Comments by "Iain Mc" (@iainmc9859) on "I Hand Stitched a Medieval Kirtle in 3 Days" video.

Its a beautiful garment, beautifully made and I can see how much pleasure and pride you have in the making of it, and I need to add better than I could do (and you also look wonderful in it ! ) ... but I do have a doubt and that is the colour, purple is one of my favourite colours but in this case for a simple kirtle the dye would have been extraordinarily expensive in the medieval period and natural mordants would not have been able to hold the colour in place. Although most 'ordinary' people wouldn't have known about sumptuary laws and they would vary by geographical location over time certainly the aristocracy would have steered clear of it; the Earl of Surrey was prosecuted for High Treason against Henry VIII of England for wearing purple, which only the monarch could do. A successful cheap chemical purple dye was only produced in 1856 by William Henry Perkin; which is why, generally referred to as Mauve, it became so popular in the Victorian period, (brilliant short book by Simon Garfield about this). I also know and absolutely accept that not everything has to be entirely historically accurate. I re-emphasise that its a beautiful garment, beautifully made and you look wonderful in it. Please don't look at this as a personal slight or knocking you in any way. I appreciate everything you make and vlog. (I'm not an 'authenti-fascist', honest)
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