"Field of the Cloth of Gold" (Kirtles in a Crowd)

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In preparation for a presentation for the "Westcoast Elizabethan Clothing Symposium", I decided to attempt to recreate several of the outfits worn by women in the crowd of "The Field of the Cloth of Gold" (1545).

The idea was to use my red kirtle as a base and then accessorize it as needed to create four different looks (as highlighted above).

Since the red kirtle was initially inspired by the woman in the lower right of the painting, most of the work was already done!

(Consequently, the original Dress Diary and some additional photos can be found HERE.)

So all I needed to do was assemble a few more accessories in order to create the remaining three looks.

Additional details and photographs of the accessories can be found in Part Two of my talk, "Wearing vs Styling: Accessorizing to Create a Period Look".

But here are some extra photographs of the finished looks that didn't make it into the presentation...

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Finally, here are some goofy poses that look rather silly on their own...

...and look even sillier in context, but in a good way!

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Return to the Blue Waistcoat

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Yet another take on my trusty blue waistcoat! 

These photos were taken as part of my talk, "Wearing vs Styling: Accessorizing to Create a Period Look" for the Westcoast Elizabethan Clothing Symposium.

(You can read more about the how and why in Part 1 of the talk HERE.)

The re-styling includes a vintage straw hat.

A blue linen petticoat, approximately 22"x36".

A white linen partlet, with a small ruffle.

A leather pouch/purse and a small knife in a leather sheath.

The red wool petticoat was once part of my petticoat bodies, but is now just a skirt (which needs to be shortened).

 

And that's it! 

A mini-post. Short and sweet.

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Red Kirtle: Medieval Mix & Match

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Another attempt at "Medieval Cosplay"!

But this time with my new red kirtle.

I know basically nothing about clothing pre-1500, so this is very much me playing historical Dress Up...

But I do love this ridiculous bycocket hat (originally made for a similar attempt at styling my blue kirtle) and will take advantage of any opportunity to wear it.

The base of the outfit is my new red kirtle, which is adapted from a bodice pattern that I've basically been using forever (but with sleeves and more shaped skirts taken from "The Queen's Servants").

This is paired with the above mentioned bycocket hat, a simple linen yard square, a white silk sash, and a pair of rust coloured 3/4 length wool sleeves.

And that's it!  A pretty simple, but very silly and fun, outfit.

As I've mentioned before, I love this veil style. I think it's super flattering around the face.

And despite this bodice being quite a bit shorter than other iterations I've made, the sash creates the optical illusion of an elongated torso, and the A-line nature of this combination (from the hat and veil right down to the flared skirts) makes for a very elegant silhouette. 

Or at least I think so.

And let's be honest, it's as close as I'm going to get to a stereotypical  "princess dress" and so I am totally here for it!

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Resources & Materials

Pattern:  

-The Tudor Tailor (book and/or ready-made pattern...but really, the bodice is mostly self drafted at this point)

-The Queen's Servants (book and/or ready-made pattern)

Fabric:

-Red wool from B.Blacks & Sons

-Rust wool from Dorr Mill

-White "Judy" linen (5.5oz)  Gray Line Linen

-Red "Judy" linen (5.5oz)  Gray Line Linen

-Hemp/cotton muslin for interlining (10.5) from Hemp Traders

-Muslin for mockup (also from Hemp Traders, but any muslin should do)

Trim and Notions:

-Black cotton tape (1/4")  for lacing from WM Booth Draper

Thread:

-Red silk thread

-Black silk thread

-White cotton thread (silk finish) for linens

Boning:

-7mm Plastic coated spring steel bones (4) from Vena Cava Design

-7mm Synthetic whalebone also from Vena Cava Design

Other Supplies:

-Red felt hat blank from Amazon

-Swedish pattern paper from Amazon. (This stuff is great! You can iron it!)

-Pattern weights

Foundation Layers: Black Pair o' Bodies & Red Petticoat

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A peek into the underwear drawer...

So I was taking some photos for another big "Mix & Match" (teaser for a future post), when I realized that I don't have many --if any--  photos of what I'm wearing these days as foundation garments.

So here they are!

Over the linen smock are my trusty black pair o' bodies and a red wool petticoat (with black worsted wool guards).

The bodies are loosely based on the 1598 "Dorothea" bodies, but adapted for front lacing.  The pattern was once the Tudor Tailor (but has been altered significantly) and is constructed in the same way as my earlier grey linen bodies.

(Well, now I'm certainly regretting not ironing my smock 

before deciding to take photos of it!)

The bodies are worn with a red petticoat and a small-ish bum roll.  The petticoat was (once upon a time) a part of my petticoat bodies...

...however the bodice never really fit properly, so some years ago the skirt was removed and converted into a stand-alone petticoat (with knife pleats rather than cartridge pleats).

The petticoat works well enough as an undergarment, but the pleats on the sides bulge awkwardly, so I'm considering re-pleating it to a waistband for use as a visible skirt (if and when the need arises).

And that's it!

A little mini-update until I've got the rest of the up-coming post photographed and written up.

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