Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
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Analyzed and recreated Italian Renaissance garments.
Focused on period accurate silhouette and tailoring.
The goal of the first gown was to create a later 16th century Florentine gown in the style of Eleonora di Toledo. This involved a lower waistline than earlier Italian garments, and side-lacing. The black patterned fabric for the gown was found at a thrift store, and it screamed for pearl embellishments. This informed my decision to create an Italian gown from the material, as the love of pearls in the era is legendary. There were various technical skills used, including pearl-work, cartridge pleating, and pattern drafting.
The next work was a commission was requested by a fellow Society for Creative Anachronism member. The later period doublet-style gown, as shown in Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo's portrait, was chosen for the project.
Such an outfit would have been comprised of many layers. The first part of this project was the undergown. The skirts of this garment can be seen beneath the doublet overgown in the portrait of Eleonora. While the aim was to be as historical as possible, the client had specific fitting needs for both comfort and practicality.
Portrait of Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo by Alessandro Allori, 1571
Fabric stamped designs decorated the hem.
A layer of handkerchief linen and gold linen comprised the skirts, pleated as one layer.
The bodice of the undergown was constructed with an interlining of layered and pad-stitched cotton twill, and lining and fashion fabric of gold linen.
1411 France
1411 France
Recreated a 1400s cotehardie using historical techniques.
Blended historical craftsmanship with practical modern materials, producing a wearable, climate-appropriate garment.
This project recreated a 1400s cotehardie using historical sewing techniques during a period when European fashion shifted from loose to fitted garments. I used hand stitching, lucet cord-making, and the decorative technique of dagging—intricate cutwork that, when lined, required extensive hand sewing and would have been a luxury in its time.
While aiming for authenticity, I made practical adaptations such as using thrifted modern fabrics and substituting a linen lining for fur due to climate needs. In addition, the length was considerably shortened to allow for ease of movement.
The gown is now sleeveless, as the original dagged sleeves were lost to the flames of a tent heater.
Spanish Golden Age
Spanish Golden Age
Hand Dyed.
Hand pearled and embellished.
Draping and flat-pattern drafting.
This project was born out of a passion for reading. My favorite author, Leigh Bardugo, was going on tour for her new book The Familiar, a book set in the Spanish Golden Age. The cover of the book was a portion of the portrait of Elizabeth of Valois shown here. I was inspired to combine my love of fantasy books and historical fashion by recreating the cover of the book and wearing it to Leigh's tour stop in Houston.
I started with creating a pattern for the gown using both drafting and flat pattern-drafting techniques. Creating the correct shape of the black oversleeves, the "mangas redonda" (round sleeves), was the most difficult portion of this project. With only portraits as a reference, and no internet source material on patterning, I had to complete many mock-ups before ending on a sleeve shape I was satisfied with.
Once the pattern was created, I started white linen I had on hand and spent many hours dying it the perfect shade of black. The bodice was constructed with this black linen as the fashion layer, an interlining of buckram, and a lining of more linen. The red sleeves were created using thrifted fabric, and although they most likely would have been part of an entire undergown, the heat of Texas made me reconsider this idea. Ultimately they were made as tie-on sleeves that attached to the armscye of the black overgown.
Portrait of Elizabeth of Valois by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, c 1605
Pearl embellishments on sleeves.
Other decorative elements included: ribbons, feathers, aglets, and ouches.
Ruff created using a 'theater' technique rather than the very time intensive historical version, involving hand ironing each individual roll of the ruff with a round iron after starching. The white linen was cartridge pleated, then tacked down to a band of fabric.
Upcoming Research Areas
Upcoming Research Areas
I presently have two primary areas of focus:
Pre-Christian Western Slavic Fiber Arts
This is a difficult research area for many reasons. No pre-Christian writing system has been discovered, so any descriptions of the garb come from an outside worldview. In addition, the degradation of textiles over time leads to little archeological evidence. My aim is to overcome these hurdles and study the origins of the rich embroidery traditions of western Slavia.
2. Heian Era Japan Commoner Dress
This was another challenging area, as the Heian Era was long ago (794 AD-1185 AD), and historical records focus on the elite of the time, not everyday Heian citizens. However, this time of the jūnihitoe, or twelve-layer robe, is a fascinating one, and I intend to uncover truths about the material culture beyond the wealthy.
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