Démodé

historical costume projects & resources

Duran Textiles

Duran Textiles is a company in Sweden making stunning 18th century textile reproductions.  Their newsletter comes out every few months and is always an interesting read — the latest issue has a lovely reproduction of an 18th century Banyan, and here’s a nice article on the pouf hairstyle (I’m interested to note they use styrofoam as the base for their reproduction wigs!).  Their pictures do a nice job of featuring their fabrics, but an even better job of providing inspiration for dresses, hair, makeup, accessories, etc.  Renaissance Fabrics carries a few of their fabrics, as does William Booth Draper.  I really, really want this embroidered silk…  on the off chance the fabric fairy is reading this!

8 thoughts on “Duran Textiles

  1. Speaking of reproducing 18th c. hairstyles, have you seen this? Aside from being ridiculous and more or less crap on the historical accuracy front (it is funny, though), there’s a really interesting moment about 2:45 minutes into it where Sue’s hairstyle is blown apart when a current of electricity is pumped through her (this sounds insane, but once you watch the clip, you’ll see what I mean). What is most intriguing is that you can see how the pouf was constructed, using (I’m assuming) her own hair, matching fake hair and some kind of wadding.

    I’m thinking once my hair grows out a bit more, this might be where I’ll end up, given my problems with wigs these days.

  2. OMG! We LOVE that show, and I wanted to show it to y’all but couldn’t find a clip online (except for only-available-in-the-UK clips). Yes, I spent most of the episode staring at her wig, and was super excited when her hair fell apart!

    I think that would be a great idea for a lighterweight option… altho I wonder how it will stand up (ha ha) over time.

  3. Hehe! I figured you guys knew the show…

    You know, that one time at Costume College camp when you did a small pouf with my hair and that little padded thingy you jury rigged, it worked REALLY well. It was secure the whole night. Something tells me it isn’t all that different from what Sue’s hairstyle was in the show… Except instead of the padded thingy, its just some kind of wadding (seriously, what is it? Wool roving? Insulation material?).

  4. It’s a FABULOUS show. Interesting and HILARIOUS. Okay, I am done raving now!

    I’d be happy to make you a form (or help you make one) with rats the way I did it for you that night. What she’s using — hard to tell! It does look like fake hair or wadding (wool does seem like a good guess). Could you get wool and glue/sew it to the wig, so that it’s firmly attached before styling? Altho again, I still worry about it losing its shape and height over time…

  5. Yeah, that’s basically what I’ve done for the Salacious Salons (bec. I didn’t want to bother wearing a wig at an “undress” event & my hair was always long enough then). I made a pad out of black tulle, stuffed w/tulle, & shaped my own hair over it w/lots of ratting & spray. I also used a small southern belle attachment at the back for ringlets.

  6. Oh Sarah – thanks so much for the link to that show! I haden’t seen it before and happily spent last night having a good time with the Supersizers. So much fun!

    And thanks Kendra for the linkage – lots of fun stuff in the newsletter and pics. I want one of everything! :>

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