 minutes before she finally recognized me by my voice.

I kept adding to the look throughout the event. Note the new plume, the pin, the jewelry findings and such... and a green overlong caftain underneath. Yes, I am holding the parasol through the cloth.

Cracked Anvil 2017. Windy! Another hat covered with a scarf. This was the first day I taught the hat class, and I switched out a lot.

Coronation 2017. I think this really shows how heavy everything is, and how much fabric I'm wearing when I'm fully dressed. It started out cold that day and went on to warm up. I am wearing the undershift, overlong beige caftan, brown brocade del, overcote, belt as bandolier, turban, underveil, dupatta. 

I also brought rugs to sit on rather than chairs. 

It was unsesasonably cool the morning of Candlelight Camp 2017. I've become comfortable enough with the get-up and used to preparing all my hats in advance of the event that it wasn't hard to throw on, even autocratting an event. This is with the ndershift, the beige overlong caftan, the blue del and the blue paisley cote with a new cotton viscose underveil (SO SOFT) and heavily embroidered dupatta, on the blue linen basket hat with all its bling. By this point I had evened out the balance on the pouch by adding a leather shoulder bag to the other side. Now, it should be noted that the bandoliers seen in the illuminations appear to be jewelry, not leather - but I haven't figured out how Mughal women carried things with them yet. I still haven't.

Another shot at Candlelight of the same outfit. 

The evening outfit, with the new purple linen del and hat. I decided to forgo the cote because it was getting warm. From this I realize I'm going to need to determine a good size for the underveil, since I haven't seen much of the item stretching to the waist. 

This particular gold veil is larger than a regular dupatta - it's something like 48 inches square. It really engulfs this outfit (and the green parasol just doesn't work here). But no new items were brought out for Aphar Faire 2017, and I didn't end up changing for feast that day. It got pretty hot.

This isn't a page full of brags. I've had people over the years encourage me to better my garb and it finally took - and I've had people tell me they've invested too much to change. What I do know is that I feel so much more comfortable in the garb I wear today than what I've worn in the past. I feel like I belong in the Mughal period when I wear my garb. At the same time, when I do get a compliment, I can point out how far I've come along.

So, how are you going to up your garb game?

Research Breakthrough - Hats and Costumes of Mariam-uz-Zamani and Akbar's Harem.

Oh man. Oh golly. This may be my breakthrough piece to find.

Back in January, a Wikipedia contributor added this photo to the listing for Mariam-uz-Zamani, one of the Mughal women I have been researching for costume.

This oversaturated image came with very little notation, just that it's from a Royal Album dated January 1, 1600. That's pretty unlikely, so I've been digging in and exploring the Internet for (looks at clock) crap, about five hours now.

I finally found it by crossreferencing Mariam-uz-Zamani and Jahangir and exploring a multitude of images. It lives at the Museum of Fine Art, Boston. And I can order an even larger image. Here's the page link.

And here's the original image with its border.

And here's the inset.

The magnificent MFA website allows a great deal of detail capture, which has allowed me to get closer glimpses of these women in their harem. I am fascinated.

This woman seated next to Mariam-uz-Zamani appears to be wearing a full length caftan with what may be pants under (note the green cuffs at the ankles). She has either a wide band of cloth at the base of her hat or is wearing an underturban. Her hat is highly ornamented and appears to have a very sheer veil that goes from the top of her hat to under her chin. A second veil, dupatta or scarf is wrapped around her neck and shoulders, pulled up at the base of the neck. Like so many other instances, she is barefoot. 

This woman, though. There is an underveil that is sheer. It is attached at the top of her hat - and appears to have bands OVER IT along the hat itself. This hat is VERY similar to the basket hats I've been utilizing.

What's more, it includes a plume at the front bottom. She's also wearing an overveil or dupatta of some sort with embellishments of some sort. It's hard to determine if there is a coat (there are pink edges along her yellow striped caftan along her left leg and at the waist) and there seems to be another sheer layer over all of ut, as seen at the bottom of her right leg.

And then there this is this woman at the bottom of the photograph, conversing with men. She wears a very elaborate dupatta around her shoulders, a sheer outer layer over some form of shorter dress and gold pants, and CURLY TOED SHOES. Holy fish, y'all, I finally got a Mughal woman wearing shoes in an illumination. They appear to be similar to modern Indian wedding shoes - for men.

Her hat is thinner and curved more, but again, underveil completely under the chin (!), also attached to the top of the hat and strapped to the hat with bands. 

I'm just reeling at this one image. It has ALL THE HATS.

There's only one problem. Bishandas, the artist credited with this illumination, was born in 1590. The MFA believes this illumination was created around 1620. However, it depicts the birth of Jahangir, fourth Emperor of the Mughal Empire, born August 31st of 1569. Jahangir began his stint as emperor in 1605.

I do have to allow for the possibility of modern fashion. That is... hrm, there's probably a better term for this somewhere. You know all those great paintings in the Renaissance of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus, and how they're wearing Renaissance-era clothing? Artists paint what they know and what they see. And while extant examples might have been available (likely available, I would imagine) of what folks wore in 1569 for an artist to render it in 1620, there is a strong possibility that Bishandas created this image from previous depictions, with the influence of what would have been considered contemporary fashion of his time.

Those underveils, though.

It brings me back to this image of Aisan Daulat Begum, grandmother of Babur, the first Mughal emperor. as seen from Wikipedia above. The leaf is part of the Read Album at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York, formerly part of folio 86 of the Baburnama. The link to the image and page is here.

I do apologize for the excessive credit stamping - the links will take you to the clean images. I want to make sure others looking for these resources have bread crumbs for their trails.

The veil shown on Babur's grandmother has no banding over it.

One veil or two? Dupatta versus veil? Layering? So many questions to answer. 

This image from the Baburnama is believed to have been painted between 1590 and 1592 by the artist Sanvalah. The bordure was added in the 19th century when it was included in the Read Mughal Album.

I have much to think on. I was feeling pretty close and now I'm really starting to wonder where the rabbit hole will take me next. As for right now, this is my current best attempt at recreating a Mughal persona.