1520s Florentine Tourney Dress

Since I've made a couple of front lacing gowns, I wanted to try my hand at making one that laces on the side. And since I needed new Tourney dresses (which should be easily washable), I decided to make it out of cotton sateen. In my brain I imagined that it would look more like silk. But I had forgot that cotton sateen is what they often make sheets out of. But it doesn't look like it's made from sheet, thankfully...

I drew inspiration from the collection of images on Festive Attyre. Particularly these images. I like the flat front, the high waist, and the awesome sleeves. And two images portray turbans - I was fascinated by the Florentine turban trend, so I decided my dress must include a striped one.










I finally broke down and attended a costuming gathering down in Long Beach, where one of my Kingdom's costuming Laurels helped me with the bodice pattern. It is AMAZING!!! Drafting patterns on yourself is very difficult, if not impossible. Having some help, especially someone so knowledgeable and talented, makes all the difference in the world.





The rest of the gown is pretty standard. The skirt is a giant rectangle, knife pleated to the bodice. It laces in the side. I trimmed the neckline and hem with some brown linen. It also has a brown linen sash at the waist.

One thing that doesn't show up in the picture is how awesome the sleeves are. They're rather large round sleeves, navy on one side, and maroon on the other. They're attached at only one lacing point, at the top of the shoulder, so the chemise can peak out as it does in the original paintings. Here they are as they were being cut out. The width at the widest point is about the same as the length.



The turban is just a long strip of striped cotton fabric about a foot wide. I attempted to replicate the turban wrapping method demonstrated at The Purple Files. I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Bonus picture: Here I am enjoying my new Dantesca chair, which I purchased at Gulf Wars for far too much money. But it's perfect, and exactly what I wanted. And the most comfortable wooden chair I've ever sat in.