Refitting My Red Gothic Fitted Dress

Part of Medieval recreation for me is trying to think a bit more like the people of the time (at least as it pertains to their arts). Before the invention of sewing machines, garments took an incredible amount of time and effort to create. I like to conserve fabric, to piece patterns, and to mend or modify to give garments a longer life. This dress has undergone three modifications since I first completed it in 2020 and I wanted to highlight them here. 

1. Despite basing the pearl buttons off large white buttons seen in several manuscripts and effigies, I hated them. My first modification to this dress was to swap them out for fabric buttons made of the same fabric. 

2. In the process of switching out the buttons, I noticed the dress was gaping slightly between each button. This was in part because I did not add enough ease into this dress when I made it, but there was no extra fabric in the seams to let it out, so I added a button and buttonhole between each of the existing ones. Gaping problem solved. 

3. Finally, after years of physical therapy for a shoulder injury, my posture was significantly different than when I made this dress. The front neckline was too tight and I needed to find a way to give it more space. I considered piecing in the tiny scrap of remaining fabric that I had, but it would leave very obvious seams down the front of the garment. Instead, the talented Marguerite de Lyon recommended I lower the neckline and reface it. This worked a charm and significantly improved the comfort of this dress again!

I'm really proud of this dress and the time I've put in to it to keep it a working piece of my 14th Century wardrobe.