Pleasant surprise

[abendgules]

...free largesse!
Yesterday we received a package from Fru Johanna aff Hukka -  beaded necklaces, and tokens to mark our drinking cups - kind of like wineglass charms, but they'd pass for rosary beads. It also came with a handwritten note, which was very sweet. What a thoughtful lady. 

Brain is swirling with 14th c ideas of clothing and hairstyles. There's a definite dearth of ladies wearing frilled headdresses and a coronet at the same time...but no shortage of wimples + coronets, happily.

Increasingly, I'm wondering how you cut a gown, with or without sleeves, to get a very flat horizontal neckline, and still have it perch on your shoulders. Many of the early-to-mid 14th c gowns really do look off-the-shoulder entirely, which makes it difficult to provide any internal bust support, unless you use bust binding, and don't use the gown for support at all. Either that, or else the style was limited to lissome yooff only. Which is possible.

Increasingly I'm noticing that the very fitted styles are on carefree dancing youths, rather than dignified rulers. There may be fitted gowns under the full rich gowns, but there's no way to know under all the folds.

While my head is full of largesse ideas and pretty 14th century gowns, my hands have to crack on with a new dress to wear for a coming wedding, several centuries' style later. Planning to haul the fabric, lining and pattern out this evening.

Comments

[badgersandjam.livejournal.com]

Square-necked Tudor stuff is almost inevitably pinned to a kirtle or shift underneath, particularly if the back is cut low as well. I would imagine it's the same with earlier stuff.

[ethnowoman.livejournal.com]

Evil lissome yoofs. When you're princess you can banish them all.