1480s Florentine gowns

My best friend and original Living Dress Form, Natalie, decided to come and see me for an SCA event. And so, of course, I had to dress her up. As such, I needed something amazing that could be accomplished in a short amount of time, as I only started a week or so after Pentathlon. And, I wanted it to be Italian, as we both love the country.



I decided to stay away from the 16th century, since Natalie wouldn't be present for a fitting. I settled on a late 15th century Florentine dress. Here are some period portraits. Thanks is once again due to the Festive Attyre website for consolidating all these images in one place.






And here's how it all turned out:



We're each wearing a handkerchief-weight linen camica with the neckline gathered into a band, and the sleeves left open at the wrist, Venetian style.

Natalie's dress is made of red linen. It laces at both sides with hand-bound eyelets. Lacing on both sides probably isn't strictly necessary, but I made the gown before she arrived, and I wanted to have some wiggle-room in case it didn't fit correctly. Happily, the fit was almost perfect. The neckline is cut in a deep V, and is attached across the front with two cords via 8 metal lacing rings. The skirt attached to the bodice with knife pleats.




The sleeves are separate, and attach to the shoulders of the gown via 6 hand-bound eyelets. The sleeves are sewn together until just above the elbow. Below that point, they're laced together with metal lacing rings.




The necklace is also of my making, of beads from JoAnns. And I also braided her hair up in a not-quite-period, but still quite fun style.



My dress is of blue linen, and laces up the front with hand-bound eyelets. I need to ask someone to drape a similar pattern on me, as the shoulders aren't quite cut correctly on this one. I cut a curve in the front center opening, but I think it's not quite right - I should have cut a gentler curve that started a little lower. My bodice is interlined with a single layer of linen canvas, and I have six cable-tie bones across the front to maintain a smooth line under the bust. My skirt is also attached to the bodice with knife pleats.




The sleeves are attached to the shoulder with hand-bound eyelets. My sleeves are not connected at the back of the arm at all, but lace the entire way down, with a cut out for the elbow. I had originally planned to make hand-bound eyelets for the backs of the sleeves as well, but ran out of time, and ended up using ribbon loops. I attempted ladder-lacing, but the sleeves buckled, and were generally wonky and not tight enough. I'm going to try to lace them spirally next time.





My necklace is also made of beads from JoAnns. My real hair braided in two braids, which are then crossed and pinned at my neck. I have a false braid running around the top of my head, "taped" in place with a blue ribbon.

I also made overgowns, but we didn't wear them except to take a couple of pictures. These are the tabbard-style overgowns - I think I would be more likely to wear one that was more fitted.




All in all, I was very pleased with the way these gowns turned out. And we had such a fun time at the event. When Natalie returned home, she found this on her facebook - we've come a long way since our first costuming adventure together.