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Sottana (Underdress):
Portrait of Maria di Cosimo 1555-57 by Alessandro Allori.
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From the portrait, it is obvious that there is
an 'underdress' and 'overdress' to this outfit.
Firstly, I will be making a sottana with sleeves as
the under dress.
As discussed so far, in my
diary, I intended on
canvas stiffening in the sottana, to start with,
possibly with breast taping. Looking at the dress
silhouette (L) this dress does definately not have
the straight stiff silhouette of the Tudor corseted
dresses.
Looking more closely at the portrait (R), the sottana must have a low neckline or it would show
under the blue over dress where the camicia is
visible under the partlet.
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The sottana is based on patterns from Alcega,
Patterns of Fashion and the extant Eleanor of Toledo
dress.
To experiment, I worked on making a toile for the pattern
(this also was extended for the doublet overdress). Then I
made up a gown in some cheap furniture material I had in the
cupboard. This will show if the stiffening will be enough to
support the overdress and give the right silhouette.
Making a Toile and experimental
gown
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This was the basis for the pattern I used for the sottana for
the Maria d'Medici dress. Maria's mother, Eleanora d' Toledo was
spanish. If you look into Spanish portraits, the Medici fashions are
influenced a lot by Spanish styles.
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Left and above: Elizabeth Valois (Spanish)
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Materials:
Problem: I have some off white
damask I was thinking of using for my interpretation of the
Valois dress. If I make a sottana of this, I could use it for both dresses.
With this option I would most likely not add the
'ribbons' to the sleeves and skirt. There is a pattern in
the material as is. Looking closely at the sleeves below
gives another option. (see below)
I may have to rethink the materials for the sottana.
Or I could start with a plain underdress and then do the
pretty stuff later.
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Sleeves:
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The sottana sleeves on close inspectaion have an almost
transparent component, possibly over the camicia or a white
undersleeve. It appears that the 'ribbons', pearls,
embroidery are attatched to a fine, sheer oversleeve.
If I choose to do this, then I can use an off-white damask
for a sottana, with a sheer, decorated cover for this outfit.
(sottana - looking closely at the skirt, the same method
could be used for atttatching the ribbons, beads and braid.)
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After thinking on it, I have decided to make the sottana
with the off-white material and then (most likely) make a
over dress later, in gauze to put the ribbons on.
This can be seen most clearly on the close up of the
sleeves (right).
Though this appears a lot in later Elizabethan (English)
portraits (as seen in the 2 English portraits on the right:
Mary Hill, Mrs. Mackwillian and Pelican Portrait, Queen
Elizabeth, translucent sleeves so not appear commonly seen
in Italian portraits.
I am currently looking for other examples of Italian
fashion with guaze like sleeves.
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Mary Hill, Mrs. Mackwillian
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Pelican Portrait, Queen Elizabeth
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Patterns:
I used the pattern from
Eleanora d' Toledo from Janet
Arnold's Pattern of Fashion.
There were no available extant sleeves for this gown, so
I based the sleeves in Alcega's pattern book. This is a
shallow headed sleeve that is slightly bent at the elbow.
Below is the basic sleeve pattern I have drafted.
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Below are photos of the dress in construction:
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Far left: fitting the skirt to the body.
2: the linen lining is blind stitched to the body. The skirt
is attatched to the body.
3: Patterns of Fashion shows bias binding sewn to the
side back opening.
4. The buttoned on sleeve.
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The (almost finished) sottana: just awaiting the hem to drop
for a few weeks.
*What I
have learned:
After some experimentation, I have decided that this style is
possibly my most favoured and best suits my body type. The dipped
front helps extend my body. The wide neckline with a partlet, gives a
look similar to the doublet dress, but is much more flattering.
This, in conjunction with a coat is definately
my preferred style these days.
Bibliography
- Ricci, Elisa. Old Italian Lace Volume 1. William Heinemann,
London. 1913 available on line:
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books.html
- Kovesi Killerby, Catherine, Sumptuary Law in Italy 1200-1500,
Oxford University Press. NY. 2002. ISBN:0-19-924793-5
- Piponnier, Francoise & Mane, Perrine Dress in the Middle
Ages, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1997. ISBN: 0-300-08691-1
- Crowfoot E, Pritchard F & Staniland K, Textiles and
Clothing 1150-1450, Boydell Press, Woodridge, 2001 (ed) ISBN:
0-85115-840-4
- Arnold, Janet Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd, Maney,
Leeds, 1988, ISBN:0-901286-20-6
- Arnold, Janet Patterns of Fashion, MacMillan, London, 1985.
ISBN: 0-333-38284-6
- Frick, Carole Collier. Dressing Renaissance Florence.:
Families Fortunes & Clothing. John Hopkins University Press.
Baltimore. 2002. ISBN: 0-8018-6939-0
- Jones, Ann Rosalind & Stallybrass, Peter. Renaissance
Clothing and the Materials of Memory. Cambridge University Press.
2003. ISBN: 0-521-78663-0
- Oonagh's Own: http://oonagh.actewagl.net.au/
- goldsword.com
- elizabethgeek.com
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