Underwhere, under there!

Most people realize that, when buying clothes, you need to wear the appropriate undergarments.  For a t-shirt, a regular bra is fine; a ballgown requires specialized underthings.  This is true for historic clothes as well.  That's why we start an outfit from the inside-out.

As mentioned before, the gamurra doesn't require a corset, but it does require a chemise.  This is know as the camica in Italian; in other parts of the world it was called a smock or chemise.  In the Renaissance, and all times before the advent of washing machines and dry-cleaning, these were generally light colored and plain linen.  In addition to protecting the body from potentially itchy fabrics and annoying seams, they also protected the outer clothing from the body.  Have you ever washed a floor-length gown by hand?  Back in the day, that was the only option.  Rich folks might have enough smocks to change daily or more often, and of course the poor had fewer.  Linen was as common in its day as cotton is in ours and was the preferred fabric.

I purchased some handkerchief weight linen locally and washed and dried it on high two times before cutting, so that it would get any shrinking out of its system.  So far it's going together nicely- the directions in the aforementioned pattern are pretty straightforward and easy to follow and it's all rectangles.  I'm doing French seams, because that is how I roll with mah undies.

Dress Diary

You know, I think I should do one of these.

So, I will soon be attending an event with a Venetian Carnivale in the 1500's theme.  As I never go along with the exact theme (Polish for a Russian event, Korean for a Japanese event), I'm making Italian.  Florentine though, and 1480's.   I bought this pattern package from Reconstructing History.  I decided to go with this style because it's depicted on women with builds similar to my own- slimmish.  The later we go in Italian patterns, the more voluptuous the women get and that's just not my body type.  Furthermore, these dresses don't require any sort of corset or other highly structured underwear.  Specific inspirational portraits are:

Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Young Woman

This image is what my underdress- the gamurra- will look like.  I am going to make the dress out of a very fab red wool with matching reversable sleeves (reversing to white velvet).  Also my hairdo will be like this one, and I will need hair extensions.

There's also an overgown called a giornea.  Here is a nice picture: 

I have nowhere near enough hair to do that 'do, not even with extensions.  I have bangs!

 

First Post

On this blog I will write about many random things, related to crafty arts, to work, to life, and being short.