Weekend Review: Bog Fashion

 

Bog Fashion / Nicole DeRushie
Furulund, Sweden: Chronocopia, c2025.
192 p.

Now this was an unusual sewing book! Thanks to my library, I was able to travel back in time to find out all about Bronze & Iron Age clothing. History, examples, textile facts, plus pattern instructions to recreate tunics, capes, shoes and more. Absolutely fascinating. 

The author is Canadian but based in the UK, and is both a spinner and weaver herself as well as having a Masters in History from a UK university. So her degrees plus her hands-on experience combine to make this a great read. She covers so much about how we even know what we do about textiles from this era (hint: thank the preservative powers of a bog). She talks about important finds and places them in context, so you can understand the development of textiles in various communities in England and Scandinavia over the centuries. Absolutely riveted by this book! 

It's really well organized, covering prehistoric clothing sources, materials, tools and techniques, spinning and weaving, cloth, colours, pins and needles (plants and bone), various stitches that were found to be in use, and then the garments themselves. The projects include how to make a Blackthorn pin or bone needle, wrap garments, tunics, tubular garments, skirt, trousers, shoes, belt, and metal pins like the ones used to hold garments together. Plus a bonus hat at the end -- that one was very unusual. 

Each chapter was intriguing, and included many sketches and photos to show both historical info and her modern re-creations. It was so engrossing, looking at a garment and learning about the weave or fibres that might have been used, and how it may have been dyed or worn. And why certain things were preserved - usually as grave clothing. 

It is very well written, informative and not at all dry. So grounded in practical knowledge, and so full of human life in so many ways. I loved this one! The author includes a bibliography, some of which I've read (including Women's Work, which I also enjoyed).  Any sewist who has an interest in the past will find this book a wonderful read.