The Realm of Venus Presents....
talian 
howcase
Showcasing:
Danielle Nunn-Weinberg
SCA participant and
art historian specialising in 16th century women's clothing
A Gown inspired by Bronzino's Ladies
Danielle Says.....
My name is Danielle Nunn-Weinberg. I am a finishing a Master’s in Art History with a specialty in historical clothing and textiles at the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota. In January I will start a Ph.D. at the University of Manchester in England, focusing on clothing and textile references in 16th century wills and inventories from Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire.
I have been interested in historical clothing for as long as I can remember. Involvement in the SCA provided an outlet for my costume obsession. Initially I tried costumes from many different countries and centuries, but eventually settled into the 16th century as the time period I find most interesting. Once my interest in the 16th century was established, I soon encountered the works of Agnolo Bronzino and Lorenzo Lotto. I find the elegant simplicity of the gowns they painted during the 1530s and 1540s greatly appealing, and have made a couple of variations on the theme.
The gown is made from 14 yards of green and black Indian silk
with metallic gold dots. The sleeves and skirt are lined in
purple multi-colour striped cotton and the bodice is lined with
cotton canvas, for structure and support. (At left. See also medium image; large image) The textiles for this gown while not actually
correct for the garment were chosen using the time-honoured
costumer’s method of "I had them on hand." (Well,
I did feel like being a trifle rebellious in my chosen lining
fabric <g>). In most of the paintings I have examined, the
gowns appear to be made of velvet, or heavy silk. The green silk
is very lightweight, so additional yardage (additional skirt
panels) was needed to give the same appearance of fullness in
this cartridge-pleated skirt as is demonstrated in the paintings.
This gown is not a copy of any one particular gown
but inspired by many. Bronzino’s "A Lady with a
Puppy," inspired the brevity of the bodice, (right) while
the sleeves were inspired by numerous portraits such as
Bronzino’s "Lucrezia Panciatichi," (left) and
Bronzino’s "Laura Battiferri" (left, below) which
my apprentice has nicknamed "the lady with a giant slug on
her head…"
The orange under-sleeves are also of Indian silk and are basted
into the armscye instead 
of being
fastened to the kirtle or under-dress layer, which I omitted in
this photo since I didn’t get it finished in time. (Of
course none of you know what I’m talking about do you?
<G>) The kirtle layer, aside from providing the outfit with
the lower or under-sleeves, it gives the wearer the support
needed without resorting to corsetry which is incorrect for this
time and place. In specific terms the kirtle compensates for
lightweight fabric, and gives more body to the skirt of the gown.
I’m sure you’ve noticed in portraits that you
can’t see the sitter’s legs outlined through the skirt.
The construction of the gown is quite
simple. When striving for accuracy, one key thing to remember is
the way a tailor’s shop produced garments within a
guild/apprenticeship system. Each piece of the garment was
finished individually, possibly by a different apprentice or
journeyman. Using extant garments as a guide, one way to
finish a bodice piece is cut the lining and inter-lining without
seam allowance on all edges except those which require sewing or
other reinforcement, such as eyelets or other closures, the ends
of shoulder straps and side seam areas. The outer (fashion)
fabric is then rolled over the raw edges of the lining and
stitched down so that it doesn’t show through to the
outside. 
(Right.
See also medium image; large image) Expanding a garment constructed in this manner is
easy, and doesn’t require piecing the outer fabric. Once all
the pieces were finished, they would be joined together. So, the
bodice front panel was finished on all sides before being joined
to both back panels.( Below. See also medium image; large image).
I believe from my study of paintings and a basic knowledge of period construction techniques this style of gown would have fastened up the center back, with laces, hooks & eyes, or buttons (my preference is lacing). My reasoning is as follows: there is clearly no front opening in any of the portraits of this style I have seen, and side lacing or side-back lacing (like Eleanora of Toledo’s gown) is not practical with the large set-in sleeves. The gown’s sleeves are heavy and if one tried to make them removable (i.e. tie-in) there would likely be large gaps between the sleeve and shoulder strap, or they may not stay in place at all. The bodice back should be cut high to keep the shoulder straps on the shoulders once the sleeves are attached. Unfortunately, I did not cut the back of my gown high enough. (Below. See also medium image; large image)
I am frequently asked how to make the sleeves for this type of gown. I have used two methods successfully, and the choice of method depends completely on the desired look of the final product.
Method 1 - sleeves on green gown
Supplies:
A sleeve base - cut an elbow (or above) length sleeve based on your favorite sleeve pattern.
Fabric for outer layer of sleeve (I used 1 ½ widths of 45" fabric for each sleeve and double the length of the sleeve base)
2 (or 4) 1 ½" strips of your gown fabric to be used for binding the sleeve bottom edges (binding the top edge is optional)
Optional: COTTON batting if your gown fabric is very lightweight like mine is.
Step1
Cut the sleeve bases out of your lining fabric. Make sure you
have a left and a right sleeve that fits in the armscye
comfortably without much ease or gathering. Keep in mind the
"S" shape of period sleeves and make the curve fairly
shallow. (Left)
Step 2
Sew sleeve lining together to form the sleeve. Leave it inside out so that the seam is on the outside. Press the seam open.
Step 3
Draw
the "S" shape for the sleeve head. The
"valley" under the arm section should be the width of
the half-width and the "hill" should be the width of
the full width panel of the sleeve. (Left) If the fabric is very
thin, back it with a single layer of cotton batting.
Step 4
Sew outer layer sleeve together to form the sleeve and press the seam open. You may have to grade the seam if you are using batting in the sleeve. Turn the sleeve right side out.
Step 5
a) With right sides together, evenly gather the outer-sleeve to the base along the top edge. Stitch the two pieces together then turn them right side out and press.
b)
If your fabric is too bulky to sew together in the above fashion,
tack the outer-sleeve gathers to the base and use one of the
fabric strips to bind over the top edge so that there are no raw
edges. (Right. See also medium image; large image)
Step 6
Once the top edge of the sleeve and base are sewn together run a gathering thread through the bottom edge of the outer-sleeve fabric. Arrange the gathers so that there is little bulk on under arm side of the sleeve and most of the bulk is on the upper or outside part of the sleeve.
Step 7
Use a binding strip to finish the lower edge of the sleeve,
making sure that all raw edges are covered. (Left. See also medium image; large image)
Step 8
At this point your sleeve should be big and puffy like the
lady’s in Lotto’s "Messer Marsilio and his
Wife" (right) or Sarto’s "Portrait of a Woman with
a Basket of Spindles" (left)
To create the ruched look, start randomly tacking the outer
sleeve to the lining with a couple of stitches. There is no
formula for stitch placement; it looks much better if they are
"eyeballed." Here you can see the random placement of
the tacking stitches on the inside of the sleeve.(Below. See also
medium image; large image) Try to keep most of the fullness away from the
underarm or you won’t be able lower your arm.
Step 9
Once you are done tacking the sleeve top and bottom layers
together, whip stitch the sleeve into the armscye. (Left. See
also medium image; large image)
Voila! You have puffy ruched sleeves like this. (Right. See also medium image; large image)
My very
first late period gown was an orange velvet recreation of
Bronzino’s "Lucrezia Panciatichi." (Left) As you
can see, the sleeves of the orange more closely resemble this
portrait than those of the green gown. (Right. See also medium image; large image)
Method 2 - sleeves on orange gown
Supplies:
A sleeve base - cut an elbow (or above) length sleeve based on your favorite sleeve pattern.
Fabric for outer layer of sleeve (I used 1 ½ - 2 widths of 45" fabric for each sleeve and double the length of the sleeve base)
2 (or 4) 1 ½" strips of your gown fabric to be used for binding the sleeve bottom edges (binding the top edge is optional)
Optional: COTTON batting if your gown fabric is very lightweight such as that of the green gown.
Step1
Cut the sleeve bases out of your lining fabric. Make sure you have a left and a right sleeve that fits in the armscye comfortably without too much ease or gathering. Keep in mind the "S" shape of period sleeves and make the curve fairly shallow. (See drawing)
Step 2
Sew sleeve lining together to form the sleeve. Leave it inside out so that the seam is on the outside. Press the seam open.
Step 3
Draw the "S" shape for the sleeve head. The "valley" under the arm section should be the width of the half-width and the "hill" should be the width of the full width panel of the sleeve. (See drawing) If the fabric is very thin, back it with a single layer of cotton batting.
Step 4
Using very long stitches (1 inch or more) sew parallel rows of gathering stitches, forming horizontal rows. Also, run a row of regular gathering stitches along the top and edges of the outer sleeve.
Step 5
Sew outer layer sleeve together to form the sleeve and press the seam open. You may have to grade the seam if you are using batting in the sleeve. Turn the sleeve right side out.
Step 6
a) With right sides together, evenly gather the outer-sleeve to the base along the top edge. Stitch the two pieces together then turn them right side out and press.
b) If your fabric is too bulky to sew together in the above fashion, tack the outer-sleeve gathers to the base and use one of the fabric strips to bind over the top edge so that there are no raw edges.
Step 7
Once the top edge of the sleeve and base are sewn together run a gathering thread through the bottom edge of the outer-sleeve fabric. Arrange the gathers so that there is little bulk on under arm side of the sleeve and most of the bulk is on the upper or outside part of the sleeve.
Step 8
Use a binding strip to finish the lower edge of the sleeve, making sure that all raw edges are covered.
Step 9
At
this point your sleeve should be big and puffy like the
lady’s in Lotto’s "Messer Marsilio and his
Wife." (Right.) To create the ruched look, pull all the
gathering threads as evenly as possible, so that you wind up with
puffy rows. (Below. See also medium image; large image)
To keep the ruching in place, use several stitches to tack the outer sleeve to the lining every so often. There is no formula for stitch placement; it looks much better if they are "eyeballed." Try to keep most of the fullness away from the underarm or you won’t be able lower your arm.
Step 10
Once you are done tacking the sleeve top and bottom layers together, whip stitch the sleeve into the armscye. Voila! You have puffy ruched sleeves.
When you are done your gown and ready to wear it, don’t
forget a proper hair style. Many of the paintings show a ribbon
wrapped braid wound around the back of the head (à la slug
lady). Some of the paintings show the ladies wearing a balazzo or
head-roll. For example: Bernardino Luini’s "Portrait of
a Lady." (Left) If you were ever wondering what to do with
your hair under the roll, you might want to consider a ponytail.
Surprisingly, they are correct for the time period. This statute
in the V&A is wearing one under her roll. (Below. See also medium image)
Bella Says.....
Wow! What more can I say? This month I am incredibly awed and thankful to Danielle Nunn-Weinberg for giving me such wonderfully detailed information and pictures - her Bronzino sleeves are just gorgeous! Danielle was one of the lights of inspiration back when I first began in historic costuming - her attention to detail is amazing, but more so is her unwavering courtesy and willingness to share her knowledge. I am proud to feature the work of such a talented and generous person. Danielle has a new website and can be contacted at this e-mail address.
Would you like to be Showcased? Email me!
