Need Help with French Elizabethan-Period Gown!

[amy]

Thank you Gem!  I alwasy forget that a picture is worth 1000 words!   But apparently I don't take many pictures!   This is the only shot at all where you can even see the supportase. It just hooks onto the sides, toward the front and props up the collar.  There are some teardrop pearls hanging from it.

[gem]

Amy, she's gorgeous (and looks just like her mum!)! And the Magic Hat and ruff aren't bad, either.  Did you use a pattern for the hat (I know, I'm mixing threads here)?
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Kit, check out her hair!

[amy]

Oh yeah!  The hair.. forgot about that part.  They are just stocking stuffed rats rolled into her front half, and the back pulled into a braided bun almost identical to the pictures Kit posted.   I can vouch that is an easy do, since I have to do it myself!   But save a little bit of hair from each side by your ears to braid and pull up to the top to cover whatever you use to hold the rolls into place.   No pattern for anything much that I make.   It is just a stiffened brim with wire, and a circle lined with heavy canvas and then taffeta lining. The underside of the brim is rouched.  You just puff and poke till you get the shape.

[Squire_Kit]

Ah, you guys are such a wealth of information! Thank you so much!

I like the idea of the embroidery, alas, I don't think I'll have anywhere near the time to do that amount of detail.

Rani - I like the gown better without the partlet as well, but it looks a bit weird and exposed in the back if I don't wear it (see exhibit A.....)



Lady Kathleen - I am thinking about interspersing pearls on the puff sleeves. Here's a close-up of the beadwork I've done on the underskirt...




Amy - Unfortunately, to my newbie costuming ears (er...eyes?), that was all Greek to me. But I'll have some of my more seasoned sewing friends  take a look at your description and see if we can figure it out! Thank you so much for that description and especially the picture (your daughter is BEAUTIFUL, by the way! Thanks for the hair tip as well.

[amy]

Yes, definitely bead the top puff on the sleeve.  That is a small item that gets you lots of bang for your buck.   And you could always buy a small swatch of white sheer chiffon or some other light fabric and just baste it by hand along the back of the collar so that it can be smoothed down and tucked into the back of the dress and cover the bare part but not cover your decolletage.   Would also keep you from getting sunburned which will be very possible during chess match.

[isabelladangelo]

You do need to get rid of the lace if you want to make it more authentic.  Use it on a high neck chemise if you really want to keep it but it wasn't used on gowns very much.   I'd rip off all the trim, really, and either keep it off or put a woven trim (or embroidered, a lot of the sari or zardosi trims are awesome) along the skirt and the top of the bodice.   

Rip off the sleeves.   The mis-match of the "puff" and the main body looks odd.    You can have gold sleeves or use a totally different color if you want -it doesn't have to match the forepart in anyway.   I might consider doing a slash or panned sleeve.  http://www.elizabethan-portraits.com/FrenchNobleWoman.jpg < the French woman in this period woodcut has totally different sleeves from her forepart and gown.   

Sew over the grommets.  Grommets weren't used until the 19th century and, even then, it was for corsets, not gowns with only a couple of minor exceptions.   

http://www.elizabethan-portraits.com/Various_7.htm  < a lot of woodcuts and drawings of French women in period.   

Sorry, I can't see the photos as work (I'm guessing photobucket?) so I couldn't post earlier. 

[Adriana Rose]

http://webspace.webring.com/people/lo/oonaghsown/hairstyle.htm

this is a good tutorial on a renaissance hairstyle, though i think using rats and pre curled hair will eliminate some pain in the butt removal of the style like she says at the end.