1480's Florentine Gown

1. Camicia (shift/smock). For my take see 1480s Ensemble - Camicia

While no extant camicias from this period exist, looking at slightly later extant linen smocks and chemises from the 16th century the most common seam treatments on linen underlayers seem to be running stitch, a variation of insertion stitch, french seamed, or whip stitched (Arnold vol. 4 112, 113, 115, 116). Many of these techniques can also be seen in pre-period archaeological finds, which to me implies use throughout this period.

In the late 15th century the camicia was long and voluminous to allow for folds at the neckline as well as puffs in between the laced openings of the sleeves (Birbari 40, 41). There are several potential patterns, but a raglan pattern where the sleeves create the shoulderline can found in Mistress Rainillt's article "Evolution of the Italian Camicia" and is cited in Tortora (159).

While the outer layers of clothing were made by male tailors, the linen under layers worn by both men and women were mostly made in the home, and often even by the lady of the house. The wife of the powerful Lorennzo de' Medici, Clarice Orsini (who some people may know from the television series Da Vinci's Demons) perhaps the most powerful and wealthy family of the time, wrote her mother in law asking her to send her "twenty braccia of linen cloth so that I can make camicie for these children" (Frick 41). Numerous other extant letters reaffirm wealthy women making the linens for their husbands, children, and themselves. This makes me smile, as it is quite possible that the camicias worn by the women in Ghirlandaio's paintings were made by the women in the paintings or their mothers, and they would soon be making them for their own families and households. This is one of the reasons that this is the part of the project I most enjoyed, as I felt it was the closest to a shared experience I would get with the women I was attempting to emulate with this outfit.

2. Gamurra (underdress). For my take see 1480's Florentine Gamurra

A. Fabric. "silk velvets, damasks, and the best quality woven fabrics" are described as the best choices for fabric (Frick 101). Silk taffeta/damask, cotton velvet (as a stand-in for silk velvet), and wool would make for good choices. While many of the period velvets incorporated brocading or voiding to create a pattern, an undergown of "plain crimson velvet" is also described in Frick, confirming a more simple fabric and color as appropriate (194). The Met has a great short article on more ornate period velvets here. The bodice could be lined with linen, silk, wool, or cotton and stiffened (Frick 127), but the skirt is usually unlined. The amount of fabric used ranged from 12.75 to 17.67 braccia (one Florentine braccia is roughly 58 centimeters according to Herald 12), but the fabric most likely would have had a smaller loom width than the upholstery fabric than today, so I tend to estimate approximately half the yardage is needed to be equivalent (depending on the width of your fabric), 6.5-9 yards (Frick 172). Use a lot of fabric in the skirt, especially for higher-class women, as "the more cloth one wears (thus enhancing one's volume), the more serious and indicative of high social status one's outfit is" (Frick 90).

B. Construction. While I have not discovered extant gamurras of this period to confirm this style of construction, Crowfoot states that running stitch was the norm in later garments which are better preserved than the Museum of London finds discussed in the book, but that the visible hole marks caused by the thread show that "in the majority of cases a fairly fine running stitch was usual for holding the two edges together" (155). Additionally, shaping garments (or other joins that would be under stress) were often back-stitched to provide additional strength (Crowfoot 156).

C. Bodice. For my pattern I modified my 4-panel bust supportive gown pattern for the bodice. I have found references to silk, wool, and cotton being used as lining but the only reference to linen I have found from the 15th century is the term boccaccino as a lining, which can mean linen or cotton which was mostly used to line sleeves or lesser-quality garments (Frick 127, Herald 210, 220). As best as I can tell the period method would have involved quilting using cotton fibers, though pad stitching is also a possibility based on what several people have told me. While a few decades post period, Moda a Firenze states that the techniques found in the bodices of undergowns "the padding of the garment was obtained by an internal layering of the fabrics, the doppia, made up of a felt and two types of cloth, one stiffened the other finer" and then cites sources for both linen and cotton (84). This bears a strong resemblance to Frick's description in period of the required supplies for a bodice including "lining fabric, cotton wool for quilting the bodice" (127). As the details can be found across multiple sources and periods in the same location, this seems like a likely method for recreating the period technique so I will be using a combination of a linen layer, a cotton canvas layer, and a felt, possibly pad-stitched together, to create a stiffener. Moda a Firenze adds that the stiffening was usually covered on the inside by another lining of silk in the Florentine court by the 1540's, but as it specifies usually and is several decades post period, I will be adhering more to Frick's listed materials and only using three interior layers and the velvet fashion fabric - velvet, cotton canvas, felt, linen (listed from exterior to interior). For the two back panels I will not include the felt.

By the 1480s the waistline was near the natural waistline (a little on the high side), so I will set the waist there as well (Birbari 21).

D. Sleeves. Both full and two-part sleeves are described in Birbari (20, 69) and Herald (193). Birbari references that where it was possible sleeves sometimes used permanent cords instead of lacings for ease of use (77). Linings for sleeves that I have found references for include lesser quality plain silks and taffettas, as well as cotton or linen boccaccino (Herald 210, 220).

E. Skirt. According to Birbari, skirts were either gathered or pleated onto the bodice (21). Box pleats are an option, seen in several paintings, though sometimes slightly flared to give a triangular effect (Birbari 52, 53). Cartridge pleating is an option as well (Birbari 53). Herald and others state that the gamurra was unlined (Herald 217).

F. Lacing rings/eyelets. One description of a period gamurra, designed as a wedding dress and to be worn under a sleeveless overgown (and thus very similar to my design) lists required items beyond the outer fabric for the dress as "lining fabric, cotton wool for quilting the bodice, 120 singlets for the dress itself, and 100 small singlets for the sleeves alone. The cotta also had embroidery . . . and ribbons of green and gold" (Frick 127). While personally I prefer silver usually, gold was the metal of choice in period and appears far more commonly cited (Orsi-Landini 27). Herlad refers to the lacing rings as magliettes (224)

3. Giornea (overdress/tabbard). For my take see 1480s Giornea.