A Pearl & Coral Girdle

This I made to go with my new blue dress (write up of this will occur at some point). I thought the coral would provide a nice contrast to the pale blue wool with fresh green trim. I was right.

I based the girdle on one in the Album Amicorum (below). This actually looks to me to have been made out of coral and gold beads, however, I decided to substitute in (glass) pearls because I like them, I had a lot of them, and they're also appropriate for this style. There are surviving images of women wearing girdles made from pearls, and pearls were considered appropriate for women as they represent purity and chastity and all that jazz. I decided using coral for the red beads would be appropriate as it was phenomenally popular throughout Europe, but especially as you got closer to Flanders. It was also considered to be especially appropriate for women and children as it was thought to promote health. Plus again, there was the whole nice colour contrast thing.

[1]

I was lucky enough to pick up some coral beads off TradeMe at not too horrendous a price. They were only 8mm in diameter, which is really a little on the small side. From observing the size of beads in other, closer-up pictures featuring girdles, and other pictures with coral beads in them, I suspect that the beads should be more like 12-15mm in diameter. However, regular round coral beads that are not hideously overdyed or expensive are a bit hard to come by, so I went with what was available.

The glass pearls I was using are about 10mm wide. Incidentally, I was reading somewhere just recently that the Italians were manufacturing glass pearls by the late 15th century. Clearly they'd noticed a prolific niche market, as everyone wanted pearls - or to be able to fake them more cheaply. I also learnt that the nacre of Polynesian pearls is apparently different to that of European pearls, although how exactly I am not sure. One day when I have some free time I'll pop down to a few jeweller's shops and annoy them by browsing and comparing, but I wonder if glass pearls may be a more appropriate substitute?

In terms of construction, I was totally uninterested in making something using period techniques because I was totally focused on achieving something that could withstand me wearing it, since I've broken a number of belts before. So, I settled on threading each one onto a piece of metal and joining them together. That way at least, if it broke at all then the beads wouldn't scatter in a million directions.

To close it, I've used one of those circle bits with the bar that hooks through. I don't know what they're called. Also I added a parrot clasp for extra security.

To finish the whole thing off, I got a whopping great big gold cross from the $2 shop. It has Jesus on the front, which apparently indicates Catholicism (whereas a cross with no Jesus is more Protestant), which is appropriate for my persona.

So far, I've managed to break the belt a couple of times. It's only been worn a couple of times. However, I actually broke it putting it on and taking it off rather than whilst wearing it. Linking each bead separately has worked nicely in my favour as I've lost none of them to date. However, I think improving my technique for making the little metal eyes would also go a long way to preventing breakage.

[1] From this website March 2010

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