Black Kirtle

Last weekend I went to AROW, Abbey Re-enactors Only Weekend. There were a lot less people there than last year (when it was almost rained out and was wet and humid and miserable), but I still had a good time. This year the weather was beautiful, sunny and warm. I got time to go wandering round to visit other groups, namley the Viking groups who I never get to visit at real events because I’m busy.

Because there were no public it was more of a relaxed event, which was nice in some ways (one encampment was looking through a photo album of an event from 2002, at another I was offered a cup of tea) but meant taking photos was trickier than expected. One encampment I went to were doing crafts and were using a few modern materials. They saw my camera, asked me to wait a few moments and in 10 seconds all the modern stuff dissapeared under tables and beneath aprons. It was like at an event when some re-enactor comes running past going ‘they let the public in early! get everything away!’.

One thing I did make sure of was to get photos of my black kirtle, at last. The linen of the bodice has stretched more than the lining so I’ll need to do some adjustments. I don’t normally wear this belt with this dress, but I needed something to thrust my distaff into. I’m working on a red leather belt for this one.

 

The coif is made from the pattern here.

I’ve worn this before and love it, but this is the first time I’ve worn it with the brim folded back. Previously I’ve worn it with the brim down.

I really wish I had gotten a photo of my new red wool hood, it looks great with this outfit but maybe at the next event where it will be a bit colder.

 

 

 

New Old Orange Kirtle

When I was a teenager I made a back lacing kirtle with a million hand bound eyelets up the back.

I had planned long sleeves, but once I saw this image I decided to skip the sleeves

I never wore it once, because I changed re-enactment groups before I had a chance and my new group only did Italian.

The only person who ever wore this dress was a presenter for a TV show who came to our house to interview my family on our hobby. She saw us all dressed up and wished she had a dress too.

So I decided to convert it to a front laced Italian dress. Unfortunately when I laced the dress up closed I had ‘armpit spillage’ and I knew I’d have to do more work to re-wear the bodice.

So I never wore it.

Now, over ten years later, I am with a group that allows me to do non-Italian clothing. While tidying up I came across the half-finished dress. I remembered originally I had planned on making long sleeves for this kirtle, which meant I still had the fabric

Now I’m on the other side of 30, my body isn’t the same shape- or size- as it was when I was a teenager. And my sewing (and photoshop) skills are better than what they were. So I’ve pulled the bodice off the skirt completely and I’m hoping to have enough fabric to make another bodice from scratch. I aim to make a front lacing bodice and short sleeves. I might need to do some piecing but piecing is period.

It’s like getting a new dress for the work of bodice and sleeves, and I still LOVE the colour.

Oh, and the weekend before my next event is TOTALLY the right time to be starting this project.

 

 

Gamurra construction notes

As I mentioned on my facebook page, I’ve started going through my Cathelina Di Alessandri blog and have been putting up construction notes for all my clothing. For most of the posts this has involved going through my old live journal posts and re-writing them which has been interesting.

But now you can read about how I cut and sew my gamurre skirts here.

You can read about the construction here of my yellow gamurra

You can read about the construction of the jaffa dress here.

You can read about the construction of my red gamura here.

Once I do my blue gamurra and my brown gamurra that will be all the gamurre done!

I have also, FINALLY put the fazzoletto page, which I thought I would share here in full text also.

Fazzoletto

This item, known better by it’s English name partlet among many costumers, is what a modern person might refer to as a ‘dickie’. Among the lower classes it would likely have been linen (or possibly wool) and worn for practical purposes.

The story goes that the upper classes often wore them in response to sumptuary laws that determined their necklines must not be below a certain level. With a fazzoletto they could have their gamurra neckline as low as they liked and used a sheer silk fazzoletto to bring their neckline in line with the rules while flaunting them at the same time.

You can see the fazzoletto worn either under the gamurra or over it in period art but you might need to look close– sometimes they are hard to spot.

This detail from Domenico Ghirlandaio’s 1475-1477 Annunciation of the Death of St. Fina shows lower class women wearing a simple cut of opaque fabric.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Portrait of Ginevra Benci dated 1474 shows the fazzoletto worn tucked into the bodice.

This portrait by Ghirlandaio suggests that if the fazzoletto was worn over the gamurra bodice it was worn under the outer garment.

Domenico Ghirlandaio’s  Portraitdated 1485 shows the fazzoletto was sometimes held closed with a pin or button.

Agnolo e Donnino del Mazziere’s Portrait of a Young Woman shows a very sheer fazzoletto over the bodice of the gamura.

Domenico Ghirlandaio’s  Portrait of a Lady dated to 1490 also shows a sheer fazzoletto over the bodice.

Sebastiano Mainardi’s  Portrait of a Woman also dated 1490 shows a thicker, but still sheer fazzoletto edged with a decorative stitch.

My pattern is below:

Fazzoletto pattern by Cathelina di Alessandri

It’s not a pattern you can print and use, but hopefully it will help with the general shape.

Fazzoletto by Cathelina di Alessandri

I have only made one fazzoletto which I made in silk, and hemmed it with silk thread using a decorative stitch.

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Black Kirtle and Red Pin on Sleeves

It’s been AGES but I’ve finally knuckled down and worked on the black kirtle.

I also sat down this afternoon and cut out and finished a pair of red wool sleeves. I used two layers of the wool I used for my gamurra and lined them with my never-ending supply of soft brown linen

I also finished off the black kirtle. Well, almost finished, I need to lower the neckline (it’s a bit high) and face the neckline once it’s lowered, but wearable for next weekend at least once I take out the white stitching (I used for guidelines, fabric marking pens don’t show up on this fabric!)

The waist seam looks uneven, but it’s not, I am, and Cecil is not.

The other thing I’ve been working (with the help of a friend) on is curtains for our new medieval tent, I think they will look spectacular!

The Underskirt Theory

In this theory a underskirt is worn, either between the kirtle and gown or under the kirtle. In the former just the gown needs to be lifted to show the differing fabric at the hem. In the latter both gown and kirtle are lifted to show the underskirt.

1495-1500, UNKNOWN MASTER, Flemish, Lamentation, Museum of Art, Santa Barbara. The women in the back, right is wearing a dress kirtled up to show a rich brocade underskirt.

1470s , UNKNOWN MASTER, Flemish, Deposition, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne (detail) In the bottom left you see a lady wearing a side laced kirtle. The red showing at the hem could be an underskirt. When both gown and kirtle are lifted the smooth front of the kirtle would show at the neckline while the red underskirt would snow at the hem.

 

The Raising Two Skirts Two Kirtle Theory

This is another theory where two kirtles are worn underneath the gown. In this theory, however, the fabric seen filling in the neckline of the gown is from the over-kirtle. When the skirts of the gown are lifted the skirts of the over-kirtle are also lifted, and the fabric showing at the hem is thus the skirt of the under-kirtle. There are a few images showing a rich fabric kirtle under a plainer one, and often the fabric showing at the hem is a richer fabric than at the neckline.

1495-1500, UNKNOWN MASTER, Flemish, Lamentation, Museum of Art, Santa Barbara. The women in the back, right is wearing a dress kirtled up to show a rich brocade underdress.

 

1463, MASTER of the Life of the Virgin, Visitation, Alte Pinakothek, Munich (detail) The lady on the left is wearing a side laced kirtle over a brocade kirtle. If she was to wear a v neck gown over this and raise the skirt of the gown and the red kirtle then it would give the look of brocade at the hem, flat red at the front.

1470s , UNKNOWN MASTER, Flemish, Deposition, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne (detail) In the bottom left you see a lady wearing a side laced kirtle over a red kirtle. When both gown and kirtle are lifted the smooth front of the kirtle would show at the neckline while the red underkirtle would snow at the hem.

The Differing Bodice and Skirt Theory

This theory is also a subset of the underdress theory and is another way of explaining the difference between the fabrics of the hem of the underdress and the bodice. The theory goes that the bodice and skirt are two different colours. This is perhaps the least common theory of all. Waist seams only appear to come into common use (according to contemporary art) in the 1460s so the method of making a dress with a waist seam was still relatively new. Had they made the leap from waist seam to a separate bodice and skirt from differing fabrics?

That said there are a few pictures that suggest they had, however there is no proof that they wore these under a Burgundian gown. It is, however, a valid interpretation.

One interpretation of this is a lady wearing a dress with an orange bodice and green skirt. I think it may be an orange jacket over a green skirt, but the picture is from here if you’d like a closer look.

1489, German, Die Geubert der Maria, Schwabischer Meister. Could ths be a differing bodice and skirt?

The Applied Border Theory

This Theory is a subset of the underdress only theory. The theory goes that sometimes when the Burgundian gown is lifted in paintings you see a different colour at the hem to at the neckline. This difference is because the undergown has an applied boarder or frill on the skirt of a different fabric to the rest of the kirtle. Often the fabric shown at the hem is far richer than that shown at the neckline of the gown so this gives the wearer a way of using a very rich, expensive fabric and showing it off without using much of the fabric. Or perhaps if the hem on a kirtle wore out or became badly stained and was replaced with a different fabric. One quite often sees applied, ruffled bands of the same fabric to a kirtle, so the practice did exist.

1450-1480 Flemish, Bibliothèque de Genève Ms. fr. 64: La fleur des histoires by Jean Mansel. Here the skirt of the gown is lifted up far enough to show the red boarder on the kirtle.

1460, EYCK, Barthélemy d’,René d’Anjou, The Book of Tournaments, Manuscript (Ms. français 2695), 386 x 298 mm (folio size), Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (detail).        Here the gown has an applied boarder of a different fabric which suggests the practice of bordering a dress with a different colour was at least known and done.

1475, MINIATURIST, French, Le Chansonnier Cordiforme (Chansonnier de Jean de Montchenu), Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. This image is small, but you can see the applied brocade boarder on the black gown. Again, showing there was at least a historic practice of applying a broacade boarder to a skirt.

 

The Underdress Only Theory

The underdress only theory is that between the smock/chemise and the Burgundian gown is an underdress. I’ll call it a Kirtle, some people call it a gothic fitted dress. Back in the day this was known as an underdress theory as there was debate on if there was a dress worn under the Burgundian gown or if it was just a placket directly over the chemise. These days it is generally agreed that a lady would not wear the gown directly over her chemise so the theory focuses more on what ELSE was worn under the Burgundian gown.

Support for the Chemiseà Kirtle à Gown theory can be seen in any painting that shows the undergown’s hem being the same colour as the v of fabric showing under the neckline of the gown.

1450s and c. 1480, UNKNOWN MASTER, Flemish, Last Judgment and the Wise and Foolish Virgins, Staatliche Museen, Berlin (detail) Here you can see the the gown is worn over a red kirtle.

 

1480, Saint Catherine Converting the Scholars, Flanders. Here you can see the gown worn over a red kirtle.

 

1491, MEMLING, Hans, Passion (Greverade) Altarpiece (detail), Museum für Kunst- und Kulturgedichte, Lübeck. A Flat fronted kirtle would give the smooth look seen of the fabric filling in the V of the gown

The Open Front Two Kirtle Theory

Similar to the open front kirtle and placket theory, this theory looks at the style of dress which consists of a wide-front kirtle but instead of theorising a placket covers the chemise under the laces this theory suggests the wide front kirtle is laced over another kirtle with a smooth front, perhaps one with side or back lacing

I don’t have a reference for this image, but you can see there is a red kirtle with a wide front black kirtle laced over it and a black gown with a whit collar over that. The red kirtle could also be interpreted as a red placket under the black kirtle.

1475, MEMLING, Hans, The Donne Triptych, National Gallery, London (detail) To the right one can see a young girl in the open laced style kirtle. The red showing under the laces goes quite low, suggesting it may be an underdress.

 

I don’t have the reference for these pictures, but they are often interpreted as the lady on the left having her kirtle laced up over a red kirtle, and on the right wearing a gown over it all.

Look carefully at the necklines here. You can see the black continue under the neckline of the blue kirtle, suggesting the blue kirtle is laced over a lack kirtle, not a placket.

1475-80, MEMLING, Hans, Lamentation, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome (detail)           This kirtle is not so wide at the front, but the black showing beneath is seen well into the gap in the skirt, suggesting it is a full under gown. The red sleeves show under the sleeves of the brown dress and may be pinned to the sleeves of the black kirtle.

 

 

1476, MINIATURIST, Flemish, Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae, Universitätsbibliothek, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena.                                      The juxtaposition of the open laced kirtles and the gowns makes it really easy to envision the gown over the open laced kirtle (laced either over a placket or gown)

1484, MEMLING, Hans, Triptych of the Family Moreel, Groeninge Museum, Bruges (detail) A slight segway to the wide open kirtle is the theory that rather than having a wide open front, the over-kirtle simply had a deeper neckline. Here you can see the black and gold brocade dress laced over what appears to be a sleevless or short-sleeved red kirtle (the longer red sleeves pin on). If one can imagine the lady wearing a v-neck gown over this ensemble then the red kirtle would fill in the neckline and the black and gold brocade would show when the hem was lifted.

 

1491, MEMLING, Hans, Passion (Greverade) Altarpiece (right wing), Museum für Kunst- und Kulturgedichte, Lübeck (detail). With the brocade dress kirtled uo you can see the red beneath is a full dress, not a placket.

1490s Boccace, De muileribus Claris. This image shows a wide laced blue kirtle being laced over what appears the be a black kirtle.

The date I have for this is 1524, but I still love this picture.

I don’t have a reference for this image, but you can see there is a red kirtle with a wide front black kirtle laced over it and a black gown with a whit collar over that. The red kirtle could also be interpreted as a red placket under the black kirtle.