I am embarking on a journey to create a world for my two main characters, one of which is dead when first introduced and the other is attending a mass for social convention. The world is completely undeveloped beyond the walls of the Church in which second MC, who has yet to be named or properly described, is attending mass while commenting on it, not even a country selected though I am largely between Poland and England. I need to find research on the clothing of the times, particularly the common man, or woman, including shoes. The second area in which I require research is the progression of mass, whether or not it was different from that of today and the use of language within mass. While I do intend to do my own research, I hope that there may be some who have knowledge on these subjects or sites that such knowledge may be found.
I have found Pinterest to be very helpful with learning about clothing. I make a board for all my books in order to gather inspiration and knowledge/research. This might help you get started with the religion questions? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Rite At least it might have some terms that would help you go down the rabbit hole of research. Best of luck!
Thank you! I will be sure to check those soon, as soon as I finish my first entry into the Progress Journal here.
The only issue I see with that is whether it is accurate, though I might not follow history completely in terms of certain clothing.
The sources that I most often use are original artwork from the time/original objects/and of course... Websites by costume designers. There are many people out there that put painstaking detail into providing accurate information for people who like to wear period clothing. You'd be surprised at how many you might find!
True there are a wide assortment of odd fellows and gals. Hopefully loose dresses (not by corset, but simply as in the modern era) were around, though perhaps better yet for my tale if they are not as such could be seen as sin.
Well, in 1600 Poland was Catholic while England was Protestant, so you'd see some big differences there. (In England they didn't use the word "mass" for Protestant prayer services.) An English church would have been using the Book of Common Prayer of 1552, while Poland would have had the Tridentine Mass. Poland's mass would have been in Latin, while the English service would have been in English. This was also the era of the wars of religion--practically everybody had strong opinions about matters of faith. Unless your MC is quite unusual, he or she probably wouldn't be attending church for mere convention's sake. For one thing, in England, anyway, it was illegal not to go. I don't know about whether there were secular laws about church attendance in Poland. If you decide to go with some other country, you can use this map to pinpoint what religious denomination dominated a place. All Roman Catholic countries would be using the Tridentine mass in Latin. Church services in Protestant areas would vary. Regarding fashion: A quick Google image search of "European fashion circa 1600" ought to give you a good jumping-off place. The general shape of garments would be fairly consistent across classes, but factors like money and social prestige would influence things like the type and amount of fabric used, as well as whether a person wore decorations like lace, brocade, or jewelry. An astute observer could tell a lot about a person based on their dress, so your MC should have quite a lot to think about in church. Edit--oh, I see you have a question about whether Google image search is accurate. Look for paintings and engravings that were done in the period you're researching. Artists may forget what great-grandma wore, but they're unlikely to miss what people around them are wearing in the present.
Well I have to say thanks for your detailed reply. Taught me some facts (not called mass by Protestants for example)and you've provided with what I'm sure are good sources (I figured I'd thank you and comment before checking). I will not be discussing war in my novel (hope that's what it becomes), or at least that is not planned at this moment, but should it seem appropriate to what is going on I will add it in. Here is a link to my progress journal with a brief excerpt (the very beginning) in case you'd like to see. https://www.writingforums.org/threads/my-journal-the-beginning-to-a-new-tale-of-all-within-the-realms-of-the-world.144467/ I will most likely go with Poland (One of my two main characters is a girl/woman and from Poland they are the most beautiful; and also I'm Polish) and the fact that it is Catholic which for whatever reason sits best with me, probably due to it being the original form of Christianity. Thanks for the idea of commenting on the people at mass. I will be sure to add that in later as I develop the story and revise it. I now have a way to create the figures in the story's world. Well, I thank you again, hope you check the link out and perhaps let me know what you think of it via PM. Have a good night, its about 12:30 after midnight here. Oh and I hope to see what you write so let me know
