The Elizabethan lady's traveling coat.

2010 Project: The Traveling Dress

An Elizabethan Lady's Traveling Coat???

I love fashion that is logical but seldom thought about. Last year at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, we experienced mud. Tons of mud. The year before, we went to the Houston Fair and when I returned home my dress was covered in dust.

I've had the idea germinating in the back of my mind to create a traveling coat. It actually seems logical. When someone attends a Renaissance Festival in which they are not employed it stands to reason that the character in question must have traveled to get to the faire. Since there is no way I could ever audition or be a part of the Minnesota or the Houston fairs :( (I live in Utah and come for one weekend a season) I am logically a traveler. I love my new character- Catherine De Foix is most enjoyable...despite being a French noble. This led to an interesting bit of research: What did a noble woman wear when she traveled on horseback?

It is illogical to believe that a woman would simply wear her dress without some protective over layer. Even in a carriage unpaved roads are exceedingly dusty and on horseback they are a nightmare. The research was also a nightmare. In the end I found one picture that could plausibly be used to define some sort of traveling wear:

Elizabeth Hunting

This wood cut print of Elizabeth I hunting is about the only picture of ladies hunting fashion that exists. If anyone reading this blog knows another picture during the Henry VIII or Elizabeth I era let me know. I’d love to look at it. Now, this picture, to me, looks like a dress with no discernible coat. This brings up two questions: 1) Did women not travel or have specific traveling wear. I find this implausible. There are very specific records of the entire court packing up and moving to the country when the plague struck, and as I pointed out above- not everyone had the voluminous wardrobes of the royalty. I find it illogical that a woman wouldn’t try and protect her gown, even if it wasn’t her court dress.

I did come across this picture of a coat in the danish fashions, but it almost looks as if it doesn't fit. At least now I have proof that there was a coat concept in the era for women.

I have a marvelous regard for Sandy Powell’s work as a costumer. Her designs in “Shakespeare in Love” are while in some cases spanning several decades are amazing. I also loved some of her work in “The Other Boleyn Girl,” specifically the riding habit Anne wears when trying to impress Henry during his visit. It is gorgeous and has a wonderful flow. She used a separate design on Viola’s riding habit in Shakespeare in Love. This piece is only a jacket covering the bodice rather than it being a complete over dress. I have decided to go full length on this project, mostly because of one facinating image in "Boleyn" where Ann swings up on the horse and the skirt steals the shot.

Of Inspiration and Design:

The Coat:

Deciding the design of this dress wasn’t easy. I knew I wanted the coat to show the kirdle, but look as if it could be buttoned to protect the whole skirt. I would also like to maintain the thinning quality of my other dresses- not easy with two layers. The wood print of Elizabeth did strike me with the horizontal lines in the kirdle, so I did a bit more research and found this painting by Paolo Veronese (1560-70).

It struck me that I could use this design to create my coat. I love the collar, the neck line, and the rolls on the sleeves. I also fell in love with the chevron sleeves. My plan coming together- I determined that the sleeves and the kirdle would be a part of the gown. The blue aspects of the dress above would be the coat and would be closed in the front with decorative clasps. While the sleeves look intimidating, I’m also planning on using the chevron in the kirdle as well. (Cutting should be a trick but if I succeed it will be amazing.)

My next piece of inspiration came from the picture of Marie De Medici by Alessandro Allori

I ran across this when looking for the stripes and fell in love with the lace on the collar. It is beautiful. If I have time, I will try to embroider the lining of the coat as well. My second inspiration with this picture and others that I have seen is to create a cap sleeve on my coat rather than having two rolls- using the same lace for the neckline on the edge of the cap. I’m also making it pointed, matching the chevron angles on the sleeve to repeat the triangle pattern throughout the dress.

The main gown I designed around the chevron pattern. Since I loved the yellow in the DeMedici dress, and was lucky enough to find a striped off-white and yellow material, I’ve set the colors in fall tones.

The Hat:

I do have to admit that I stole shamelessly from Sandra Powell’s “Shakespeare in Love” costume. I almost made the dress green because I love the look from the waist up. In the end I could find no better design than the flat cap in the picture below. I already have a picture from the time period in a previous blog entry where I talk about the need to wear a hat, so I'm not posting it again. Check out the blog: And the hat goes on... :)

The Gown:

Because of the need to put the riding coat over the actual gown, I had to do quite a bit of research. Shoulder rolls couldn’t be used which limited me as far as French fashion. I did find this painting by Durer which inspired me to try a very soft fashion- meant for a spring or early fall day.

I am choosing also to use a lighter fabric in the center of my bodice similar to this painting by Paolo Veronese. It is my opinion that having a lighter center piece draws the eye in and causes the waist to look narrow even though it is actually more bulky because of the folds of fabric. Of course I plan to have a traditionally split over skirt and lighter kirdle matching the sleeves and the center of the bodice.

The over all look of the gown will be a bit later in the time line (1590-1600) than the average Renaissance faire, but still within in the Elizabethan period in England. I am choosing to go more french than English, simply because I really hate the shape of the Cartwheel Elizabeth was so fond of... This sketch is very similar to my concept for this gown.

Because, I’m creating an extra layer on an already bulky renaissance dress, I’ve decided that this dress is going to be a French garden style dress—Lighter fabrics, movement, and a definite flow was my desire in creating this design. I’ve even decided to add an extra (possibly two) petticoats over my farthingale. Yes I have done my research- Petticoats were acceptable and widely used both over and under the farthingale. In the picture below, you can see the lady lifting both her kirdle and her overskirt to reveal the pettycoat below. According to the websites, most pettycoats were as widly decorated as the overskirt. Interesting...

The dress itself is silk-- a rich burnt orange almost a rust in color. As you can see I’m lightly decorating this dress. I may go crazy with the beading when it is finished, there are more than enough places to really go wild with the needle and thread, but for now it is a simple, elegant, yet challenging design.

FINAL DESIGNS:

Riding Coat:

Gown:

At the Fair

Fun with Flying:

Going to the fair last weekend was an experience to be sure. Originally I was supposed to fly from Las Vegas to Salt Lake and continue to Minnesota; however, when I got to the Las Vegas Airport, they changed my flight to go directly to Minneapolis. The consequence? Lost luggage. My bags got stuck along the way. I almost didn't get them in time. Fortunately, my cousin suggested that we go back to the airport and see if the bag came in on a later flight.

When we got to the Airport, my bag wasn't there. I talked to the baggage desk and to my disappointment, they had no idea where the bag was. About that time, I broke into tears. The poor customer service agent had no way of knowing I had just found out my mom was ill. Being the wrong person at the wrong time, I of course unloaded on the poor woman. To her credit she didn't send me away. She tried to comfort me and send me back to the hotel with an overnight kit.

The miracle happened when I turned around. I was just returning to my cousin when I spied a blue bag on the conveyor belt. I couldn't believe it was mine. I even pulled out my baggage claim ticket and followed the bag around the turn table while I counted off the numbers. It was my bag!!!!! Wonderful surprise! Shortly thereafter I received a call that my mother was alright as well.

In the morning, we arose to find the October sky filled with rain. We decided to go anyway! It was nice that the fur lining added to the warmth of the dress! Before I left home, I made a small shawl for around my neck in case it was cold. I'm happy I did. I was quite cozy wandering around the fair. There are more photos than the one below, but they are with my cousin. If and when I get them, I will post them.

Unfortunately, my girdle belt did not hold up during the fair. As you can see in the picture it is hanging askew. About five minutes before we took the picture, it got snagged and broke. I tucked it up for the length of this picture, then took it off and put it in my purse. I loved this dress and it worked wonderfully. It's a bit muddy, but I'm managing to clean it all up before the next fair.

Hopefully, I'll have more pictures soon.

Cheers!

Katie

Elizabethan gown hemming basics

Six Days Away!!!!

I am officially 6 days away from the Minnesota Renaissance Festival Trip. I'm afraid that finishing the dress cut into my blogging time. I can sew ten times faster if I'm not taking pictures of each step. Thus, I missed the tutorial on how to make a partlet and the under sleeves. I will do my best to make another set after the fair and put on the information; however the Lynn McMaster's pattern for the Partlet is really easy to follow.

Here is the finished dress: I still have to tack on the jewelry and hooks and eyes here or there, but for the most part it is done. Yay!!! The billament trim, the sleeve pull backs, the hat pin, and the necklace are both from Sapphire and Sage Jewelry. Rhonda is an absolute marvel and I highly recommend her work.

A Hem.....

As promised here is my short tutorial on hemming. I suppose it all begins with a good friend to help you. It is important that you don't guess on your hemming. Because of the farthingale and especially the bum roll, (see Simplicity Pattern 8881) your dress does not hang the same way that a normal dress hangs. Thus it is important for you to actually put on the dress (If you are the one wearing it) and have the hem figured for your body.

The Pitfalls:

Too low a hem: There is a tendency for people who make beautiful renaissance dresses to lower the hem to the ground level. Frankly this is how it should be. The Hem should just brush the floor so you glide across like on a cloud. Unfortunately this means that you will pick up every speck of dirt, leaf, branch, blade of grass, wood chip, and dust particle in the fair... not to mention the garbage. To put it simply, if your hem touches the ground at a renaissance fair you will end up with a very dirty skirt.

Too high a hem:There is an old costumer adage. If you are on a stage hem low. If you are on eye level, hem high... but not too high. Those who have ruined a dress due to the pitfall above sometimes over hem and end up with a six inch gap between the ground and their hem. This isn't a good combination either. First of all, you can see your shoes and ANKLES!!!

For the record ankles at this time period are far worse to show than your cleavage. So what's the right hem? I hem to the bottom of the netting on my farthingale. If you have no netting it is about three inches above the ground. From a spectator's standpoint your skirt will have the appearance of brushing the ground, without sweeping up the garbage in the fair.

Hem the underskirt.... then the over skirt: At times you will see this around the fair. This is my worst nightmare. In fact, I'm worried about it on the dress I'm making. However, there comes a time when you just have to trust your hemming buddy. In general you want to hem your over skirt a bit longer than your underskirt. Only by a half inch or so.... unless you are a pirate wench. :)

The Process:

Get Up High: I actually stand on a very sturdy coffee table, but in a pinch I've stood on a step stool as well. This is for the ease of your hemming buddy. It's a pain for them to sit all bunched over and being up high gives them a better perspective on the hem being straight.

What to Wear: You want to wear all of your costume. Not just all of the undergarments, you need to wear your bodice as well. Why? Because each piece of clothing effects how the garment hangs. When you add the bodice, make sure it is where you want the bodice to be. If you have not put in your hooks and eyes yet, have your hemming buddy do a double check to make sure that the skirt waist band is covered by the bodice. You should not see the skirt waist band at all. Also, make sure you wear the shoes that you will wear at the fair!!! This is very important! Every shoe makes you stand a different way.

How to stand: I know this is an odd topic. It's not really. After years in a costume shop, I have learned that where the arms are, makes a difference in the hem. So how do you stand? Stand straight, look forward not down, keep your arms to your side as much as possible.

Don'ts: DO NOT: hold your hands in the singer position. (cupped hands at your waist line) DO NOT: put your hands on your hips. (This will raise your shoulders and cause you to push down the sides of the dress. DO NOT: Bring your hands together in the front or the back. (This tilts the dress and will make the hem off in the front or the back)

Keep your eyes ahead:

Did I mention to look straight ahead? It is really difficult to do this, because this is your baby and you want the hem to lie right. At this point you will just have to trust your buddy. :) Looking down, tilts the dress slightly forward which will make your hem slightly higher in the front than in the back.

Hemming Buddy Duties:

The Hemming Buddy's job is to fold the hem so you have an even line all around the base of the dress. I prefer that my hem is folded under. That way I don't have to remove pins in order to hem the skirt. I always go back and add another row of pins to keep me sane while I am hemming.

Hem the underskirt then the over skirt. I actually flip the over skirt over my neck and shoulders for the underskirt hemming. Yes, this will make the underskirt slightly higher than the over skirt, but as I mentioned above, this is a preferable look.

Iron:

Once you have been pinned and you carefully remove the dress, you can hem your skirt and underskirt. My first duty when I hem is to press around the base of the pinned hem. I do this for two reasons. 1) If a pin falls out, I have a ironed crease to show me where the hem was supposed to go. 2) It is actually easier to hem the dress when you have ironed down the dress edge.

Machine or Hand Stitch:

There is a stitch on the sewing machine that hems your garment. It requires you to sew on the salvage of the hem and the needle jumps over to the folded back dress and picks up one stitch. In general I prefer the machine stitch, but I know that my over skirt is way too heavy for the machine at this point so I'm going to hem the good old fashioned way- by hand.

Remember the bottom of your dress is wider than the top of your dress, thus you will have extra fabric you have to deal with. This is done with neat folds in the hem. You need to be careful making the folds so they don't do damage to the line of the dress. Take your time and experiment.

The hem stitch I use is to pick up the fold of the hem with a needle using a whip stitch, then pick up a 1/2 centimeter piece of the main dress, I jump an 1/2 inch and repeat the process.

When you are finished it is important to iron down your hem again. Here are two pictures. it is obvious when you see the dress which has not been pressed after hemming.

Before:









After:










I will post pictures after the fair.

I still have a few things to do before I leave. I need to finish tacking the jewelry to the bodice. I need to put the hooks and eyes on the bodice and skirt to make sure they stay in place.

That's it! Thanks for visiting. If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer. :)

Cheers!

Katherine