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Costume Babble
Oct. 1st, 2013 10:34 pmSo, the Cranach Gown aka the German Gown. I've been doing a lot of research on the styles and I think I have a plausible idea on how the brustflect might have gone with the dress. The dress itself is easy - lowish back with open front, dog legged skirt - normally attached to the left but also seen attached to the right. It's beneath the main velvet dress that I've been looking at. I *think* there are three plausible constructions:
I'm going to try to make up what I think it plausible as a Cranach gown and see how it compares to the portrait evidence we do have. For the brustflect, I'm using a gold drapery fabric with black dots and a diamond pattern - very period looking, actually. I just need to bead over the black dots with black pearls or black beads of some sort. I guess I could do regular pearls too. The rest of the underdress will be white wool. The overdress will be red cotton velvet and this lovely gold and red drapery fabric I found a couple of years ago that works well for a Cranach gown.
In other costume news, I did knit today. Mom's scarf is 1/3 finished now. :-D Actually, I'm not sure that's costume news since she'll be wearing it this winter. I guess fashion news?
- The brustflect as nothing more than a breast band. This I think was actually much rarer than we normally see in the re-enacting/costuming circles.
- The brustflect as a "flap" I think is more normal in period - it's seen in several different paintings and depictions of women's German clothing. The brustflect is then pinned to the shoulder straps which would explain why many of the dresses, when fully laced, have a curve right at the bust line that goes back to being straight over the shoulders right where the brustflect is most likely pinned/ends.
- My theory deals more with the larger brustflects - that it's an actual Empire waist bodice with a white or red "lengthener" attached to length out the bodice (giving that lovely straight piece of fabric beneath the lacing) and has an attached skirt. In other words, it's part of an entire underdress.
I'm going to try to make up what I think it plausible as a Cranach gown and see how it compares to the portrait evidence we do have. For the brustflect, I'm using a gold drapery fabric with black dots and a diamond pattern - very period looking, actually. I just need to bead over the black dots with black pearls or black beads of some sort. I guess I could do regular pearls too. The rest of the underdress will be white wool. The overdress will be red cotton velvet and this lovely gold and red drapery fabric I found a couple of years ago that works well for a Cranach gown.
In other costume news, I did knit today. Mom's scarf is 1/3 finished now. :-D Actually, I'm not sure that's costume news since she'll be wearing it this winter. I guess fashion news?