From kirtle to a young man´s gown

As Medeltidsveckan, the large festival in our hometown, approached I once again found that the boys had grown. A lot. And, true to my aim at using what fabric I have and not buy new since a few years back, my fabric stash was empty of anything large enough to make something for them. So my gaze went to the number of kirtles that are not getting used anymore. My shortsleeved kirtle that is slightly too small and with the funky sleeves that never really worked well might need to be sacrificed. Said and done, in order to not ponder over it long enough to change my mind, I started to measure and cut.

The skirt was made of four long gores and was easily transformed into a young man´s gown in the plain fashion of the late 15th Century. Some seams could even be kept intact. 

 The main problem was the sleeves, the amount of fabric was not enough lengthwise, so I had to take two pieces out of the bodice back. This part was lined in a very thin green wool and was now used as cuffs, creating the nice effect of a contrasting lining when turned up. 

And the entire bottom hem could be reused, so it was a really fast project. And since the dress was well used, the gown now has parts that are bleached by the sun, making for a cool worn look in the new gown. And as I now definetly was out of fabric, I allowed myself to buy more during Medeltidsveckan, when there is a huge market with lots of vendors present. So for next year the gown will be supplemented with a new doublet and a pair of joined hose. 

Heraldic display

I had a dream of making an heraldic inspired dress sleeve, after looking at the so called Schwabian dresses as depicted in the family tree of the Babenberg family. I had found a picture that I wanted to use as a starting point, with minor changes to make it my own. It is a painted tournament shield with a woman in a green dress supporting a painted shield with arms. It is now at the Metropolitan Museum.

I started with remaking the design to fit an embroidered piece suitable for appliqué. The embroidery is done in silk with split stitch on linen.

As the embroidery was finished, the scary bit of cutting it down and prepare it for appliqué started.

Looking at extant examples of appliquéd embroidered pieces, they are often framed with a couched gold thread, like here. So I decided to couch some gold thread to frame my piece as well.

To give the sleeve that extra wow-factor I added spangles, and the effect on the dark blue wool was very satisfying. Like a stary sky above the lady and the shield.

entury 

What sources do we have for embroidered sleeves like this then? Well during the late 15th C the display of embroidery seems to be a fashion for both men and women. 

The portrait of Hemma von Gurk by Siebald Bopp, around 1510,

is an amazing example of an embroidered sleeve.

This man has an embroidered sleeve with spangles.

The double portrait of Jacob Fugger and his wife Sibylle Artzt

by Thomas Burgmair around 1498 is another stunning example of an embroidered sleeve.

This pcture is where I found the main inspiration for the cut and shape of my dress.

And one can definetly interpret the golden dots on her sleeve as spangles.

I wanted a dress with a high neckline and something rather warm, for use on late nights outdoors or really cold events. So I used a really nicely fulled dark blue wool, cut it really simple in four long panels and with a high neckline and a large slit in front so that it will be easy to pull over my head wearing headdresses. The closures are replicas of a late 15th century one, with acorns, alluding to the ones in my arms, and a small oakleaf.

The late 15th Century is the new black

There seems to be a fast growing interest for the late 15th Century, within reenactment and in general among those that enjoy historical fashion. At least that is my experience. Photos from the most awesome 15th Century events does make it more tempting I would guess.

I have had the immense pleasure of working with a group of very talented people during last year, creating handbooks in late 15th Century fashion. One for men, one for women. The men´s book was published late last year and the women´s book came from the printers this week.

Both books are heavy on pictures, both art from the 15th Century and photos of recreations, as well as Amazing illustrations that I have no part in creating (I totally suck at drawing).

Yes, I am very proud over what we together have accomplished. And even though it is all in Swedish the publishers seem intent on having them translated later on.

Both books are available for orders here:

https://www.handelsgillet.se/shop/bocker/handbocker/historisk-drakt-inifran-och-ut-det-sena-1400-talets-kvinnodrakt/?v=f003c44deab6

Amber kirtle

I have for quite a while yearned for a very plain kirtle for working, with a higher neckline than I usually do and a wider sleeve so that I can easily get them up and out of the way for cleaning dishes and the like. I gathered a number of images on what I was aiming for and then suddenly I bought The fabric on an impulse early this spring, a thin wool in a twill weave and a lovely amber colour.

Some of my main inspirations are mainly three paintings. In all of them you can clearly see a front opening, the two latter ones also show a higher neckline and they are also very plain in model, no details like open sleeves, visible decorations or anything.

Detail from the Paumgartner Altar. The front opening here seems to be slightly bulging, an interesting effect that I tried to accomplish with mine as well.

Detail from the Schottenaltar

Lots escape by Albrecht Dürer

My version of this kirtle is not lined other than two small strips of linen along the front opening, to serve as a support for the hooks and eyes. They are placed evenly and with at most two centimetres apart along the front making it a steady fastening.

Detail showing hook and eye-closing in an Italian painting

 

My version of the closing, I choose a simple inserted piece of lining instead of lining the entire bodice.

The skirt is simple and fabricsaving, a twopieced front and a straight back with some small pleats towards the waist. And I made the bodice loose so that I can easily fit an extra kirtle under it should the weather be colder. The sleeves are a simple S-curve with a small inserted gore towards the shoulderseam.

And here is the result.

I might need to make a new dress for this shift

As many may know, I am a huge fan of the art of Nüremberg artist Albrecht Dürer. One of my absolute favourite pieces is his portrait of the Young fürlegerin with her hair in braids. I have looked at this so many times and I still find new details in it. Now I want to look specifically on her shift, or hemd as it is called in German.

It is a lovely hemd, with an embroidered smocked front and black lining along the neckline. But as one looks at many different portraits and paintings from the same time and region, I noticed something about that neckline. The back seems to be drawn down towards the front so that the back neckline also covers the entire shoulder. I will try and illustrate what I mean with some more pictures.

Wolf Traut, Portrait of a woman, Nüremberg 1510

Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of a woman

Detail of a painting, showing the Young woman in green in a similar hemd

The back seems to be a rounded line, not indicating a seam or anything other than over the front shoulder where it meets the front.

I found this a bit intriguing so I had to experiment a bit with a simple version af a hemd, where the back is wider than the front, thus curving down over the shoulder and forming that seamless line down the front.

So my version is a plain shift in two pieces, two sidegores and sleeves and in order to clearly illustrate the slanted backpiece/shoulder, I put in a small lining of the neckline in black silk. Here it is:

The shoulder part hanging down in the front

The hemd when done

Construction with sidegore sewn directly to the sleeve

Worn with my blue Hausbook dress over it

And clearly I have nothing to wear on top of it, since all my dresses are fairly high in the neck and doesn´t show anything of the shoulders.

Kruselers - sewn or woven?

There are so many kruselers out there, differing in looks and most likely also in technique. Following up on my last blogpost here comes some thoughts on construction of the less elaborate kruselers, mostly seen in 15th Century art. Some say they must all be woven frilled edges. However, there seems to be exceptions.

Mary from "The Deposition" by Rogier van der Weyden, 1435.

Here we see a clear example of what must be a woven frilled edge and it is looking the same through most of Rogier van der Weyden's art. This is obviously an expensive and exclusive fabric, woven by professionals, and you can find it recreated today, but it is costly. Just how exclusive it was can be shown also in the fact that Jesus loin cloth is depicted as frilled, from the time he was wrapped as a baby until his death.

Epitaph for Konrad Winkler and his wives Kundigunde and Adelhaid, Nürnberg 1431.

The same simple frill can also be used in more elaborate styles by simply using it in multiple layers.

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife (detail) 1434 by Jan van Eyck

Detail from St. John Altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden, 1455 - 1460

The same frilled fabric also seems to be in use in the German styles of late 15th Century, pressing on to the fashions of 16th Century. Here we see one of many examples where it is combined with a vulst.

Portrait of a woman from the Hofer Family, artist unknown, ca 1470

Frills are also in use in Burgundy, England and France, although adapted to the local headdress fashion. 

Portrait of Mary of Burgundy wearing a small frill under her hennin.

Portrait of a young woman, possibly Anne de Dreux, ca 1490.

And by now you are starting to wonder if I will ever get to the point. Where there possibly exceptions from the woven frill in plain single rows? I did find some beautiful frills that do give the impression of having a seam connecting it to the veil, even though it is a single frill when visiting the Germanisches National Museum in Nürnberg on New Years. And they are from the 14th Century, not the 15th. 

Mary, from Frauenkirche in Nürnberg, ca 1360

Female statue from a church in Nürnberg ca 1360.

And in case you now are wondering the artform might have an impact on how the frills are depicted, here is another one in stone, clearly without the line that I would like to interpret as a seam. Same church and same period as the first one.

Statue from the south portal av the Frauenkirche in Nürnberg, ca 1360.

So one can not state, in my opinion, that frills were only woven when done in single rows and simpler styles. Good to know, now I will not have to spend like half a month´s salary on a frilled veil, I can make one myself. Even though I really really like one that is woven.

Summer greens

I have for a number of years had a large pile of a wonderful thin but tight woven wool fabric with an amazing drape to it. It was bought without a specific plan and over the years I have made so many different plans for it but none were realised.

Since I started focusing on my main period of garb, the German late 15th Century, and managed to make my own interpretation of the pleated panel kirtle (Hausbook, Dürer kleid, Nürnberger kleid or whatever you choose to call it) my research also showed me variations of a deep V-neck kirtle without pleated panels. I thought that would work fine as more of an everyday dress and decided to make one out of this greyish green fabric that had been laying on a cupboard shelf for years.

I looked into some more period depictions and decided on a very simple version with plain long sleeves with the same shoulder- and back as my brown shortsleeved kirtle, and with a frontlacing going over the V-neckline. The two green ones shown here are both taken from a larger piece depicting a tourney with audience by Master of the Hausbook. So, not all dresses depicted by him are what we tend to call Hausbook dress. They are both rather simple, with a plain long sleeve and a marked waistline and the deep V-neckline I find so appealing. And to my great joy I noted the wonderful diversion of headgear in this the very same picture.

 This drawing is by another master of the same period and region, Ishrael van Meckenem, and shows a woman with a really deep V-neck, laced across inbetween what looks like some kind of clasps. The sleeves are a bit more elaborate though.

Here is yet another depiction by another artist, showing the V-neck.

And here is a rather nice pic of the back, showing the deep inserts of the sleeves.

I started with the bodice and cut it with a white linen lining, stitched it and then I cut the skirtpart in four panels, sewed them together and then attached the skirt to the bodice, not taking enough care to adjust the length of the bodice. That turned out really bad, more on that later. Last I assembled the sleeves, rather tight and with one large gusset over the shoulder. Here is a rather bad pic showing it all sewn together.

As you can see when looking closer, the skirt does not fall well below the waist, it kind of crumbles and makes creases, and the bodice itself is all wrinkled along the sides. When wearing it the shoulder seams move upwards together with the entire bodice and it felt all wrong. Almost in despair I asked: can I live with this or will it agonize me forever? At last I decided that it just doesn´t work and simply cut it loose above the waist and ended with shortening the bodice approximately three centimetres. It really did the trick I tell you! And I should know better...

All done it got worn properly assecorized today and documented on the first spin. And look how much happier I am with a properly placed waistseam!