My green wool dress
 |
 |
Made in 2001
Yes, it actually is green, although it looks yellow in the first image. Both pictures were taken with the kind of camera you only can use once and then you send the whole thing to be developed, so actually I'm impressed by the quality.
The dress is made of not very thick, but quite firm herringbone wool twill. The pattern is in light green and beige. The skirt is box pleated to the bodice and the bodice doesn't have a very pronounced point. it is only 3 m wide (which btw is my standard skirt width). Together with the buttoned front closure (hand sewn buttonholes) and the simple sleeve caps I think it all has a distinct middle class look. To this I wear a partlet and sleeves embroidered with divers flowers and animals, real and fantastic. Below are some not very good pictures of the partlet and some rather better pictures of the sleeves. It's embroidered with stem stitch (mainly) and the motifs are taken from 16th century patterns books. They can also been seen on this page
In this picture I also wear my french hood, although it is way too shiny and upper-classy for the dress. The reason for this is that I had a limited amount of clothes with me when I went to Kalmar renaissance days. I was travelling by train and 16th century clothing takes up lot's of space, especially the farthingale. I had intended to wear my wool loose gown with the french hood, they're made to go together, but it was too warm to wear in the middle of the day. So I ended up with this mix of social classes.
The stones in the background are a part of the beautiful renaissance castle in Kalmar, which I strongly recommend anybody who has the chance to visit. In the summer it's breathtaking; the castle just by the blue, blue sea, with roses and elderberry bushes by the wall. And all the times I've been there in the summer, there's been a couple of swans swimming just by the castle. The second picture is taken inside the castle.
Partlet front |
Partlet back |
And this is how the sleeves look, click on them if you want a larger picture:
 |
 |