I based my dress off of six portraits done of Italian ladies from the 16th century. (please see attached paper for copies of the portraits).
“Portrait of a young girl”- Angelo Bronzino 1541-45
1555-65 Italy, Florence; Unknown Artist, Portrait of a Woman
Portrait of Eleonora of Toledo (1522-1562) done by Alessandro Allori
Christina Di Lorena by Scipione Pulzone
Portrait of florentine noblewoman, three-quarter length, in a gold embroidered dress- Florentine School
Fig 182 “Young Noble bride in Florence and other parts of Tuscany” from the book “Vecellio’s Renaissance Costume Book” by Cesare Vecellio
- 1 skein each of black, cobalt, white size 10 cotton thread
- Inkle loom and shuttle
- Heddles made of industrial thread
- Various tools: Snips, Pins, sewing needle, scissors, rotary blade, and cutting mat, sand paper, craft scissors
- 2 yards of mock up cotton
- 3 yards custom dyed cotton
- Black silk thread for hand finishing
- Dharma fiber reactive procion dye in Sapphire blue
- Dye pot and washing machine
- 2 yard medium weight white linen
- White silk thread silver
- 1/2" wide rolls of reed cut into bents
- 3.5 yards of lightweight linen
- 8 ft of 2” wide purchased lace
- Silk remnants for shoe outer
- Half yard royal blue silk taffeta
- Modern rubber soles
- Copy of Champagne Fair German Turnshoe pattern
- 8 yards rayon/cotton cream brocade
- 16 yards polyester black velvet trim
- Fine silk silver thread for embroidery
- 8 yards natural colored cotton muslin for lining
- 1 polyester black velvet for color guard
- Half yard of heavyweight pink wool for hem stiffening
- Half yard heavyweight canvas for middle lining of bodice (on Sottana)
- Silver beads with shell inlay for bodice decoration
- Silver rings for lacing holes and sleeve attachment points
- White utility thread for lacing holes
- Antiqued silver aglets
- 2 yards creame polyester cording (for lacing of dress and sleeve attachments)
- Two pearl buttons for sleeve closure (at wrist)
- Sable Fur
- 3” eye pins
- Glass pearls
- Metal beads
- Length of jewelry chain
- Jewelry tools (wire cutters, needle nose pliers, round tip pliers)
- Blue beads
- 2 Clasp closures
- Earring fixings
- 2 drop pearls
- Glass pearls (for belt)
- Bead spacers
- One large central ouch
- Ouches
- 3 inch eye pins
- Two decorative eye pins (for the earrings)
- Black and Royal blue ostrich feathers
- Nude woman bottle opener (as my handle)
- 2 old credit cards
- Clamps
- E6000
- Length of grey satin ribbon
- 5 feet of 1" wide store bought lace
- Medium weight linen, cut in a 20” by 20” square
- 8 yards of blue silk for outer (on Zimarra)
- 8 yards heavyweight black linen for lining (on Zimarra)
- 14 yards of decorative/metal trim
- 13 strand of pearls (to bead trim)
- Half Yard of Twill tape (for reinforcement of bottom bodice edge on Zimarra)
- Hook and eye for bodice closure
Don't forget the booze. Seriously. 11 months of sewing. Your'e going to need it.
Please see attached paper for detailed processes since there are 12 pieces that create this outfit.
Anonymous. (2017, April 11). Dharma fiber reactive procion dyes. Retrieved January 6, 2021, from https://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/dharma-fiber-reactive-procion-dyes.h…
Indigo in the early modern world. (n.d.). Retrieved January 1, 2021, from https://www.lib.umn.edu/bell/tradeproducts/indigo
Lozano, C. (n.d.). Inkle loom pattern generator. Retrieved April 05, 2020, from https://carolingianrealm.blog/PatternGenerator.php
The Oncoming Storm on March 1. (2013, March 10). Stockings. Retrieved August 16, 2020, from https://medievaltailor.com/demonstrations/stockings/
Queen Anne's lace and Woad: Local Color Dyes. (2016, August 10). Retrieved January 1, 2021, from https://localcolordyes.com/2012/07/27/queen-annes-lace-and-woad/
Vintage, U. (2010, January 15). Hose me down : So, where are my garters? - (stocking history part 4 ). Retrieved August 06, 2020, from https://uffnervintage.blogspot.com/2010/01/hose-me-down-so-where-are-my…
Sundström , Amica, and Maria Neijman. “Historical Textiles by Two Textile Nerds.”Historical textiles, 3 Nov. 2017, historicaltextiles.org/. Accessed November 3, 2020. Cross posted to Blog on Facebook on the same date.
How to sew a venetian camicia - venus' seamstress at the realm of venus. (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2020, from http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/library/camiciahowto.htm
I was extremely lucky to have the help and guidance of my friend, THL Cecilia Caterina da Firenze (Mandy Goltz). With her help I was able to take my inspiration from several portraits and make my vision take flight. Without her, this project would have had to take much longer and would not have been as enjoyable.
The amount of focus and time required to complete this project gave me very little left over to focus on personal matters and allowed me time to process what was going on in life in general (hello 2020). I have to say that my admiration for those that create whole closets and wardrobes of late period costumes has only increased with this project. Not only did this project take a momentous level of time, focus, and skill, but the resources required is almost astounding. Over 44 yards of fabric was used for this project and that does not include the mock up or drafting fabric. It also does not include the fabric used to create custom bias tape or scraps used for the accessories. Don’t even get me into the prices of real pearls. If I had been in less fortunate circumstances or not had the emotional help of several friends, I would not have been able to complete this project to the standard preferred.
Also, I think I have a pearl problem. (MORE PEARLS!!!)