...Because you need to wear something *under* those gorgeous sleeves (http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php?topic=17804.0), bring on the smocks, chemises, shifts, shirts, and camicia!
First, one of the best places to ogle gorgeous period chemises is on our very own Anea's website: http://aneafiles.webs.com/camicia.html She has a gallery of contemporary images, as well as photographs of surviving camicia from the period (and she has asked us to please respect her bandwith by not posting images directly from her pages herein. ;))
Second, Patterns of Fashion IV (http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Fashion-Construction-Accessories-1540-1660/dp/0896762629/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342831701&sr=8-1&keywords=patterns+of+fashion+4) by Janet Arnold shows 120 years of smocks, shirts, and chemises in glorious detail, including wonderful closeups of embroidery and other embellishments.
Here is my alltime favorite chemise in a portrait, Caravaggio's St. Catherine:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Michelangelo_Caravaggio_060.jpg/459px-Michelangelo_Caravaggio_060.jpg)
Here's a closeup of the embroidery and the needle-lace edging:
(http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/17480040/396755960.jpg)
And I just love the wacky thing this little girl is wearing. I've never seen anything like this before:
(http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/17480040/403445362.jpg)
Jan Gossaert's Children of King Christian II
We talked about this a little bit last year, and the best guess was that those elaborate "eyelets" along the neckline (closeup here (http://0.tqn.com/d/arthistory/1/0/D/k/hmrc_0308_11.jpg)) are some sort of broderie anglaise (http://lace.lacefairy.com/Lace/ID/BroderieAnglaise.html), although that technique (by that name) is generally better known from the late 19th c. Still, this is something I'd definitely like to try!
Love the scalloped edge of this simple blackwork.
(http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l142/Marianna00/Raphael_aka_Raffaello_Sanzio-Portrait_of_a_Woman_La_Muta.jpg)
This one is so different with all the tiny ties.
(http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l142/Marianna00/1505-10_Carota_Portrait_of_a_Woman_Verona.jpg) :)
Got this one from Anea. So beautiful.
(http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l142/Marianna00/donnacremona.jpg)
...and this. So simple. I love handkerchief linen shirts and chemise when they are so elegantly done.
(http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l142/Marianna00/6990048100_2fd2f28914_m.jpg)
Anna Iram, that last one is triggering my fabric-loving tactile instincts -- I just want to grab that shirt and scrunch all those little pleats, the fabric looks like it must feel amaaaaazing...
...uh, anyway, here's my contribution! I'm afraid I've lost the link to the site I got it from, and thus the approximation of its date of origin, but my notes say it's "Italian renaissance". I really wish I had the patience to make things that are THIS pretty...
(http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k638/sevinkei/423338_10151227475070179_1684323888_n.jpg)
(http://www.verymerryseamstress.com/images/orangeelizabethan.jpg)
This Chemise is all hand embroidered. Like I would have time to do this.
This the same portrait I use for my Business cards.
Quote from: Anna Iram on July 20, 2012, 10:31:16 PM
Love the scalloped edge of this simple blackwork.
(http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l142/Marianna00/Raphael_aka_Raffaello_Sanzio-Portrait_of_a_Woman_La_Muta.jpg)
Oh Anna! Thank you for posting this. I fell in love with this ensemble, especially the camica! If I were to spend a fortune on a completely historically accurate outfit, this would be it!
Time for a bump, given Lady Gregory's question over in garb. :)
(http://www.tudorhistory.org/elizabeth/pelican.jpg)
Who can forget the Chemise worn by Queen Elizabeth I in the Pelican Portrait? All Blackworked on Linen.
When I recreated this gown 2 years ago, I was lucky to find fabric that looked similar to this chemise. I found tiny Gold Trim and sewed it to the Fabric before I made the Chemise to look like the portrait.
(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/46866_472283951279_1574703_n.jpg)
Thanks for the bump, Gem. Wow, I don't think I could pick a favorite.
Lady Kathleen, I am speechless by your talent.
Here's a stunning idea from 1516, Hans Holbein's Saint Barbara (detail):
(http://elizabethcbunce.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/holbein-saint-barbara-crop.jpg?w=500)
(Whole painting here (http://uploads2.wikipaintings.org/images/hans-holbein-the-younger/st-barbara-1516.jpg!Large.jpg).)
I suspect that again we're looking at something that has quite a lot of fantasy and less garb fact to it, but what I find really interesting is how similar those glorious sleeves are to some of my favorite Fairwear chemises! I will wear my Ophelia's Double-Puff Chemise with pride now! LOL
I posted this extant smock at the V&A in the "chemise ties" thread, but it definitely belongs here, as well. Love the unusual blue blackwork and those three (!) ties at the collar:
(http://elizabethcbunce.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/va-smock.jpg)
I think I've seen other photos of this online, but I haven't been able to track them down again.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Joanna_of_castile_with_her_children.jpg)
Joanna of Castile with her children.
You can barely see the edge of the chemise which has been heavily embroidered in red and gold on a flat square neckline.
(Juana la loca)
She also appears to have a very sheer partlet.