Show me Stripes?

[Rosamundi]

Greetings! After too long away from the forums and my trusty machine, I'm sewing again! 

Last week's thrift store raid yielded a nice length of black-on-charcoal narrow-striped fabric. The stripe is very subtle, but I recall reading somewhere that period stripes were only worn by gypsies and roustabouts and such. A forum search on "stripes" didn't reveal anything, so it might not have been posted here.

If anyone has a moment, could I tap the collective knowledge to confirm, deny, or link me to some portraits? Thank you, ladies (and gents)!

[operafantomet]

Welcome back!

Are you looking for stripe inspiration in general, or a specific style? It's true that stripes were mostly worn by... well, not outcasts, but groups a bit outside the society. But there's lots of exception to the rule. First, we're talking broad stripes of a contrasting colour to the main colour. Second, it gained popularity in northern Italy and Spain for some time in the late 15th and early 16th century. It's what I often call "the crazy style", with stripes, lots of bows, ribbons and whatnot.

These stripes were usually two different fabrics sewn together, or ribbons sewn on top of a fabric. It was not an actual pattern in the fabric. I mostly do Italian, so that's where these portraits are from, but anyways:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/milano/milanese1480-90savoy.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/milano/unknownmilano1500.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/milano/beatrice_ribbons.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/milano/marziale1505ven.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/mantua/bvenetoindiana.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/venezia2/bonveronese1530sb.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/brescia/morettogarden4.jpg

However, there are two pretty lovely exceptions. One is a triple portrait Sofonisba Anguissola made of her siblings. The sisters are dressed in almost identical dresses - they're made of the same fabric and of the same cut, but the sleeves are a bit different. The fabric of their dresses seems to be a "true" striped one - or is it just me?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/cremona/threechildren.jpg

The other is a painting from 1520, where a woman is depicted in a rust dress with a sheer overlay - in the skirt the overlay follows the shape of the dress, but in the bodice it is folded, revealing the bodice underneath and also revealing the the fabric IS sheer:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/venezia2/francescovecellio1520scaterinavicenza.jpg

I have no idea if this is helpful to you, as I suspect you need something on pinstripes and not broad stripes. But at least the Sofonisba Anguissola painting shows that there were dresses with narrow stripes in the 16th century.

Michel Pastoreau have some pretty interesting thoughts on the use of stripes in period styles in his book "Blue - the history of a color". Check it out if for example your local library carries it. The whole book is highly interesting, as it explains the period view on colours, with a basis in blue.

[gem]

Anea recently posted a really unique portrait of a little girl in a striped gown:
http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php?topic=83.msg292303#msg292303

And looking through some of her other posts, there are lots of striped sleeves and striped doublet undergowns (that's not a technical term  ).

I had read that what look like stripes in Renaissance clothing is more likely to be pieced fabric or applied decoration (ETA: and that's clearly what's going on in the first set of pictures Anea has above), but that certainly doesn't appear to be the case in the pink Fasolo gown.

I think it depends on what your stripes look like. What kind of fabric is it? You wouldn't want to use a striped cotton shirting, for example, but upholstery fabric might work...

(And I love love love the gold and cream stripe in that last link, Anea! That is so fabulous.)

[operafantomet]

Anea recently posted a really unique portrait of a little girl in a striped gown:
http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php?topic=83.msg292303#msg292303

Oh right, I completely forgot about those dresses. Stripes seems to have been used a lot for little girl dresses in Italy. I have lots of depictions of girls in various stripy dresses. And it appears all through the 16th century. Kinda interesting... Any tendences to this in other regions?

ETA: And I think you're right about that Fasolo painting and stripes. The dress is split in front, revealing a green/golden underskirt. A small part of the red/white stripy skirt is folded back, showing how the stripes seems to be a part of the actual fabric (weave). It can of course be that ribbons were sewn to fabric before cutting the dress, but they really appear as an integral part of the fabric. You can see it here:

[Rosamundi]

Y'all are amazing; I ask for a teaspoon of lemon juice and you build me a lemonade stand! Thank you so much!

I love the child's portrait. I agree, I think the stripes are woven into that fabric. The artist took such care with the other textures, I cannot imagine he'd have misrepresented a ribbon detail as a woven detail.

Here's the fabric on my ironing board now, although it looks boring in the photo. The weight is about what you'd use for a man's dress pant, but it has more nap. I suspect it's a poly-cotton blend.  I'm thinking it would be suitable for a skirt, cape, or bog dress; it wouldn't stand up to any heavier application. I'd probably use it for lightweight travel garb when visiting family, or "loaner garb" for guests who visit me.

[gem]

Beautiful fabric! I love the color. I was picturing STRIPES!, but from the picture, it actually looks more like a twill weave, or maybe a ribbed fabric, both of which I believe were period in various incarnations. What does the reverse look like?

[Rosamundi]

Thanks Gem! I think "twill weave" is the right name for this. The reverse is nearly the same, with a slightly less defined stripe. It drapes nicely.