This is the forth gown in the Venetian dress style to be added to my wardrobe, made is a wonderful red, the colour of Venice. The influence is from the 1545 - 50 Paris Bordone, ‘Portrait of a Woman’. The gown in the portrait appears to be of silk, mine is linen for practicality of the Australian climate. Also it was only $3.60 per metre.
10 metres of
140cm wide linen went into the construction of this dress. The resulting skirt is extremely full. I think it is close to a double full skirt.
I love it!!
On the shoulders are rolls that add to the dimension of this frock. They appear to have a crinkled affect to them. I made a covering that was too big for the ‘sausage’ padding and then twisted it to achieve a similar effect. When applying them to the shoulders I ensured that the twist was maintained by stitching it nicely into place.
The
bodice back has a V
shape
to it. To ensure that the shape is kept the back of the bodice was also
boned with metal boning.
The headdress is
a balzo, and rather un-Venetian for the time.
It was in the portrait, it looked like fun, so I made it.
Made out of left over fabric from the frock and beaded in glass beads to
give a similar effect to the one worn in the portrait.
The beads are multi coloured to reflect the beads I used in the girdle.
Lace adorns the
cuff of the sleeves. This could be
on the chemise
or the dress sleeves. I
am still undecided on which it is. It
could go either way. I used a
commercial lace that I found on a blouse in a second hand shop and salvaged.
It is reminiscent of the lace seen at the time and give that extra
special touch.
Also something a
little different with this portrait is the girdle.
It isn’t a long hanging one with the extension; it sits in neatly
around the waist. As the waistline
of the dress is not my own natural waistline, and dips considerably at the front
and back, this in fact makes the dress waistline extremely large.
In order for the girdle to sit perfectly along the dress waist I need to
stitch it into place at several crucial points.
This works rather well. The
girdle being all large glass Millifiorie beads is very heavy. I
foresee a time of it breaking in spectacular fashion, spreading beads
everywhere. There is little if
anything I can do to avoid that if I intend to wear it.
I decided that
this was a wonderful thing for working in, as it wouldn’t be tangled in things
such as chairs. As I am not an
overly wealthy persona I opted for glass beads that are in a style made in
Venice at the time, Millifiorie. Whilst
they are mixed beads the over all affect is very pleasing.
At the time of
these photos the dress had been worn a few times and washed.
The linen was not ironed after laundering.
Other accessories include rings, necklace, earrings and a fan.
Photos courtesy of Katrina Hunt.
Putting Yourself In The Picture
All
intellectual content, composition, layout, designs and photographs, unless
otherwise noted are copyright 2007 to Deborah
Lane ©,
or, copyright 2003 to Deborah Murray
©
also known as Mistress Oonagh O'Neill ©.
All Original renaissance art works and artefacts are not copyright to me, and
are shown for educational use only . If you see something you'd really
like to use, please contact me!
