So, sometimes you see a costume and think, “That must have been a lot of work!”

Then you see a jacket based on a 17th-century original and handmade over a period of three years by over 250 people.

Enjoy the opulence of the finished product, and then realize that the silk lining was made by hand on a loom that the guy in question may or may not have BUILT HIMSELF.

I mean…I vacuumed this weekend and thought I had been really productive, you know?

You can follow the progress of this amazing jacket at the Plimoth Plantation blog.

It’s seriously mind-boggling how much work went into this jacket, both because of the historical implications of the work inherent in the sort of clothes you see in portraits, and also because it means that 250 people agreed to do work on things like cutting out tiny spangles that would eventually trim the edges of the lace that would trim the shoulders on a jacket they would never even see. Just…awesome.