Tuesday, 16 September 2014

Another Version of Project #6?

I'm currently working on Project #10, and while in the process of looking for images online I came across a portrait with what appears to be an interesting variation of Project #6, F.63 the "Skirt and bodice of cloth with puffed sleeves", worn in an English context. Spanish clothing styles became very fashionable in countries outside of Spain, and the portrait I found would seem to be the same garment worn by a fashionable lady of the English court.


The completed recreation from Project #6.

At the time I made the garment in Project #6 I was struggling to find other variations of the sleeve of this garment other than the horizontal opening I used above, but I felt like I had seen it worn with a vertical opening.

Lettice Knollys as Countess of Leicester, c. 1585 by George Gower


Well although it is styled a little differently this certainly seems like the same type of garment to me. (Only in this instance it is worn by an English lady of the court Laetitia "Lettice" Knollys, Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester.)

Tight fitting, low point fronted bodice - check. Tabs at the arm holes - check. Front opening over skirt - check.

The sleeve certainly seems to be of the same size and volume as the example I recreated, but made with a vertical opening from the sleeve head almost to the wrist, instead of the horizontal opening. As in my example the sleeve is slightly longer than the under doublet sleeve, and you can see that in the unusual way Lettice wears one arm in the sleeve and one arm placed through the opening. When worn with the arm inside the sleeve the opening bulges and flares outwards slightly due to the extra length, and the other sleeve hangs slightly longer than the voluminous sleeves of the garment underneath.

The other stylistic difference is that the skirt is worn open to reveal the kirtle underneath, which is not generally seen on Spanish ladies.

What do you think? It certainly seems like the same garment to me...

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