My mind, and the places it goes

You mean the buttons? I've only seen buttons or ties, which i think are called "Ties for Trews". I don't think there's a name beyond that, or if there is, it is going to be so obscure that you'll lose your readers. The buttons, were, unromantically enough, called buttons.

Was the character well off financially? It'll make a difference in his pants construction? More money = buttons over ties.

Or are you, god forbid, talking about codpieces? That would be very early period, though, although they persisted on the stage far longer than they did in actual use. When worn, they were for formal situations (court and the like) not just for around town, and seldom if ever at home. I've got some loverly diagrams and a short monolith on this somewhere. (That I've read, not that I've written nb)

My god, I am a nerd.

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heee, no codpieces. I believe in the text I had used the word 'flies' (which were being fumbled with, of course) and we're now all kind of scratching our heads. :P :P

(Chris Owen, btw. In case the cross LJ pollination hasn't been clear. ;-) )

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*waves, just 'cause*

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Hey cutie!

Oh, when we send book two back, do you want to see the trackchanges we made? I'm assuming yes. Plus, we've commented heavily. *runs*

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:-)

Yes, indeedy, I'd like to see the trackchanges (I presume you and Jodi will be in two separate colors, given how Word usually does it, unless one of you has consolidated all the changes).

Lots of comments? Comments make my day! :-) And I hope there's nothing you all want to kill me for in this one... I promise I didn't make you change a character name this time!

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Word turned it into a frickin' rainbow. you were red, she was blue and I was pink and all was well. And then suddenly you were pink and I was some turquiose colour. :D

In any case, it's all there and multi coloured and your changes have all been acted on, so all that's left is us. I'm going to go over it with her in the next few days while we iron out a couple of things and then we'll pass it back to you.

and now, I go sleep. zzzzzzzzzzz

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Yeah, you're a bizarre turquoise color here, too (on my home machine in Word, I mean, not here on LJ.)

Sleep well, sweetie.

< Wesley >"and dream of large women..."< /Wesley >

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Hi! We all have too many names!

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No, not codpieces, fear not.

Is there a name for the button/zipper placket area (like what we'd call a "fly" today)?

He's not financially well-off himself, but he has come into an inheritance including land and a Hall.

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Hee! We're all nerds here, about one thing or another.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Me, I'm a word nerd. But you kind of figured that one out a while ago. :-)

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puppetmaker40.livejournal.com

Buttons.
No Zippers before at least 1851. The modern zipper didn't come into being until 1913

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Ok, full fledged nerd-self coming out, but did you ever get a chance to see the early zipper display at the smithsonian? It was ages and ages ago, (more than 10 yrs+) before i became a fabricaholic, and even then I was blown away by what a cumbersome awkward thing the first zippers were -- and now we take them for granted, and expect them to be invisible, and to never rust nor bend...what a marvel is a lovely zipper...

Ok, crazy lady shutting up now.

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oh no, no zippers at all! I had used the term 'flies', though, and we're looking for something more accurate (or validation, I suppose).

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puppetmaker40.livejournal.com

INVENTION: Trouser Fly

INVENTOR: An Unknown Turk

YEAR: Before the 1700s

HOW INVENTED: According to Allen Edwardes: "The Turks introduced the fly to Europe between the 18th and 19th Century. Its purpose was not only to facilitate urination, but also to facilitate fornication and rape."

It was a button model, which lasted until the introduction of the zipper.

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puppetmaker40.livejournal.com

So the upshot (and my costuming books show victorain dress with the fly)

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Neato-keen. So if we change it to "fly," it'll be perfectly correct.

Thanks so much!

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LJ knows ALL.

*now* I sleep. :D

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Yup. And I have an all-around brilliant and multitalented friends list.

*realizes it's an hour later where you are* Sleep! Definitely! :-)

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fjm.livejournal.com

I'm not sure they would have been so explicit. It's quite possible that they would simply have said "front". Can you find a Sears catalogue from the late 1890s? Traditionally, clothes description lags, so the term used for the opening of union suits would be the one used. However, that's for smalls. For trousers, I still suspect "fronts".

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Beat me to the punch! What book are you getting that from?

And also, does it reference Fly fold? Just curious. I've seen that on patterns for the period, but have no knowledge if that's historically accurate or not.

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doeeyedbunny.livejournal.com

I suggest you contact Commonwealth Vintage Dancers. They have some seriously knowledgabe people in the group about all kinds of Victorian stuff, especially clothing. (You've probably even seen CVD's director, Patri, at Arisia w/ his wife and daughters.)

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