I've been thinking a thread like this might be useful (and fun!) for a while, now, since we sometimes get "what can I wear with this?" questions here. Do you have wonderful garb that doesn't seem to go with anything else, and you're not sure what to wear it with? Let's post them here and see if the forum members have suggestions! H/A or not, Fairwear or fantasy, throw some pictures on up here, and share your ideas for others!
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I'll go first!
My pink linen damask corset is in its third season now, and I still don't really have anything it goes with! I made it pretty, so I *could* wear it as outerwear if I wanted to, and I do... but I've been pairing it with just a navy blue skirt I already had. It looks fine, but I know I'm not doing it justice. I'm not a pink person--AT ALL--so working with this color scheme is stumping me. (I do know it doesn't work well with a slightly darker berry-colored skirt (http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/22511199/373963735.jpg) I also have, and I don't care for gold and pink together.)
Here's the mystifying item:
(http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/23241773/387656748.jpg)
What do you think? It's a very bright, deep pink, with black microsuede binding. The damask pattern is sort of taupey--not really grey, not quite beige. What else would look good with this?
Gramercy!
I think a deep dark grey chemise (dress length) with a maroon/dark burgundy overskirt would look really pretty with that corset...
I feel your pain. I have a blue bodice I just love that matches nothing! I'll post pics this week to see what you all think.
I'd go with black. Maybe a nice corduroy for texture and to pick up the piping. Maybe also make a black chemise like the one you have in white. Top it off with a cute little flat cap or italian bonnet in black with a pink feather.
A plummy purple would look great, or even a more purple purple would work.
Hmmm...I would say brown, perhaps a milk chocolate or mushroom color? Never underestimate the power of pink and brown together! :)
Great idea, Athena! Pink and brown are indeed lovely together...
Quote from: Athena on October 02, 2011, 07:51:03 PM
Hmmm...I would say brown, perhaps a milk chocolate or mushroom color? Never underestimate the power of pink and brown together! :)
Great suggestion, I like the idea of chocolate and coffee colors with the pink.
I like pink and brown too. Maybe a nice patterned skirt to complement it, somethink like brown and gold or black and gold-ish vertical stripes?
Brown would indeed be pretty and softer than black. Gem, like I always say, take the bodice to the fabric stores and hold it up to anything and everything. You might find a surprising match in something you never even thought would work. Maybe even a pattern as Colleen suggests with a hint of pink in it.
I agree. Chocolate brown with pink is particularly good with warm coloring-(Autumn or Summer) with auburn/brown hair and warm skin tones.
If you have black or blond hair/pale skin (Winter or Spring) go with charcoal, gray or black.
Quote from: Athena on October 02, 2011, 07:51:03 PM
Hmmm...I would say brown, perhaps a milk chocolate or mushroom color? Never underestimate the power of pink and brown together! :)
Agreed, that's a yummy combination! If you want to keep it fairly period, try the colour pavonazzo. It's a maroon/purple brown nuance. I think such a purple undertone in a brown fabric would accent the corset's pink shade well. It's a shade I tried to simulate in an underskirt I made some years ago:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/pavonazzo/peacockandfriends.jpg
And also the favourite colour of Eleonora di Toledo, something in the line of these:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze2/bronschooledt1550s.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze2/bronzinocopycincinnati.jpg
Love that color! I have a chemise in that shade, it's one of my favorite pieces.
Thanks, everyone! I do *dearly* love chocolate brown (as you know (http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/17691164/275717822.jpg)), but somehow hadn't considered it as a pairing for my corset. I'm intrigued, considering how popular brown-and-pink damask (http://www.google.com/search?q=brown+pink+damask&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=801) has been recently.
...But a chocolate brown what, is the question? Maybe a skirt and doublet? I want to stay kind of middle class with this. Renaissance Fabrics has some chocolate brown wool flannel (http://www.renaissancefabrics.net/cgi-bin/showAll.cgi?id=534), although I'm also sort of in love with these two colors:
(http://www.renaissancefabrics.net/product/photo622.gif) (http://www.renaissancefabrics.net/product/photos665.gif)
(Although side-by-side they look kind of dreadful!)
And I also have that pinked microsuede I got for such a steal this summer, which is kind of the mushroom color Athena suggested:
(http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/23241773/396722098.jpg)
Any other ideas? I thought I was leaning toward the grey/violet/?? side of things, because the pink is sort of cooler.
I think that deep bronze in the portrait Anea posted would be incredible with that pink!
For the pink pair of bodies, a mint green skirt. Either in a damask print with a darker green or a black and mint green. With the black, it will bring out the binding nicely. I've learned before, taupe is impossible to match. Just don't even bother. Ignore the taupe in it. Stick with the pink and black and try to find nice contrasting colors that work well with it.
Wow--how did I forget? The jacket in Tudor Tailor (they call it a waistcoat (http://www.tudortailor.com/pix/patterns-tww.jpg)) is actually on my to-do list! I've set aside a couple yards of the blackwork linen (http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/4707019/386446757.jpg) for it. Totally slipped my mind. So maybe the blackwork jacket and a nice full petticoat like she's wearing in Silverstah's link, from that heathered purply wool?
So an update, of sorts.
I took the pink linen to JA today and introduced it to some yummy chocolate brown wool... and it looked like Neopolitan ice cream. :P Not quite what I was going for! LOL
And I've been looking at Elizabethan/Jacobean jackets/waistcoats, and it seems like they're pretty much always worn closed up to the neck. I still like the idea, but was intending to have the corset *visible.*
Still pondering...
Quote from: gem on October 11, 2011, 02:30:09 PM
So an update, of sorts.
I took the pink linen to JA today and introduced it to some yummy chocolate brown wool... and it looked like Neopolitan ice cream. :P Not quite what I was going for! LOL
And I've been looking at Elizabethan/Jacobean jackets/waistcoats, and it seems like they're pretty much always worn closed up to the neck. I still like the idea, but was intending to have the corset *visible.*
Still pondering...
Nope, not always.
http://pintura.aut.org/SearchProducto?Produnum=15640 (http://pintura.aut.org/SearchProducto?Produnum=15640)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joachim-beuckelaer-the-four-elements-earth (http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joachim-beuckelaer-the-four-elements-earth)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joachim-beuckelaer-the-four-elements-air (http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joachim-beuckelaer-the-four-elements-air)
http://webart.nationalmuseum.se/work/work_image.aspx?id=17277 (http://webart.nationalmuseum.se/work/work_image.aspx?id=17277)
=23]http://residenzgalerie.at/Flaemischer-Barock.18.0.html?&cHash=0ff8516538&tx_csimageexplorer_pi1[image]=23 (http://residenzgalerie.at/Flaemischer-Barock.18.0.html?&cHash=0ff8516538&tx_csimageexplorer_pi1%5Bimage) Hehehe, short sleeves!
Although it's common to see the formal embroidered jackets, worn by ladies of the court fully closed, there are many paintings of peasants and the middle class with the jacket open. My guess is it's the difference between a quick snapshot and the formal family paintings.
There is an extant black wool jacket; a replica of it might be nice but with a pink collar? http://www.drakt.org/Renaissance/J2.html (http://www.drakt.org/Renaissance/J2.html)
The tall hat I am wearing in my picture (avatar, or whatever it's called).
It is an emerald green pintuck taffeta. I tired on every color of this hat they had, and everyone I was with said the green looked best. However, I really have nothing to wear it with.
I've been wearing it with my red Irish dress (you can see my shoulder in the picture), with an underskirt of the Buchanan tartan. However, I feel like a walking Christmas ornament with the bright red & the green.
I really don't have anything else to wear it with, and of course with my luck, they no longer make this shade of pintuck taffeta. I've looked everywhere, online too, and even in wedding and conference linen rentals to look at tablecloths to see if I can still get the emerald green color. No luck.
So, since I am learning to sew, and have some very experienced seamstresses who are able to help me (read: take over when it's way above my head), I don't want another solid green. I've got it into my head that I'd look like a walking tree if I was green from top to bottom without another color or colors to break it up. I would like some opinions on what other colors I could use with this so I don't look like a Christmas ornament, a Green Bay Packer fan, or someone going to the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Thanks! ;D
Gold, watermelon pink, mint green, and even some shades of blue might go. My suggestion is not to worry about the pinktucks -go to your local fabric store and take the hat with you. See what works well and forget about modern color schemes (Christmas tree, Green bay Packers) -if the dress looks good, no one will even consider the color scheme
Green looks great with almost any shade of brown--chocolate or a cognac/suede color (like you probably have in your Pendragon bodice). Do you have any orange in your wardrobe? I also love the watermelon pink idea. Are you mainly looking for colors to wear it with, or garment types? It's sort of a more middle-class style of hat, and the fabric makes it even fancier. Does it have any embellishments on it? Do you have a snood/caul to wear under it? Hobby Lobby regularly carries a nice gold and black diamond-pattern upholstery fabric that would look smashing with it (I used it for a pair of paned sleeves (http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/23865558/398366743.jpg) and a hat this season). It really seems to go with everything. You could do a bodice and split skirt, find some trim with a little green (any shade) in it, or find a similar green in another fabric (velvet, sateen) for sleeves or tabs or a forepart.
Quote from: isabelladangelo on October 15, 2011, 08:20:52 PM
See what works well and forget about modern color schemes (Christmas tree, Green bay Packers) -if the dress looks good, no one will even consider the color scheme
I have to laugh about this! Last year at Bristol, I had put on my yellow chemise to wear with a blue/yellow plaid skirt. To my dismay, it didn't close around the middle, since I had gained some weight. So I threw on my emerald green skirt and then my black bodice.
I was walking in the parade, when I heard someone yell out, "Look at that lady, she's a Renaissance Green Bay Packer fan."
I was mortified, but of course, Kenosha, WI is right in the heart of Green Bay Packer country, so while people from elsewhere may not think of anything when they see green and yellow, in Wisconsin and Illinois, the first thought is "Green Bay Packers"!
Lady Renee, green also goes well with purple. You might even consider a goldish orange, depending on what you find.
Differnt shades of green could look nice with the emerald color. Navy blue is good too, Id say the navy that is darn near indigo would look good too, it would pick up the blues in the emerald.
blue, purple, teal, and a fan of peacock feathers would create a very pretty look.
Quote from: gem on October 11, 2011, 02:30:09 PM
And I've been looking at Elizabethan/Jacobean jackets/waistcoats, and it seems like they're pretty much always worn closed up to the neck. I still like the idea, but was intending to have the corset *visible.*
I just wrote a blog entry about the 16th century Italian equivalent of Jacobean jackets. They're often sleeveless, open in front, and with a defined waist. Might be worth a look?
http://operafantomet.livejournal.com/246447.html
Only three different examples of them so far, but it shows they did exist at least.