1560s Nobleman's Outfit
This outfit was a gift to Doroga (two Christmases and a birthday in total actually - it was a pretty big project!) to better match his fencing research and his later-period persona. The outfit is made up of a doublet, a jerkin, and panned trunkhose. While I did take a few liberties with the construction, I am very happy with the finished product - I feel that it very much captures the look of the paintings that I was trying to emulate.
Inspiration:
I was heavily influenced by the paintings of Giovanni Battista Moroni. While Doroga's focus is Spanish research his persona lives in the Italian city-states with the other members of his fencing crew so I decided to go with using mostly an Italian style but with the black color-scheme seen so often in Spanish portraits. The patterns were inspired mostly from the 1562 doublet and paned trunkhose worn by Don Garzia de'Medici as shown in Janet Arnold Patterns of Fashion vol. 3.
Portrait & The Gentleman in Pink,
Giovanni Battista Moroni, 1560.
1. Doublet.
The doublet (the sleeved main garment) is based on several paintings and one extant find showing a style of sleeves I absolutely fell in love with. I had seen Truly Carmichael's piece on how to make slashed and poofed sleeves and so I was very excited to have an excuse to make sleeves in that style. The painting of the man in gold is a Spanish Court painting, which further supported this style as a good fit for a Spanish fencer.
Portrait of a Man Pointing at a Table Clock, Anthonis Mor, 1565. Clothing from the grave at the Frauenkirche church near Unzmarkt Oberwams, 1570, Museum im Palais. Portrait of Prince Alessandro Farnese, Sofonisba Anguissola, 1560.
As I was making this to be worn with a structured jerkin I did not fit the doublet in the body as tight as it should be, but the basic pattern was styled off of the 1562 doublet from Arnold PoT 3 referenced above, though also influenced in cut by the shape of a few other pieces from Arnold and Juan de Alcega's doublet pattern. The fabric is satin to match the look of the paintings.
The collar is layered and faux-pad-stitched using a sewing machine to give it structure and trimmed to match the sleeves. Looking at the paintings and how it sits on him I think I should have made the collar slightly taller, but overall I am very happy with the effect.
The sleeves are a single piece each in two layers - a base layer cut to the size of the standard pattern and a top layer to poof. I did both layers in the satin, but if I were to make another one I would use a more breathable fiber for the under-layer in case of warmer-weather events. The fabric had so much stretch on the bias that I was worried if I used the Carmichael method mentioned above of cutting the fabric and then pinning and sewing it all together that it would all stretch completely out of alignment. Instead I poofed the sleeve and pinned the trim in (using a dowel as my spacer) first, then once it was all sewn together I manually cut the slashes with scissors to know that they were in the correct place. This took forever, though the second sleeve did work up faster, but I absolutely adore the finished product.
2. Jerkin.
The jerkin (the sleeveless over-garment we often call a doublet), like the doublet, is a combination of a few patterns from Arnold and Alcega, and actually also doubles as armor for rapier combat! The waist is a little low (and between when I made it in October and when I finished the rest of the outfit in February he lost 15 pounds, making it hang a little loose), but I am still mostly happy with the look. I may remake one just for court-wear so that he can keep this one just for fighting.
It is made from two layers, a cut black velvet and a leftover maroon brocade fused together with wonderweb to give it additional structure. Two velvet jerkins from The Met, one cut and one plain (seen at the right), though slightly later, were part of the inspiration for the fabric.
The shoulder tabs were free-handed from straps made of scraps and pinned where I liked the look, designed to emulate the Moroni portrait at the top of this page.
I love the texture that the fabric has against the satin of the doublet, if I make a new version of this piece I might use the exact same fabric and only tweak the fit.
3. Trunkhose.
The paned trunkhose are taken directly from the 1562 ones worn by Don Garzia de'Medici in Arnold. They were something of a trust exercise in my faith in Janet as my brain was not clicking in to see how they would fit when completely together. The straps continue from a slit base all the way under the leg. I was worried this may be uncomfortable when wearing due to too much bulk but apparently the are incredibly comfortable, though they do catch on door-handles occasionally. Though not visible in the photos, the lining is the same black satin as the doublet.
I am absolutely in love with this pattern. The effect is so much more like the paintings compared to many options I have seen using fewer or wider-spaced straps, and it all went together very quickly! When he moves it looks great as you get splashed of the satin. I really want an excuse to make something else with this pattern.
Conclusion:
This was my first experiment with men's 16th century clothing and overall I am so happy with how it came out! He has worn it once so far and received many compliments, and watching him demonstrate his fencing moves in it looks amazing. There are some changes I will make when I create a new version, but I am very pleased that it matches the look I was going for.