Completed 1530's Florentine Gown

It has been so long since I've blogged with any regularity, that I'm having an incredibly difficult time remembering to come here to document anything! So, I'll try to accurately remember the 'Saga of the Red 1530's Florentine Dress'.

The story starts about two or so years ago when I had the idea to get back into costuming. I did a bit of costuming about 10 years or so ago, and participated in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), although I wasn't as involved as I'd have like to have been, and my costuming skills were subpar at best. Anyway, I've been wanting to get back into both...and do it properly this time! 

I've always been drawn to the Italian Renaissance for many reasons, namely the food, art, and clothing! Renaissance garb is sumptuous, and I love the yards of luxurious fabric, the lines and the apparent lack of body contouring corsets. Last time I did any sort of historical costuming, I tried to stick more with costumes from my ancestral culture (Scottish/English/Irish), however, I have little to no interest in historical clothing from those regions and it showed in my final product. I find clothing from those regions a bit boring (early on), or too structured (later periods) for my personal tastes (although I -do- quite like the transitional period clothing from Henry VII's reign).

As I said, last time I was making historical garb I tried to stick to my ancestral cultures clothing, and I had bought many yards (probably 6-8 yards?) of this red/maroon/silk/something else probably fabric from the home decor section of JoAnn's to make an Elizabethan kirtle and loose gown. The gown turned out terrible and I scrapped it, as well as the whole idea of sticking to garb from the British Isles because I JUST DON'T LIKE WESTERN EUROPEAN CLOTHING. Ok, I'm fine. The brown fabric that you can see in the pictures to the right also came from the Elizabethan loose gown (also from the home decor section of JoAnn's), but I was unable to save much of it from that horrific project, so I could only use it for the lower arm pieces and the trim around the neckline. I think the two colors and fabric textures compliment each other wonderfully! 

Now, I am a VERY slow sewer (as you could probably tell when I said earlier that this story starts about two years ago and I just finished two days ago), and when I started this project I weighed 20 pounds more than I do currently. I started the dress off by making a mockup (toile). My first ever! Luckily, my mom is an amazing seamstress who made my wedding dress and was able to help me fit the toile properly. If anyone ever thinks they can get away with not making a mockup, you're wrong! Ok, ok, maybe some people can...but not me! That was definitely the biggest mistake I made when making garb all those years ago. Nothing ever fit properly, and now it does because I made a toile. Win! Unfortunately, by the time I'd cut and sewn my bodice (and hand sewn the eyelets as well as set the sleeves) it was much much too big for me! I was able to take it in a little at the side seams, but not enough...SO, I cut the bodice down the middle front and used the brown fabric to cover the new seam. I was so frustrated because I was wanting to make a very historically accurate piece, but now the dress had this seam down the front and I could find no portrait evidence for such a cut. I decided to stop being upset about this and roll with it, because well...I'd already put a LOT of work into this gown and wasn't about to scrap it now! I also didn't quite understand the instructions for the lower sleeves, so instead of them being a 'tube' they're open at the seams and I added lacing rings. This actually is nice because the camicia I made has such wide sleeves itself that if the gowns sleeves didn't have the lacing rings, they would be too small (or I'd have to make another camicia with less voluminous sleeves...which I'm probably going to do anyway because I don't like this camicia).

Other than the drama over my weight loss and the sleeves, the dress was easy to put together, and the rest of the instructions for the pattern (pattern by Reconstructing History) were clear and easy to follow. It is super comfortable, probably because I don't have to wear a corset to achieve the correct silhouette, and the bodice is only slightly stiffened with canvas and lined with linen. I plan to make a petticoat because I decided to forgo lining the skirt and I would like a little more fullness (without resorting to medieval 'shape wear' like farthingales and bum rolls).



And last but not least, a picture of my girls on their first day of school because there is more to life than costuming! We've homeschooled from the beginning and this is their first year in a Parent Partnership Program (which is a public school program for homeschoolers...so they're essentially going to public school part time). It's been an interesting adjustment, but we're all enjoying it!

I hope to soon start on some garb for them, as we'd like to attend some SCA events this summer...so stay tuned!