Elizabethan Drawers

Along with the corset found on Elizabeth's Effigy from 1603 it is also recorded the effigy was wearing a pair of drawers, apparently a present from an Italian ambassador. Also in Janet Arnold's book, Wadrobe Unlock'd theres a photograph of a pair of drawers that are also possibly women's drawers. I also read online that Woman's drawers were not worn in England because it was believed that it would give women 'Lustful ideas', this would kind of fit with Poppea's position as the Emporer's mistress. She also seems like the kind of character that would be ahead of the times and going against convention so i think that i will possibly put her in drawers instead of the longer shift.

I really like the way these sleeves are constructed with layers of woven braid.

If i do use the boning structure inside the sleeves i want the majority of the sleeves to be sheer to show the structure. However, i could use this tenchniqe on the top section of the sleeves, like on a shoulder wing or something perhaps?

Elizabeth; Bess's costumes

In the Film Elizabeth the Golden Age the character Bess wears many nice dresses, but i what i meainly like about he costumes are the small details and decorations.

I like this lace decoration on one of her gowns, with lace the same colou as the main fabric but then a gold underlay that just shoes through the lace, this ould work effectivly with red aswell.

I like the antique lace on the front of this dress, something like that could be on the front stomacher of my costume, if i decide against embroidery

I like all the standing collars that she wears, i prefer standing collars to ruffs i think, and would prefer a standing collar on my costume.

I also really like the lace that is visible at the neckline of some of her dresses.

Wig Making

On this website, i found a tutorial for making a knitted Elizabethan wig. Although the original is a knitted wig, i think that if i plan to make a wig or hairpiece of some sort, this tutorial might be quite helpful as to the construction of the wig.

Embroidered Stomachers

I like these embroidered stomachers that were sometimes worn with elizabethan dresses

If possible i would like to create something like this on my costume, perhaps by using the machine emboidery machine?

Elizabeth; The Golden Age

Although Elizabeth the Golden age is set a bit earlier than 1600, a few of the dresses have styles that continued until the end of the Elizbethan era.

Elizabeth is seen wearing an Effigy corset here

I especially like the stand up collars that are prominant in the film, from this screenshot of Bess's costume, it appears to have a wire structure underneath to keep the shape, and presumably the lace has been stiffened to keep the shape aswell.

Farthingale Sleeves?

On this website the author is making a copy of a dress worn by Elizabeth I in one of her portraits. In the construction of this dress she has made this unusual sleeve construction

I quite like the way that boning has been used to create the shape of Elizabethan sleeves, and it would look pretty inteesting witht the sheer fabric on top, so the arms would still be visible. However, i can find any historical evidence behind these sleeves as construction techniques. However, in The Tudor Tailor book, it does have smaller puffed sleeves shape being created using Boning, so perhaps this idea is not too unrealistic.

Munich Bodies Vs. Effigy Corset

Two examples of extant 'bodies' from the late 16th and ealy 17th centuries are the 'Munich Bodies', dated approximatley 1598, and the 'Effigy Bodies' dated to 1603. While being fairly close together in years, the style of the corsets are vey different.

The
Munich
 example
 was
 salvaged 
from
 the 
burial 
clothing 
of 
Pfalzgraf in
 Dorothea
 Sabina von
 Neuberg. Its laced at the back and is boned in a way to leave the 'cups' of the breast area without boning. This style of body looks like the one that is pictured in Norah Waugh's Corsets and Cinolines book (shown below)

The 'Effigy' was found on an effigy of Queen Elizabeth I, and was initially believed to be from the 18th century. However, after being examined by Janet Arnold it was confirmed to have been made in 1603, and may have been based off a pair of stays worn by Elizabeth II just before she died.

The Effigy corset is much longer and fully boned from whalebone. It also has front lacing and does not feature a busk. 1600 is right in between the two dates of these corsets, but i think that i prefer the Effigy corset for the look that i want to go for for my costume.

Early 17th century Fashion Illustrations

The mode in Costume

Peacock's 1066-1990

New Date;1600

For the Redesign part of this project i recieved the date of 1600, the vey end of Elizabeth I's reign in England. I will begin research into this era now, before designing the new costume for Poppea.

V&A archive photographs

"By the 1660s the traditional doublet and hose had altered from their forms earlier in the century. The doublet had become a very short garment that exposed the shirt underneath at the waist. This particular example is made of beige watered silk and decorated with parchment lace. The fronts and sleeves are paned, that is, fashioned in narrow strips that open to reveal the shirt. This doublet is part of an ensemble of matching cassock and breeches, reputed to have belonged to Prince Rupert (1619-1682). The breeches were too fragile to exhibit, and so a reproduction pair is shown here, carefully reproducing the exact style of the originals. Known as petticoat breeches, they were a very wide, full shape and open at the knee."

Doublets formed part of the fashionable ensemble of clothing worn by men in Europe until the late 1660s. The very short length of this example is characteristic of the extreme style of doublets at their final appearance in the male wardrobe. From 1650 to 1665, doublets shortened so that there was a gap between doublet and breeches through which the shirt could be seen. The centre back and front sleeves were left unstitched for further exposure of the shirt, which in the 17th century was considered underwear. More conservative members of society considered the result rather untidy looking. Such a radical fashion, usually worn by young men, attracted the attention of cartoonists and the condemnation of moralists. The spectacular golden effect of the fabric of this example was created by weaving with silk and with threads wrapped with strips of silver gilt. This splendid material was probably imported from Italy, as there was little in the way of silk-weaving in Britain at this time. Adding to the luxurious effect is the lavish use of bobbin lace also made of silver-gilt thread.