Red Venetian Courtesan - Part One
Why the Courtesan?
I fell in love with the mid- to late-16th century gown typical of both courtesans and noble Venetian women the first time I saw it in a dress diary. From the characteristic deep split bodice front, V-pointed back, and wide set shoulder straps, I was in love. Titian, Bronzino, and others made it clear in their works that thin wasn't 'in'; Venetian beauties were full-figured, voluptuous women. At 5'3 and 37-31-43, this suits me much better than the willowy Elizabethan and medieval ideals.
Perhaps most of all is the sense of empowerment I can almost feel from these paintings. The women, courtesans and nobles alike, radiate elegance, sophistication, and allure without descending to vulgarity.
Favorite Resources
Everyone has their favorite stock of information, how-to's, and glorious images. Here are my main resources for online research:
Fabrics and Parts
My ensemble will consist of the following parts:
If it has to be red, thankfully I have the perfect fabric already in my stash. Although most of the gowns I've seen are made of brocades, damasks, and velvet, I decided to go outside of the box and use silk. I'd originally purchased a luscious scarlet and gold benarasi silk sari on eBay for $30 to make into an Elizabethan court gown, but would love to use it for this project. About 6.5 m at 44" wide ought to be plenty. I estimate it will take 1 meter for the bodice and 1-1.5 m for the sleeves, which leaves 3.5-4 m for the skirt plus pallu fabric. I'd like to find a way to include the intricate gold zari work on the meter-long pallu at one end.
I wish my cheap digital camera did the fabric justice. No matter how I fussed with the lighting, there doesn't seem to be a way to capture how the gold threads shimmer. The red is much deeper and richer than it appears, and is totally reversible - red pattern on gold vs. gold pattern on red, despite what the picture seems to show.
Although everyone seems to be using handkerchief weight linen for the camicia, I can't afford to spend $8/yd, which is a shame since Fabric.com has some on sale. I've got 60" wide bleached 100% cotton muslin that I normally use for Elizabethan partlets, which should do fine once it's been washed and pre-shrunken.
Not sure what to use for the underskirt. I may make it out of the last 2.5 yd of red linen-like material I found at WalMart for $1/yd, the majority of which went into a handsewn and gored cotehardie. This would be a good place to use some of the pallu as trim.
Also don't have anything on hand for the partlet yet, I normally steer clear of sheers because of their tendency to ravel. I do have one spool of wired gold 3/8" braid left from Gottschalk's going out of business sale (for the record, if I hadn't read in other dress diaries about some of the more creative uses of odds and ends found in the craziest of places, I wouldn't have been thinking 'trim' when I went through the Christmas decorations).
Jewelry I can work on by hand, and see what there is on eBay.
More to come in additional installments.
I fell in love with the mid- to late-16th century gown typical of both courtesans and noble Venetian women the first time I saw it in a dress diary. From the characteristic deep split bodice front, V-pointed back, and wide set shoulder straps, I was in love. Titian, Bronzino, and others made it clear in their works that thin wasn't 'in'; Venetian beauties were full-figured, voluptuous women. At 5'3 and 37-31-43, this suits me much better than the willowy Elizabethan and medieval ideals.
Perhaps most of all is the sense of empowerment I can almost feel from these paintings. The women, courtesans and nobles alike, radiate elegance, sophistication, and allure without descending to vulgarity.
Favorite Resources
Everyone has their favorite stock of information, how-to's, and glorious images. Here are my main resources for online research:
- Bella Lucia's Realm of Venus - I adore her Showcase pages, and applaud the ladies (and gents) featured there
- Jennifer Thompson's Festive Attyre - in particular, wonderful instructions on how to make an Italian camicia
- Ginger's 1550's Venetian gown diary - documentation of each step in the process with pictures
- More to come as I dig up the URL's
Fabrics and Parts
My ensemble will consist of the following parts:
- Wide-sleeved chemise or camicia, probably calf length with a low square neckline, possibly gathered into a band.
- Underskirt to add body beneath the gown and to prevent an unseemly show of ankles when raising the skirt to climb stairs, when sitting, etc.
- Partlet of gold mesh or delicate sheer fabric, no collar, trimmed with pearls.
- Gown with a deep V-pointed bodice front, cartridge pleated skirt, characteristic V-back, wide set shoulder straps. Detachable (?) sleeves, possibly split to show camicia puffs, paned tops and fitted forearms.
- Girdle of gold beads, pearls, red glass or garnet beads. Pearl necklace and earrings with accompanying gold/red rings.
If it has to be red, thankfully I have the perfect fabric already in my stash. Although most of the gowns I've seen are made of brocades, damasks, and velvet, I decided to go outside of the box and use silk. I'd originally purchased a luscious scarlet and gold benarasi silk sari on eBay for $30 to make into an Elizabethan court gown, but would love to use it for this project. About 6.5 m at 44" wide ought to be plenty. I estimate it will take 1 meter for the bodice and 1-1.5 m for the sleeves, which leaves 3.5-4 m for the skirt plus pallu fabric. I'd like to find a way to include the intricate gold zari work on the meter-long pallu at one end.
I wish my cheap digital camera did the fabric justice. No matter how I fussed with the lighting, there doesn't seem to be a way to capture how the gold threads shimmer. The red is much deeper and richer than it appears, and is totally reversible - red pattern on gold vs. gold pattern on red, despite what the picture seems to show.
Although everyone seems to be using handkerchief weight linen for the camicia, I can't afford to spend $8/yd, which is a shame since Fabric.com has some on sale. I've got 60" wide bleached 100% cotton muslin that I normally use for Elizabethan partlets, which should do fine once it's been washed and pre-shrunken.
Not sure what to use for the underskirt. I may make it out of the last 2.5 yd of red linen-like material I found at WalMart for $1/yd, the majority of which went into a handsewn and gored cotehardie. This would be a good place to use some of the pallu as trim.
Also don't have anything on hand for the partlet yet, I normally steer clear of sheers because of their tendency to ravel. I do have one spool of wired gold 3/8" braid left from Gottschalk's going out of business sale (for the record, if I hadn't read in other dress diaries about some of the more creative uses of odds and ends found in the craziest of places, I wouldn't have been thinking 'trim' when I went through the Christmas decorations).
Jewelry I can work on by hand, and see what there is on eBay.
More to come in additional installments.