Silver Venetian - Trim Musings
Edited to correct jumbled thoughts and poor spacing as a result of originally typing this at 2 am while watching the royal wedding on CNN and using m'lord's oversized laptop with a selectively functional space bar.
I've been trying to decide how to trim the gown. I'm 90% sure that I want to use the sari fabric for the body of the gown with the silver taffeta as lining / underskirt. That unfortunately derails the original plan to use wide bands of elaborate trim to offset the plain silver fabric. So, it's been back to portrait surveying to compare types of trim with types of fabric.
By far the most common is bands of gold trim along the edges and sleeve seams, epitomized by Titian's portrait of his daughter Lavinia (below).
Patterned fabrics seem to be paired with thin gold trim, what looks like scrolls or braid set off with circles or dots as in "Veronese Woman Holding Gloves" (left) and "Veronese Couple"(right). I'm also in love with the sheer shell-shaped lace trim on the red gown!
Interestingly, my inspirational Fasolo portrait with the split skirt is the only one I can find with a completely unpatterned fabric featuring a wide band of patterned trim (left). A combination of patterned fabric and wide patterned trim is found in Francesco Montemezzano's "Portrait of a Woman" (right) - and the trim coordinates with the gown, just smaller leaves. The trim in the Montemezzano portrait doesn't stand out that much from the gown itself, adding interest rather than contrast.
My gut impulse is always to gravitate towards the most intricately gold-embroidered jacquard ribbon trim. Who can resist some of the stuff at CheepTrims that costs less than $1 a yard? Looking at the overall effect though, I think it might end up too busy.
My greatest fear is the trim clashing with the gown itself and not meshing as a total garment, since there's nothing worse than a poorly trimmed piece. I'll be ordering some thin gold loop braid, which I envision running in a double row along the edges. Also will get some of those tiny molded plastic gold beads to put in between the loop braid, thereby reproducing the trim seen in the second set of portraits.
In the end, I want to make the trim strong enough to offset the busily patterned sari fabric without overwhelming it. It's hard to tear myself away from the gold embroidered ribbons. Harder than resisting fresh naan at the local Indian restaurant. Seriously. But with limited finances, I can't justify spending $20 on a roll of ribbon to use ~10 yards as trim when I know I'll get possessive and not want to use it up on garments I sell. Even if the ribbon is delicious. *sigh*.
I've been trying to decide how to trim the gown. I'm 90% sure that I want to use the sari fabric for the body of the gown with the silver taffeta as lining / underskirt. That unfortunately derails the original plan to use wide bands of elaborate trim to offset the plain silver fabric. So, it's been back to portrait surveying to compare types of trim with types of fabric.
By far the most common is bands of gold trim along the edges and sleeve seams, epitomized by Titian's portrait of his daughter Lavinia (below).
Patterned fabrics seem to be paired with thin gold trim, what looks like scrolls or braid set off with circles or dots as in "Veronese Woman Holding Gloves" (left) and "Veronese Couple"(right). I'm also in love with the sheer shell-shaped lace trim on the red gown!
Interestingly, my inspirational Fasolo portrait with the split skirt is the only one I can find with a completely unpatterned fabric featuring a wide band of patterned trim (left). A combination of patterned fabric and wide patterned trim is found in Francesco Montemezzano's "Portrait of a Woman" (right) - and the trim coordinates with the gown, just smaller leaves. The trim in the Montemezzano portrait doesn't stand out that much from the gown itself, adding interest rather than contrast.
My gut impulse is always to gravitate towards the most intricately gold-embroidered jacquard ribbon trim. Who can resist some of the stuff at CheepTrims that costs less than $1 a yard? Looking at the overall effect though, I think it might end up too busy.
My greatest fear is the trim clashing with the gown itself and not meshing as a total garment, since there's nothing worse than a poorly trimmed piece. I'll be ordering some thin gold loop braid, which I envision running in a double row along the edges. Also will get some of those tiny molded plastic gold beads to put in between the loop braid, thereby reproducing the trim seen in the second set of portraits.
In the end, I want to make the trim strong enough to offset the busily patterned sari fabric without overwhelming it. It's hard to tear myself away from the gold embroidered ribbons. Harder than resisting fresh naan at the local Indian restaurant. Seriously. But with limited finances, I can't justify spending $20 on a roll of ribbon to use ~10 yards as trim when I know I'll get possessive and not want to use it up on garments I sell. Even if the ribbon is delicious. *sigh*.