Front lacing

[insidiousraven]

I tried to find links to all of those websites you use to find portraits.  I honestly don't know how you do it, you sewing garb-ers are amazing! 

I was just wondering if there was a time period where ladies actually wore visibly front laced dresses/bodices.  What range of stations would have worn it? 

[Devangelon]

http://www.elizabethan-portraits.com/

That's where I go.

I have seen some nobles with dresses that lace down the front but..the most common thing would be peasants/wenches. Perhaps Merchant class.

Laces in the back meant you were usually rich enough to have someone dress you. While having laces in the front meant you didn't and had to dress your self.

[isabelladangelo]

http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/

The Venetians often had front lacing dresses, as evident in the portraits on the above link.

It's really and time and place issue since even Queen Elizabeth had a front lacing pair of bodies that is still extant.   Gowns could be pinned, hooked, or laced.  It depended on what you wore underneath.   There are plenty of examples of pinned and hooked bodices as well as laced in the upper classes.   Front closures were just as common as back closures. 
http://www.kimiko1.com/research-16th/TudorWomen/index.html

[gem]

Front lacing gowns were popular among all stations in Italy in various regions for at least a hundred years.  Check out the portrait research at Festive Attyre for examples.

In England and Spain (?), doublet gowns were popular during at least the mid-late 16th century. Here's a portrait of Mary Queen of Scots (?), and here's a portrait of a visibly front-hooking gown dated 1560.

I'm not as up on my medieval clothing, but I'm certain I've seen images of front-lacing dresses, plus the recreation gothic fitted gown relies on front-lacing to achieve the fit/structure of the dress. The cotehardies of the 14th century frequently laced or buttoned up the front.

A great source for the clothes of the middling sorts of English folk is Joris Hoefnagel's 1569 painting "Fete at Bermondsey." This image has a very nice zoom, where you can see all sorts of gowns and overgowns and bodices in pretty nice detail.

If you *really* want an outfit that highlights front lacing as a design detail, you should look into Flemish dress. Venetian gowns, as Isabella pointed out, also feature various styles of fancy front lacing. And in the 1530s, there was a very distinctive German fashion for front-lacing that was chronicled by Cranach. (Googling "Cranach gown" will get you hits for portraits and recreations.)
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Women hardly *ever* lived alone in this period (most people either had large families or lived as part of a larger household), so for almost everyone, even the poor, there was somebody available to help you get dressed. Also, with proper period spiral lacing, extra-long laces, and a lifetime of flexibility training, it's totally possible to lace up a back-lacing dress or corset yourself.

[isabelladangelo]

Just adding on to what Gem said:  For more German styled gowns, try http://frazzledfrau.glittersweet.com/

There are plenty of examples of hooked, buckled, and front laced gowns there.   

[insidiousraven]

Great!  Thanks so much ladies.  I really like those dublet gowns. 

I was just interested in front lacing, to see where the faire community got the general idea from.  I realize now that most of what people wear is not historical, but when I was a kid/teen, I had no idea.  Getting into garbing more, I'm interested in having both HA and fairwear.

[isabelladangelo]

Front lacing itself is perfectly period.  However, the way you lace may not be.  Spiral and ladder lacing were both very common -there really isn't much evidence for the modern criss cross lacing.  I prefer spiral simply because it means I have to punch out and sew up fewer eyelets in my gowns.  :-)

[operafantomet]

Here's one more link, on Venetian dresses of the 16th century: http://aneafiles.webs.com/renaissancegallery/veneto.html

[Devangelon]

No idea if this is true or not but seems practical.

When I was at a faire once, I over heard a woman asking in she was pregnant. My friend didn't know what to say except no. She asked why the woman had asked her this and she said it was because the front lacing on her bodice. The bow was at the bottom and if you were pregnant (Probably only in the first few months) you could loosen the bodice to allow for expansion of the tummy. Thus, the bow would be at the bottom of the bodice. If you weren't pregnant, the bow would be at the top.

Thoughts? Like I said, I'm not sure if this is true or not..But it seems practical. lol

[isabelladangelo]

No idea if this is true or not but seems practical.

When I was at a faire once, I over heard a woman asking in she was pregnant. My friend didn't know what to say except no. She asked why the woman had asked her this and she said it was because the front lacing on her bodice. The bow was at the bottom and if you were pregnant (Probably only in the first few months) you could loosen the bodice to allow for expansion of the tummy. Thus, the bow would be at the bottom of the bodice. If you weren't pregnant, the bow would be at the top.

Thoughts? Like I said, I'm not sure if this is true or not..But it seems practical. lol

Nope, not true.  Another faire myth, unfortunately.   Since you can't tell where the end lacing really is on spiral lacing (you tie it at the top and bottom) criss cross lacing itself is mostly not period (there are maybe two examples that *might* be criss cross; the vast majority are spiral or ladder lacing).   Therefore, the entire idea that to have the bow in one place or the other is false since you should have two bows no matter what!

Loose gowns (laced up the front or back) were common as well as high waisted gowns for pregnancy.   In other words, they had maternity wear.