Unlike her mother, my 14 year old daughter Valeria isn't that fond of shiny stuff and things that glitter - she wants dark sombre colours and middle calls or peasant clothing. This costume is, as every reader of The Tudor Tailor must be aware of, based on the detail from a painting of the Field of the Cloth of Gold shown on page 19. The painting is from 1520.
    The whole outfit is sewn entirely by hand. The gown and partlet (the black thing covering her shoulders) are from wool; the partlet from a heavily fulled cloth and the dress from a just lightly fulled twill. The shift is of course linen, as well as the cap and apron, which is mine - I plan to make a coloured wool apron as soon as I have made up my mind about which fabric to use. I also made pin-on sleeves for this dress, reversible in thin black and red wool respectively; no photos of her wearing them though.
   In the last photo she's wearing a jacket, which strictly speaking is much later than the painting that inspired the rest of the outfit, jackets became common only at the second half of the 16th century, but since it was chilly a jacket was if not needed so at least appreciated.

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