Cutting it Close:

Reconstructing Italian Renaissance Dress

Field of Interest:

My interest in historical costume took me by surprise when I entered college.  I suppose it grew from childhood games of dress-up and a collection of paper dolls, as well as an overdose of fantasy books with pictures of beautiful medieval gowns on the covers, but I never thought about it as more than a hobby until I took Laura Crow’s Costume History class (Drama 213) during my very first semester at UConn.  Then and there, I knew what I wanted to spend my life learning.  When I grow up I want to be a Costume Historian. 

The history of costume is largely overlooked by society despite the fact that body ornamentation is one of the few truly universal human traits.  What people don’t realize is that the history of costume is fully and inescapably entwined with politics, social movements, and economic developments throughout time, making the history of fashion a kind of parable to the whole human story.  Furthermore, the craftsmanship that powered centuries of unimaginable change and innovation of construction in clothing is a remarkable theme to follow through the ages.  I plan to incorporate elements of both the historical and craft-oriented sides of costume into my University Scholar project.

While it is true that the specifics I learn while fulfilling this endeavor will remain with me in my future works as a costume historian, the real reason for me to become a University Scholar is to learn how to learn in my chosen field.  Learning information out of a textbook is fine, but through this program I will work out for myself where that information comes from and how to find it on my own.  I am ready to see how costume research really works.  The University Scholar Program will provide me with that opportunity. I have designed a project that will allow me to study the practical aspect of costume-making as well as the historical analysis of dress. 

Project Proposal:

PART I:          

Firstly, I plan to recreate a complete female outfit as seen in an Italian Renaissance portrait.  While I have not yet made a final decision on a portrait to base my reproduction on, it will be the portrait of an aristocratic woman because of the broad network of cultural influences that connected all the courts of Europe and the city-states of Italy at this time. 

There is a great deal of study and analysis needed before actual construction of the garment begins.  I will study the chosen portrait to observe the style and construction of the dress and find other paintings of contemporary costume for further verification of these details.  It will be very important to determine the reliability of the images I choose to use, taking into account artistic style and painting conventions.  Luckily, according to one source, this may not be a widespread problem in portraiture because special care was taken during the Renaissance to accurately depict clothing.

Portrait paintings now tend to be valued for…the sitter’s face and the painter’s psychological insight….  But in the Renaissance sitters’ faces were often glimpsed only in passing….  The sitter’s clothes, on the other hand, were often carefully sketched to record their color and material or they were actually sent to the studio where they could have their ‘portrait’ made at the painter’s leisure.

(Jones and Stallybrass, Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory, 34)

Art historical information such as this will allow me to determine the validity of the art to be used.    Once the paintings are deemed valid, I will need to ‘read’ them accurately in order to interpret the costume depicted in them correctly.  Elizabeth Birbari is the author of Dress in Italian Painting.  In her book she observes the drape of fabric, the evidence of layers, and the appearance of seams in artwork, and she reconstructs remarkable likenesses based on those observations.  I will take the same care in observation and the translation of those features I observe. 

I also intend to research Renaissance construction techniques and historical materials.  I am a relatively proficient seamstress, but the skills I have developed today might not be applicable for a Renaissance garment.  I will start with the facsimile of the Tailor’s Pattern Book from 1589 and continue my research on construction techniques from there.  In addition to other written sources, I hope to observe extant Renaissance garments first hand to understand the composition of clothing and how pieces were sewn together.  I will be in Florence, Italy with the UConn study abroad program during the coming spring semester, which will hopefully be an ideal location to find such examples.  I have not found mention of extant Italian Renaissance garments in any particular museum, but I intend to search for examples, starting at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence and asking where I might go from there.  Constructed pieces of clothing are not the only relevant items I could benefit from observing; Renaissance textiles certainly do exist in museums such as the Museo Civico in Lucca and Turin.  In order to access any museum’s garments, however, I will need to prepare by sending letters of introduction and explanation two months ahead. Armed with letters from influential people describing my mission and what I hope to achieve as well as a great deal of professionalism, I hope to be granted permission to see extant garments and textiles and to learn from their curators.   

Once I have gathered all of my observations and technical information, I will need to begin construction.  I have helped out at the Costume Shop at UConn several times in the past and have gotten to know the people and tools found there.  These may be a useful resource for me utilize as I construct this project.  Judy Heywood, the head of the Costume Shop, is known as an excellent draper and tailor and may be a wonderful reference for any questions of construction I may have.  I will certainly be able to learn from her at the Costume Shop. 

In constructing a period outfit, I will take care to create the right ‘look’.  This will include the use of correct textiles based on weight, fiber content and decoration as well as including all of the necessary layers involved in Renaissance dress.  Thus my reproduction will include undergarments that might not be visible in the main portrait.  I will look to other historical sources for the types of undergarments that would be in use in order to make an educated decision as to what my subject might be wearing under her gown.  Finishing touches such as belts, necklaces, or headpieces will complete the period look. 

However, I am not only concerned with the appearance of my historical reproduction.  If that was the case, there would be many unhistorical shortcuts I could take to achieve the same look.  My final product will not only look historically accurate, but will be created only through historical methods.  This qualification places more emphasis on the previous steps of thorough research.  I will investigate the types of fasteners and stiffeners available to a Renaissance tailor in order to create the right shape without modern zippers or plastic boning.  The types of stitches used in the Renaissance will also be an important detail to learn about so that I can hand-sew as much of the project as possible, though I might use a machine at times, taking into account the speed of my hand sewing and the time I have to complete the project.  The difference between hand sewing and machine sewing is the least significant historical anomaly since both technologies fulfill the same function in the same manner, only at different speeds.        

The construction process should begin as soon as possible because it will take much more time than any other part of my project.

PART II:

The second part of my University Scholar Project will be a paper regarding the cultural and historical origins of the style of clothing I choose to recreate as well as the social and economic factors that influenced its use.  Stella Mary Newton, author of The Dress of the Venetians, notes that “as one of the applied arts, dress is too restless to be important, but as an aspect of social history it is unparalleled.  In forecasting revolutionary movements it is as sensitive as it is in the foretelling of a return to conservatism” (6).  Political change and economic developments as well as social movements affect costume and are affected by costume in return.  

Primary sources such as the Tailor’s Pattern Book and diaries of the great aristocratic families of Italy such as the Sforza’s and the Medici’s will provide first hand information about the types of clothing worn by certain people as well as the contemporary attitudes towards the importance of dress in social roles.  This type of information will allow me to better connect the fashions being worn with contemporary events and attitudes.

I plan to focus this paper narrowly to analyze only the style that I am replicating in Part I.  However, this will not narrow my research base, only the subject I need to relate it to.  All of the Art History and History courses I outline in my Plan of Study are very broad surveys relative to the final output of my paper, but such depth will allow me to truly question ‘why?’ over and over again as I investigate the origins of the style I choose.  The wide knowledge base that goes into this narrow paper will allow me to break down almost any contemporary fashion in the same manner. 

Plan of Study:

            I have created my plan of study by gleaning the relevant courses I could find from the departments of Art History and History, as well as Dramatic Arts and one from Philosophy.  I have several general education requirements that I have yet to fulfill that do not necessarily have any bearing on my project.  These I have tried to place in later semesters so that the background classes that support my project will be completed early on in the plan.

SPRING 2006

            I will be in Florence, Italy for this semester.  In addition to the field work I described above, I will be taking five courses at The Palazzo Rucellai: The Institute of Fine and Liberal Arts.  The courses applicable to my Italian Renaissance theme are History 267— Italy 1250-1600 and History 293—Shifting Identities: Humanism and Renaissance.  The former will be a broad look at history in Italy during that time, while the latter will focus on the social changes taking place.  Both of these classes will provide me with a good backdrop of Italian Renaissance history to begin thinking about the forces that helped to shape costume.

FALL 2006

            When I return in the fall, I will take a full course load, all of which, minus one, will be relevant to my study.  I have also planned for an independent study.  The subject of this independent study is only tentatively decided, because the topic I will need to work on during that time will become evident after I have already spent a semester researching.  Whatever the specifics are, it will most likely be based around research and work on the practical element of my project; recreating the costume will take the longest time, so research for that section should be done first.  The Art of the Italian Renaissance will be an important class for my interpretation of costume in paintings.  I need to know what the artistic conventions and styles of Renaissance painters are before I can make educated decisions about accuracy in paintings or the lack thereof.  The history class called The Renaissance might provide me with a wider view of Renaissance history throughout Europe, incorporating all of the western European kingdoms.  However, if I feel that the Humanism and Renaissance and Italy 1250-1600 classes taken in Italy have sufficiently covered the subject, I will not take this history class.  The Introduction to the History of Science I believe will be very relevant to my understanding of the social feel of the Renaissance because of the great revival of scientific inquiry that characterizes that era.  And finally for the fall of 2006, I found Aesthetics tucked away in the Philosophy department.  This course will be important in that it will offer me a new approach to the idea of ‘beauty’ to include in my final analysis and a new set of vocabulary with which to discuss art and costume in general.

SPRING 2007

            My final semester course load will include another two independent studies which will focus on the final elements of costume reproduction as well as the historical analysis paper.  Again, these topics are subject to change dependent on the progress I have made and the type of research/work left to be done.  I have not scheduled as many directly relevant classes for my last semester since my project should be fairly well along by this point.  I will be taking a very relevant graduate course in Dramatic Arts called Color Theory and Fabric Identification.  Admittedly it is a bit late in my project plan, but the graduate costume courses are on a fixed three year rotation that refuses argument.  This class will provide useful information on textiles in general and how to choose fabric based on the characteristics you wish the final product to exhibit.  Possibly historical color choices will play a part in the course as well. 

            This proposed Plan of Study is very full and will challenge my time management skills.  I will also be challenged in the amount of knowledge I must absorb in each semester.  The courses I have chosen to aid me in my University Scholar undertaking are all important to my project.  Each relevant course will give me a foundation upon which to build up more specified research each semester.  Upon a broad base of history and art history, I will be able to discover the influences that affected dress and, from there, determine which influences affected the style I will be replicating in particular. 

Biblography

Ann Rosalind Jones, Peter Stallybrass.  Renaissance clothing and the materials of memory. Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Elizabeth Birbari. Dress in Italian painting, 1460-1500.  London : J. Murray, [1975]

Juan de Alcega ; with translation by Jean Pain & Cecilia Bainton ; introduction and notes by J. L. Nevinson. Tailor’s pattern book : 1589 facsimile.  Carlton, Bedford, [ Eng. ] : R. Bean, 1979.

Stella Mary Newton. The dress of the Venetians, 1495-1525.  Aldershot, England ; Brookfield, Vt., U.S.A. : Scolar Press, 1988.