Costumes for the Castle

 The costume project for Hay Castle has been somewhat delayed due to the pandemic, but yesterday there was an introductory meeting in the room above the cafe at Booths Bookshop for all the volunteer stitchers.

The idea is that, when the Castle is open to the public, there will be a selection of medieval costumes from around the era of Matilda de Breos for children and adults to try on.  As I was involved in 13thC re-enactment, as part of the group Drudion, portraying 13thC Welsh mercenaries, I was there to talk a bit about the clothes and how they would have been worn, and it was great fun!

The group are going to make ten different costumes, from a child king and queen to adult king and queen, with a knight, an archer, and a laundrywoman, and a young Matilda de Breos.  The Castle has been gifted some gorgeous fabric - a variety of colours of Welsh flannel, and some opulent brocades for the upper classes to wear.  There's also some lovely blue wool which was intended to be a coat, but will be perfect for the adult knight's tunic.  They've got a good variety of linen for undergarments as well.  They've even got a small grant from the Ashley family (of Laura Ashley), so they can buy a few accessories, such as crowns for the kings and queens!

They've also got some very experienced seamstresses as volunteers.  I talked to a couple of ladies who are involved in English Civil War re-enactment - one lady has been in the Sealed Knot since 1984, and her whole family are involved.  She had brought along some pattern books for seventeenth century fashions to show around.  Emily, in charge of the project, had managed to get hold of a copy of The Medieval Tailor's Assistant, an invaluable book on medieval fashion and how to make it, and another lady brought her own copy along too.  So there's lots of expertise there.

They are going to be meeting on Saturday 11th and 25th September, and 9th October, from 2pm to 6pm, with the possibility of spreading out from the room above the cafe into the cafe itself, which is still closed.  After that, they'll see how much they've done and if they need to do any further sessions to finish off.  They're also getting guest speakers like Mari Fforde, who is going to talk to them about Matilda de Breos and her life.

The costumes are not going to be completely authentic - Emily was a bit worried about clothes that have to be taken on and off over the head, because of the risk of spreading disease, so they are going to be slit up the back, with ties, so people can get them on by diving their arms into the sleeves.