Connecting Textile Researchers

Things always come up in bunches - like when you are going to a flea market, and there are lots of stalls selling, say, pots? (Probably when you are not looking for a pot, that is.) And the next time, about everybody sells plates? Somehow, there seems to be something in the air that will instigate the same thing happening at several places.

With research, it seems to be the same thing. There are several things on the Skjoldehamn garments that have cropped up over the last years, and I have just realised that I'm way behind on this topic. Those garments are still extraordinary (there are only two proper trousers from the whole European middle ages that I know of, and one comes from Skjoldehamn), and I'm sure they will stay special forever. And I am very glad that they are getting re-evaluated and reconsidered, because they are absolutely worth it.

And now, connecting textile people seems to be in the air as well. I have received a very nice e-mail from Beth Matney with information about a duo of lists, started to help us all keeping up with the goings-on in the historical textile world:

As you know, it is a bit difficult to keep up with the literature, conferences, symposia, etc. in the field of textiles and clothing from the post-Roman through the early modern periods (500-1600CE). It is a field spanning many disciplines in many languages with the indexing of the journals quite scattered (if indexed at all) and many titles not well publicized or easily available. Well, in an informal discussion after a DISTAFF session at the last International Medieval Congress (Kalamazoo 2008) several of us (Dr. Carole Collier Frick, Dr. Gale Owen-Crocker, Robin Netherton and Beth Matney) bemoaned this and it was decided that an elist might be useful. So I have created two Medieval Textiles and Clothing groups:

A discussion list (restricted membership), MEDTC-DISCUSS: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEDTC-DISCUSS/

and a newsletter list for announcements of titles, etc. : MEDTC-RESOURCES: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEDTC-RESOURCES/

Though MEDTC-RESOURCES will include the titles and announcements from MEDTC-DISCUSS, it will not include any of the discussion of them and only in MEDTC-DISCUSS will you be able to post directly.These lists are academic in focus and scholarly in tone. Please see the full descriptions at the links above.
(Text Beth Matney)

So for all of you interested in historical textile stuff, maybe one of these lists would be a good idea!