Adventures with Starch

[Goblin, esq.]

Men's shirt collars are important - they frame the face, and anything closer to the face gets more attention from a viewer. As I gained confidence to sew shirt collars in more period proportions (i.e. 4-5 inches high) I had to get the to stand up like proper "winkers", and not wilt by the end of the first set. I tried commercial spray-on starch, but either I was not letting it soak in enough, or it simply is too thin to do the job.

Sad collar form last year's LaHa Jane Austen Ball:
goblinrevolution.org/cgi-bin/pic_frame.cgi?pic=02_chris.jpg;list=indicies/lahaausten2010.index;base=costumes

However, at the ball depicted above, I had a conversation with a lady who recommended rice starch, as used in libraries. I ordered some online (alas, the cost of shipping was as much as the cost of the starch itself) and tried some experiments. It needs to be boiled on the stove, using a double boiler. The instructions on he packet are intended for glue, so once I had it boiled up, I diluted it by half with more water.

I soaked my cravat, and carefully soaked the cuffs and collar of my shirt, let them dry until damp, and ironed, and ironed, and ironed. (Use a press cloth, or you will get burnt rice on your iron.) The results were amazing. The cravat came out very crisp and light, and ironed easily into folds. The collar and cuffs (being double layered) were stiffer, but ironed well, and could be steam ironed when dry to remove creases from travel.



I had to dress on the site of the ball, as I didn't want to drive wearing that collar! There was a moment of trepidation ("These, sir, are out failures") when I realized I had only one attempt to tie the cravat, as there was no iron at hand to undo any creases. However, I think the results pass muster:



Side view:

[amandamoose]

Nicely done sir!!! You look quite dashing!

[lastbloom]

Oh the results are fantastic! What an elegant ensemble! Can you tell us a bit more about what you're wearing?

Also, my grandmother used to make glue from leftover rice when we ran out of elmer's at home. I think she just made a paste with very soft rice and some warm water (I remember being soooo embarrassed by this as little girl) and it was very effective on construction paper projects. I don't know how reliable it would be for starching something, as I imagine no two batches would be quite the same. Also, there is a product available at the grocery store (our local small town safeway even has it, in the "ethnic foods" aisle) called Mochiko, which is just a very fine rice powder used for making mochi (extremely sticky, gelatinous confection). It might be worth buying a box, as it is fairly inexpensive, and experimenting with that to see if the results are similar.

[Goblin, esq.]

Jan 25, 2011 15:24:12 GMT -5 lastbloom said:

Oh the results are fantastic! What an elegant ensemble! Can you tell us a bit more about what you're wearing

Well, from the inside out, I'm wearing a linen shirt, with a two-piece collar (inspired by shirt #4 in Thoughts on Men's Shirts in America 1750-1900). The upper part of the collar is slightly gathered into the lower, so it flares out a little when worn. The ruffle on the front was made separately, starched into pleats, and is sewed on temporarily, to be removed before washing. The collar is just a touch too high; it actually rubs one of my ears!

The neckcloth is a square handkerchief or scarf, fine cotton, about a yard on each side, starched and folded diagonally. You can see in the photos that the neckcloth is clearly whiter than the linen. I could have used a better linen for the ruffle (and collar), but I used the best linen I had that had a nice selvage.

The waistcoat is silk, with a linen back. The cut of the waistcoat is a bit early, with large lapels. The front opening is large enough that it needs to be worn over a shirt with ruffles, which is why it was brought out for this occasion.

The star and ribbon are the (pre-1815) Order of the Bath (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Bath; the most common order the British crown handed out for naval, military or diplomatic achievements) from Hand & Lock (www.handembroideryshop.co.uk/acatalog/COLLECTIBLE_and_HISTORICAL_MILITARIA.html) which arrived only three days before we drove to Pasadena. The ribbon is made from silk I had on hand, due to the lack of time. It needs pressing, since the iron I was using died that weekend....

The coat is also an older cut, based on coat 19 from Costume Close-Up. It doesn't button, in fact I never sewed buttonholes on the front.

The glasses are from Jas. Townsend (jas-townsend.com/product_info.php?cPath=46&products_id=166), with a prescription that is, alas, a few years out of date.

The hair is (still) my own, uncombed on top. :-)

There are some full length pictures at goblinrevolution.org/cgi-bin/pic_index.cgi?list=indicies/lahaausten2011.index;base=costumes

Oh, and I am aware of Mochiko, and do plan on trying that next. (My wife informs me that we have two boxes in the house already.)

[Goblin, esq.]

I only just realized that I had failed to post about the lessons I learned from starching my shirt for the LaHa Jane Austen Ball. These are things I will keep in mind the next time I sew a shirt.

1) The front opening of the shirt, and the slit in the sleeve at the cuff, should be long enough that the collar and cuff can be ironed flat. I've already been doing that, but it is especially useful when ironing wet starched collars.

2) The buttons of the shirt should not be soft; it is much harder to push a soft, all-thread button through starched fabric than through unstarched. I had a lot of trouble buttoning my collar at the ball. I will probably replace the buttons with thread buttons made with a brass ring in the center.

3) The cuffs (here I mean the circumference about the wrist) need to be wider if the cuff is starched. Unstarched my cuffs splay open a little bit and fit further down my hand; starched, they kept trying to sit up above my wristbone.

4) As you can see from the pictures in the previous posts, my shirt is made from a linen that is less white than my (cotton) neck cloth. I'm going to invest in some better quality linen, and use this expensive stuff for the collar and cuffs. The rest of the shirt can be made from the less bleached stuff you see in the pictures.

[Goblin, esq.]

I had a thought: it's rather troublesome to starch a shirt and cravat, but if you go to the effort, it's not much more trouble to starch two cravats, or three, or even a dozen.

I wonder if there would be a market for pre-starched cravat rentals at a ball. I would take orders ahead of time, arrive with an armload of perfectly starched cravats, help with tying if necessary, and provide a laundry basket to collect them at the end of the ball.

How much do you think gentlemen would pay for this? $3? $5 even?