What's new in the Lee & Pearl Etsy shop? (Let's talk about banyans...)

It has been two weeks since our pattern maker "Pearl" started listing some of the THOUSANDS of sewing patterns in her personal collection for sale in our Etsy shop. Since then, she's posted dozens more — and more go up every day!

Today we want to introduce you to one of her favorites.

Butterick 6844, a traditional priest or minister's cassock (or soutane), has been a pattern catalog stalwart for the past two decades. Along with the clerical uses of this pattern, it enjoys a steady popularity with theater company costume departments, and with Severus Snape (from the Harry Potter movies) and Neo (from The Matrix movies) cosplayers.

But that's not where Pearl first ran into this unique pattern.

You see, way, way back in 2009, Pearl attended a lecture course at the Costumer's Guild West Costume College on 18th century men's banyans.

What is a banyan, you might ask?

An early style of men's dressing gown, a banyan was a European adaptation of various loose garments of Eastern origin, such as Turkish, Persian or East Indian robes and Asian kimonos, that could be worn with vest, shirt and breeches as a casual, "at home" replacement for the more formal and restrictive coats.

In the warmer climates of colonial America, banyans — which could be made of brightly colored or exotically patterned silks or block-printed cottons — even became accepted as part of an informal street wear.

Most remarkably, the presence of a banyan almost immediately came to signify that the wearer wished to be seen as a man of deep thought — an intellectual, or even a scientist. For example, mathematician, physicist and astronomer Sir Isaac Newton had several portraits painted wearing banyans, including this early version from 1689.

If you were a spectacularly brainy fellow of the era, planning to discover gravity, establish the laws of motion, build the first reflecting telescope and theoretically calculate the speed of sound, this is the outfit you would want to wear while doing it.

But even if you were merely a remarkably brainy fellow who wanted to be painted next to a globe or telescope — such as the Rev. Nehemiah Strong in 1790 or American astronomer David Rittenhouse in 1796 — a glamorously loose and flappy banyan must be your go-to garb.

Here is what physician and Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Rush had to say about his own 1783 banyan-wearing portrait (below):

"Loose dresses contribute to the easy and vigorous exercise of the faculties of the mind. This remark is so obvious, and so generally known, that we find studious men are always painted in gowns, when they are seated in their libraries...."

Studious men, indeed!

For more information on banyans, including links to period examples and even more period portraits, please VISIT THIS EXCELLENT COSTUMING SITE.

But now, let's revisit Butterick Pattern 6844...

At the very end of that 2009 Costume College lecture, instructor Tara Maginnis mentioned that Pattern 6844 was one of her favorite banyan-adaptable modern patterns, not just for the simple robe front, but for the AMAZING seamed and pleated back.

Check THAT out!

How many people scrolling through the Butterick website or catalog do you think miss that incredibly detailed back view?

As Tara pointed out, those curved seams and deep back pleats strongly resemble the seams and pleats in early 19th century frock coats — and also early 19th century banyans, which were still robes but had grown a little less loose and a little more structured than their 17th and 18th century counterparts.

So, if you'd like to make the Mr. Darcy or Bridgerton Duke in your life a gorgeously patterned silken banyan for casual wear around Pemberley or the ducal estate, THIS IS THE PATTERN YOU NEED.

(And of course, Pearl bought several copies of it for exactly that reason. Now all we need is Mr. Darcy...)

CLICK HERE to check out the newest listings — including Pattern 6844 — in the Patterns: Costumes section of our Etsy store

And look, we've added a whole NEW section for even more patterns from Pearl's collection. We'll talk about some of these next time.

CLICK HERE to visit the NEW Patterns: Vintage Repros section of the Lee & Pearl Etsy store

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See you next time!