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| "Judith Victorious" Cranach, c 1530 |
I've had an itch, a tiny only mildly itchy itch, for some years now, that I would like to make a 16th c. German noblewoman's gown. I mean the full on goodness here, not a Kampfrau ensemble, not a Flemish ensemble, we're talkin' gold embroidery, beads and bits, velvet, piping, slashings, feathers.
I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this because of a couple things. One is that the beautiful "Cranach Gowns" we love so very much are all around the 1530s, which makes them quite a bit too early for most Renaissance Faires in my area, which all feature a c. 1570s Queen Elizabeth. St. Maximillian, the German Landsknescht (sp?) guild, dresses in 1530s, however, and nobody seems to be the wiser of it. It works for the Henrician Fairs (of which there is one), but not for Elizabethan. Then again, as a good Landsknescht friend of mine put it - "If you want to make it, do it regardless."
Here are the sources for the "correct" time period, mid-16th century:
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| I absolutely ADORE this ensemble...but it looks really quite English does it? What's the point of doing a German gown if you're going to look English? |
What do you think?
I have a lot of blue velvet, but it doesn't look like blue is very represented, or at all represented, in these gowns. Looks like red and black, even forest green, are the ways to go, and add to that pretty contrasting brocade.
I haven't much of a clue on how to start. I need to research more of course, but a good place to start I suppose it with the chemise, which is high-necked, of very thin materials, and very tightly gathered at the neck. I see portraits without the high-necked chemise, so I may go with a low-necked one with massive sleeves, to puff out through the slashings.
So much to think about! And more on this later...it's percolating :-)
