Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
Jun. 24th, 2005 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fiberaddictOK, so here's the deal. I was browsing Ebay today (we left early because the A/C is *broken* again) and saw a listing for a "witch's costume". I wanted to see *why* it was a witch's costume; it looked like a typical wench outfit to me.
The lister claims that sometime in the Renassaince, only witches wore purple. WTF? So, I politely asked her to explain, because I have *never* run across that one before. I also told her I am a dyer, and as far as I knew, purple came from mollusks (the famed Royal Purple) or from overdying red (from cochneil or logwood) with woad (or indigo, but that was in the Americas). I also said that logwood will give lighter purples on it's own, trying to be nice and informative (and prove I'm not some whack-job)
She sent me a snarky note back saying that YES, purple is gotten from belladonna plants, and that's why only witches wore it. O-k......I asked her for her sources so I could *see* it, she snarked back that I needed to get a life - she sent me a *link* for pete's sake (only not that nicely. Grrrrrrrrr)
Yeah, like I'm going to believe *1* link on the WWW. Which is always true, yes? The WWW *never* lies, right?
I wrote back a slightly less polite note that yes, I have a life, and I wanted to increase my knowledge. I may have told her to get a life, as well...I can't remember.
What is it with some people?????
ETA: Here's the oh-so-imformative link
I didn't see anything about dyeing fibers Anywhere. 1 sentence about coloring the skin...but that doesn't at all mean that fibers were dyed with it. Coloring and Dyeing are, after all, 2 totally different things.
ETA #2 I got a semi-apology; she says she thought I sent her an attachment, and told me to google it. See my comment on the jfgi; I did, then decided I needed to get on with my life and hit the pool.
The lister claims that sometime in the Renassaince, only witches wore purple. WTF? So, I politely asked her to explain, because I have *never* run across that one before. I also told her I am a dyer, and as far as I knew, purple came from mollusks (the famed Royal Purple) or from overdying red (from cochneil or logwood) with woad (or indigo, but that was in the Americas). I also said that logwood will give lighter purples on it's own, trying to be nice and informative (and prove I'm not some whack-job)
She sent me a snarky note back saying that YES, purple is gotten from belladonna plants, and that's why only witches wore it. O-k......I asked her for her sources so I could *see* it, she snarked back that I needed to get a life - she sent me a *link* for pete's sake (only not that nicely. Grrrrrrrrr)
Yeah, like I'm going to believe *1* link on the WWW. Which is always true, yes? The WWW *never* lies, right?
I wrote back a slightly less polite note that yes, I have a life, and I wanted to increase my knowledge. I may have told her to get a life, as well...I can't remember.
What is it with some people?????
ETA: Here's the oh-so-imformative link
I didn't see anything about dyeing fibers Anywhere. 1 sentence about coloring the skin...but that doesn't at all mean that fibers were dyed with it. Coloring and Dyeing are, after all, 2 totally different things.
ETA #2 I got a semi-apology; she says she thought I sent her an attachment, and told me to google it. See my comment on the jfgi; I did, then decided I needed to get on with my life and hit the pool.
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-24 10:56 pm (UTC)I wouldn't want to use it as a dye, even assuming it is one, because any residue on the fabric could be nasty.
It was apparently one of the ingredients in flying ointment, but that might just have been a recipe for a poisonous high given to witch hunters as a form of revenge. (You know they'd try it out -- curiousity is a dangerous thing)
By the time of the Renaissance, no witch was going to advertise herself -- it was far too dangerous. The woman's a grade A Nidiot!
no subject
Date: 2005-06-25 01:44 am (UTC)Yah, I'd use that as a dye. Uh huh. Hell's Belles, not too many witches *today* want to advertise, let alone what they were way back then. Good Knight, save us from the uninformed and uber-defensive.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-25 12:14 pm (UTC)I did go back and google "belladonna + dye" and "belladonna + fiber"....after slogging thru 5 pages each search, I had *1* mention; this was on an archived Stephen's Florigeum page, and it just mentioned in passing that the berries were used as dye.
None of the usual suspects (allfiber.com, Carol Lee, about.com) had any mention of it at all.
I'm thinking that *if* it was used as a dye, it wasn't widespread enough to make waves. Certainly not enough for the people to be classed as witches.