16th Century Clothing

Images of children, and children&# 39;s clothing, in the Renaissanc e. Includes kids from Denmark, England, Flanders, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain; from peasants & paupers to princes & princesses .

In the world of historical costuming there exist a continuum from those who want to create costumes that look historical and are made using historical fabrics and methods, all the way to those who create costumes that are only reminiscent of a particular historical period. I will be using photos of things I have made over the last few years in discussing the following techniques: slashing and pinking, quilting and trapunto, adding beads, pearls and metallic decorations, stitching, embroidery, couched cording, and buttons.

A basic tutorial for a 16th century shirt, also showing how it can be embroidere d.

In aid of stepping out and looking fabulous, I have drawn out a dozen different trim layouts (some with sleeve and skirt/shoulder tab treatments) for doublets, all from 16th and early 17th century sources.

The history of the parasol from Antiquity and the Middle Ages, with many examples from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Dedicated to the study of historical costume from 1475 to 1625. Photos and dress-diaries from the author's work in Renaissance-era costuming; image galleries and other research articles; and historically-inspired "Featured Attyre" from costumers all over the world.

An overview of 16th century parasols, with notes on constructi on.

A preliminar y survey of knitting references found in English literature (ballads, prose and drama) published between 1473 and 1600, grouped according to type of item, with some discussion of surviving items.

A survey of jackets and jacket fragments, comparing shapes, embroidery patterns, and constructi on details.

Mistress Grace Gamble provides instructions for a 16th century English shirt or high-necked shift.

Research and projects in 16th century clothing.

Blackwork embroidery was used in many forms on a variety of different garments. This gallery is intended to assist costumers in looking at ways of incorporat ing blackwork embroidery into Renaissanc e-era costume. Links to portraits and to examples in museums.

What They Are Made From, and When Things Changed. Timeline of Support Materials.

A log of how a pair of venetian pants based on those in Patterns of Fashion were made.

Slides, spreadshee t, and Pinterest board on the constructi on of leather doublets and jerkins. These leather garments were treated just as if they were from any other cloth: could be decorated or not, assembled with regular sewing-typ e seams, etc. Research includes 81 extant doublets and jerkins between 1540-1650.

Instructions for construction techniques observed in 15th-16th century clothing, including methods of lining and edge finishing, butted construction, and eyelets and buttonholes.

Welcome to Myra's costume site, dedicated to explorations of female costume in Germany in the early Renaissance. When I started my forays into this period a couple of years ago, I found very few online resources for the early Renaissance in comparison to what is found on for the later periods during the 16th century. One reason for these pages was therefore partly to try to fill that gap and partly to take up the challenge of experimenting with costumes I had not so seen around in the historical re-enactment world, the period between the 15th century military companies and the later Swiss and Cranach-style Landsknecht fashion.

Details of costumes, mostly 16th century.

A guide aimed towards Ren Fair players. The informatio n has a number of paintings and illustrati ons with it.

During the late 1500s, Queen Elizabeth I passed a series of strict laws relating to dress codes. The laws ensured that people across the social spectrum dressed according to their rank and class. At this time, England was importing great quantities of luxury fabrics, and the Queen expressed concern that her subjects were spending too much money on 'unnecessa ry foreign wares' and 'vain devices'. The laws allowed her to curb extravagan t spending, and to define and set the distinctio ns between the different strata of society. Those found dressed in inappropri ate clothing could be fined. This document specifies the fabrics and types of clothing that each social rank was permitted to wear, such as specific types of embroidere d silks, 'tinseled' satins, furs or 'purpures' - a type of purple or crimson robe.

A rough overview of clothing in Elizabetha n times, mainly using Philip Stubbes' The Anatomie of Abuses as a source

A PDF version of a guidebook to English needlework of the 16th and 17th centuries at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Considering the scant current mention of pins in costume and clothing articles, it may be hard to believe how common these simple items were to the wardrobes of the Elizabethans. They were made in many sizes, from the "great verthingale pynnes" used to hold heavy skirts, to the smallest pins used to hold veils and delicate fabrics.

An overview of Elizabetha n Men's Clothing.

Includes contemporary descriptions of clothing, as well as a glossary of terms relating to civil, professional, ceremonial, ecclesiastical, and military costume.

Embroidere d jackets (and portraits of women wearing embroidere d jackets) from late 16th and early 17th century England.

The very wealthy could afford to have their portraits painted and therefore, we know what they were wearing. There exist very few drawings of Middle Class people that were drawn in the 1500's even fewer in color. These watercolors were taken from the corners of a series on maps published in the 1572 called "Civitates Orbis Terrarum" by G. Braun et Hogenberg. The colors are somewhat subdued due to aging. They are not very detailed, but with some study they could be great inspiration for designing middle class costumes.

This article examines the use of pockets in western Europe from the late fifteenth to the early seventeent h centuries, demonstrat ing that pockets were adopted into clothing much earlier than has often been believed. It discusses the physical form of pockets in the dress of both genders and the types of garments into which they were inserted.

Shown are costumes from all over Europe and even one of an American native. The images show the styles of clothing of women from narrow social ranks, from empress to servant, and are arranged by counties and cities. At the top and bottom of each woodcut there is a rhymed four-line stanza explaining the figure.

Clothing from 1560 to 1650, from an exhibit at the Germanisch es Nationalmu seum.

Once clothing became more fitted and could no longer be slipped over one's head, it became necessary to tightly close gowns and tunics. An overview of how and where to close clothing through the centuries, with practical advice of how to get it done. Includes, from extant examples and details from artwork: buttons (metal, bone, and cloth); eyelets; lacing rings; hook and eye; pins; and lacing patterns.

1580's Working-Class Dress based on the paintings of Vincenzo Campi - This outfit is not a copy of any specific painting, but rather based on the 1580’s working-class paintings of Vincenzo Campi – specifically ‘The Fruit Seller’, ‘Kitchen’, ‘Christ in the House of Maria and Martha’ and ‘The Fishmongers’. Although working-class paintings were popular in the Netherlands at the time, there were few southern European artists experimenting in the genre – so his work gives us wonderful insight into the working class of Italy. There are a wide variety of color combinations and variations of details in these portraits, so I felt comfortable drawing elements from them all to create something representative of them as a whole.

Selected illustrations from a 19th century book on historic fashions.

Definition s and descriptio ns of the different types of outerwear used in the second half of the 16th century.

Steps to creating a custom doublet or bodice pattern with the tape and T-shirt method.

Red silk velvet, metallic braid, brass, and leather.
At the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.77.34a- b).

Links to artwork demonstrating how women's clothing was modified for pregnancy in the 14th-16th centuries.

Sleevils are evil sleeves, or sleeves that do not fit because of various problems. This handout describes the basic parts of sleeves so that you can understand what parts must remain constant, and what can be changed, to improve the fit, comfort and range of mobility for your sleeve pattern. The last two pages is a pattern draft from R.W. Trump for a basic 2-piece bent-armed fitted sleeve in the period manner, that I provided with the class. This works best for Elizabetha n sleeves, but the basic shape can be used as a guide with other sleeve patterns.

Free patterns for elements of Elizabetha n costumes.

For most of London, secondhand was simply an economical way to get needed clothes.