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But the Internet is Always Right!

8/13/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
The internet has been a wonderful thing for amateur researchers, especially those interested in historic costume.  When I started in the SCA 20 years ago, there were few books on our topics that were easily accessible (and those were not always good).  Now there is a wealth of images and art right at our fingertips. 

A word of caution though, just because something is on the internet, with a caption or citation, does not mean it is correct ;-)

While working on my Ottoman Pinterest page, I came across a few things that reminded me that one always needs to double check source material.

The stunning coat on the left was on a Pinterest page of Ottoman textiles.  It is listed as being from the 10th Century.

If one follows the image to the source, one will see that that was actually a mislable or a typo and the Met museum has its information as ate 19th–early 20th century. 

Much better.

Picture
The lovely painting of a woman on the left was also on Pinterest.  The pinner has listed this image as 15th Century Ottoman. 

Alas, this painting is from the 1700s by Ottoman miniaturist Abdulcelil Levni.  (Yes, we all love those sleeves, but no, they are not the best choice for someone in the SCA to use for recreating period dress).

The trouble with this image is that if you follow the pin to the original source, you will find a forum, full of images, all of which are listed as 15th Century Ottoman.  There are even captions and comments on many of them about how things like the underbust look was common for the 15th Century...  (Note, this is a non-SCA site, but the images are still very much mislabled.)

The message here?  Double check your sources, and then look at where those sources lead.  A role-playing forum is really not the best choice of resources for reconstructing period costume.  If you pull an image from someplace other than a museum, university or expert, try to track down the original (usually this will lead you to a wealth of other information as well).  And note, even sometimes the experts are wrong...


Picture
There has been an article going around the Viking communities lately that has a lovely strand of extant beads. 

The problem with this is that the article (linked below) actually has an incorrect photo with it.

http://www.vikingrune.com/2010/04/glencurran-viking-necklace/

The correct image can be seen here:  http://pinterest.com/pin/438397344947515036/

Quite a bit of difference, is it not?

2 Comments
Seo Company link
9/30/2013 07:21:26 pm

It is listed as being from the 10th Century.

Reply
Elise link
5/22/2014 11:39:38 pm

I found your blog through Pinterest, and it's a bit appropriate that this particular post should resonate so well with me. I like Pinterest, I appreciate the ability to group things I find online together. I also like "raiding" other people's pinterest boards. However, I also find it particularly bad for mislabeling! Case in point: there is one particular photo of a friend of mine (I'm in the background of the shot) that was taken from a Yahoo Group album and labeled with the name of the woman who had uploaded it there, rather than the woman who is actually in the photo, or the person who made the dress. The dress (more or less historically based with some SCA-specific embellishment) is wildly popular among those interested in the 12th century (Robin Hood/Maid Marian, Crusader women, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Camelot legends, etc) and I've been chasing that mislabel for two year I think!

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    Below is a collection of some of my favorite places online to look for SCA and historic costuming information.

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