Category: 16th century

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Boys Are Skerry

But I’m making one an outfit, anyway!  Okay, he’s my husband, so he gets special dispensation from the skerry-ness (altho I still may need a lot of hand holding through this process, as I don’t DO boys’ clothes as a rule).  There’s a 16th century event coming up that he is (SIT DOWN FOR THIS ONE) attending, so I’m going to make him an outfit!

The inspiration: Moroni’s Gentile Cavaliere, 1564-5
The inspiration: Moroni’s Gentile Cavaliere, 1564-5

Specifically, a 1560s Italian gentleman’s ensemble.  I wasn’t terribly picky about geography or decade, so long as it was 16th century; I had vague ideas that if I made his Italian, it would coordinate nicely with my Italian wardrobe; but it was only once I found specific paintings I liked, it all worked out, as they happened to be Italian!

I bought the Tudor Tailor Elizabethan Peascod Doublet & Trunkhose pattern, as yes I could spend 10,000 hours sizing up out of The Tudor Tailor… or I could accept that I don’t love men’s clothing (or know them very well), so having someone do that work for me was worth the insane cost of the pattern.  (I get SOME credit for scaling up the shirt pattern from TT, altho that was so not hard).

Originally, I was thinking all wool — I thought the more straightforward masculine-by-contemporary-definitions, the more comfortable he’d be.  He’s a winter color-wise (which has been WEIRD to shop for, as I am all about the warm colors), so we were thinking blue and black.  But when we had a design consult the other night, we veered off and ended up with the idea of all black wool, with dark silver silk damask accents.  Be still, my beating heart!

So here’s the plan:

  • Shirt (mostly done, will post about that soon)
  • Doublet in black wool flannel
  • Trunkhose and canions in black wool flannel
  • Dark silver accents, as in the Moroni portrait (swapping the gold for silver):  dark silver silk damask for the trunkhose lining, and dark silver couched braid on the doublet

I spent a LONG time looking for the silver damask, and was shocked at how little I could find that fit my mental image.  I finally found this 80% silk/20% poly damask on ebay.  Now I’m on the hunt for some kind of dark silver braid/cord that looks like the trim in the painting.  So far I can’t find anything closer than soutache braid, but it seems like there should be some other options?  I’ve checked MJ Trim, ebay, Farmhouse fabrics, minidolls… all my usual trim sources!  Even checked Calontir, but they’re all about the jacquard celtic stuff.  So I’m still hunting – suggestions welcome!

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Smocks, Shifts, & Chemises, oh my

Working on my new 18th century shift reminds me that even the simplest of garments can be fascinating.  From the Renaissance smock, through the 18th century shift, to the 19th century chemise, white linen (and, later, cotton) was cut into squares, rectangles, and triangles and then assembled into incredibly similar shapes.  Even the full Renaissance Venetian camicia is built on the same principle as the comparatively spare 18th century shift, using all the available fabric to piece together a jigsaw of pattern pieces.  According to Costume Close-Up, 18th century shifts almost always required from 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 yards of fabric, with size variation accomodated by purchasing narrower or wider linen.  It wasn’t until the third quarter of the 19th century, when the chemise and drawers were streamlined into a one-piece garment called combinations, that any significant change occurred.  That’s pretty impressive:  at least 400 years (if not longer? medieval costume historians let me know!) of continuity.

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Article on 16th c. Florentine Fashions

Some of you may be interested in a new article in Renaissance Studies (2009, vol. 23 issue 1): “Clothing and a Florentine Style, 1550-1620.”

Here’s the abstract: “This article addresses the links between Renaissance clothing and identity, focusing on the reigns of the first Medici grand dukes, a period when the political and social make-up of the Florentine elite underwent profound changes. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from sumptuary legislation, court correspondence and family account books to tailors’ patterns, it examines different ways of thinking about and analysing dress styles. Taking the under-explored subject of male dress, it concentrates on two specific clothing types: the traditional full-length cloak, known as the lucco, worn by government office holders, and the liveries of the Medici courtiers. It concludes with the role played by local textile production, a vital aspect of Florentine culture as well as its economy. Although the Medici family’s efforts to shape the dress of its subjects were partially successful, certain fundamental elements of the city’s sartorial ethos resisted change.”

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A Small Epiphany?

I’m not sure how many of you follow the debate over whether or not Venetian Renaissance women wore corsets or not, but it’s something I think about way too often. I just found an image that’s making me think! Look at the following images, all hosted at the fabulous Realm of Venus, showing women wearing ladder-laced bodices with decorative partlets tucked over or under the camicia/shift and into the bodice — sheer partlet, could be over or under, sheer tucked over, sheer, could be over or under. Okay, now look at this Bordone portrait at Sotheby’s and use the zoom to get a really, really detailed look at the center front bustline.

Call me crazy, but what I see is a decorative partlet tucked OVER the camicia/shift and into the bodice — but when I look at the center front opening (under the ladder lacing), it looks like the partlet is either VERY CAREFULLY measured, finished, and pinned/attached so that it EXACTLY aligns with the top row of lacing, or it is tucked OVER the camicia but BEHIND some kind of false-camicia-front. Or the artist decided to tidy things up. What do you think?

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Attention Elizabethan Costume Geeks

If you’re like me, you’ve spent far too much time trying to find a high res version of the famous painting Fete at Bermondsey. Well, Maggie of Elizabethan.org has heard our prayers and uploaded a super high res version to Wikimedia Commons. Yes, this is worthy of its own post! So which costumes are intriguing YOU the most? I am loving the lady on horseback (far-ish left) in black with peach (or are they white?) sleeves.