1590s White Wheel Farthingale Gown
Here is my 1590s gown made of white silk, inspired by various portraits of Queen Elizabeth I’s maids of honor. I wore it at 12th Night 2014.
Category Archives: 16th Century
How to Make an Elizabethan Wired Cap
Research and Theories: Linen caps and coifs are a well-known part of the Elizabethan wardrobe for women and even men. In their simplest form, plain linen caps were worn at all levels of society, often as a protective layer between the hair and a hat or even as a nightcap. Many women’s embroidered coifs survive
Men’s 16th-Century Purse Gallery
Or as I tend to think of it: Fancy Man Bags! Because the discerning Elizabethan gent needed a sassy little purse to carry his hankie or a few coins in. Women seemed to hide pockets & such in their voluminous skirts, while the men showed off their goods, ehem, with highly decorated purses that were
Elizabethan Tall Hats Gallery
One of my favorite styles of 16th-century headgear is the tall crowned hat. It was first worn by men starting around the 1570s mostly in England, the Low Countries, & Spain. Women soon adopted the style, particularly when worn with high-necked doublet-style bodices. This fashion was hugely popular, which lead to criticism by the early
12th Night Progress
12th Night inches closer, & so do my various projects. I think my crazy wheel farthingale gown will be a go. I got the bodice & skirt attached, so it’s a real dress now. Still needs that weird tuck at the farthingale edge, plus hemming, & all the multitudes of accessories (ruff! wig! shoe rosettes!
Finally, an English Fitted Gown
You’d think I would have made one of these by now, given that “Elizabethan” is my One True Costuming Love & late 16th-century lowland Scots is my SCA persona. But no, I’ve yet to make the ever-practical English fitted gown. So it’s about time. You’ve seen all the period images before, but I’ve added a
Wide View
So I made a new shift (for the better neckline), a wheel farthingale, a giant bum pad to bolster it up, and a corded petticoat to go over the whole thing & smooth out the lines on top plus give a nice little kick to the hem. I guess I’m committed to making the gown
A Tale of Two 12th Night Gowns
Making lemonade out of lemons — since my hair fell out from chemo, this seems like a good time to go for one of those freaky-cool shaved-forehead styles that has popped up in various points of history. Go big or go home! At first, I though of Burgundian 1470s. It’s a period I don’t know
Gianetta’s Venetian, First Wearing
At Purgatorio 2013, we premiered Gianetta’s new outfit, a Venetian 1580s gown, to complete the obligation of my Queen’s Artisan duties. However, the outfit isn’t entirely done — I still have accessories to make (such as the partlet with ruff, camicia with Liz’s embroidery, & a jeweled cap), & I intend to pearl & bead
Slow but Steady Progress
Breaking into the Accessory Challenge to catch up on my Queen’s Artisan project — because it’s due on August 24 at Purgatorio! While I was assigned this project at the start of May, I got a late start because I was out of town due to the France trip until early June. And right after
Bits of Largess
I’ve delivered the last largess parcels for this reign (basically, through Pennsic), and I made a bunch of little things to fill out the boxes. See, Their Royal Majesties commissioned a series of beautiful, historically accurate, hinged wood boxes to fill with gifts and give to the royalty they would be visiting or who would
A Sonnet for the SCA
Recently, I entered an Arts and Sciences competition at an SCA event. The category was Performing Arts, Original Composition. So I wrote a sonnet in the Elizabethan form circa 1590s-1600 (commonly called the Shakespearean sonnet style, although as I showed in my documentation, he did not create this form, he simply popularized it). While I
Queen’s Artisan Project Begins
In May, I was honored to be chosen as one of Queen Etaine’s artisans. In the SCA’s West Kingdom, the Queen’s Artisans are people (non-Laurels) recognized for their artistic ability and usually given some creative goal to work on during the reign. Since Etaine is a costuming Laurel, she had a very specific and exciting
Project: Repay Largess, Part 1
One key aspect of “largess” in the SCA is the generosity flowing from royalty to their subjects. To welcome visitors, to thank people, & to otherwise show appreciation & caring for others, small gifts are given by royalty at many occasions. They may purchase items to give out, but ideally, their court & artisans will
Zimarra Mark 1.0
I completely failed to get photos on my own camera at 12th Night, but luckily friends took a few nice pictures of my new outfit. Here is my sleeveless zimarra worn with the 1530s gown (no, not historically accurate, but the combo looked nice for one event :), and I even whipped up a new