"Bronzino" Italian Renaissance Gown -- Finished!
After months of toiling away and late evenings madly sewing eyelets (1 am on the night before I planned on wearing the dress...last minute sewing is the only kind of sewing), this dress--officially dubbed the "Bronzino Gown"--is finally finished! I think I like this dress more than my Chemise a la Reine: the color, the shape, the decoration, I'm so in love. Finishing this dress was a personal victory. Pour la victoire!
The dress was worn with my Italian Renaissance Camicia, Improved 18th Century Petticoat, and Embroidered 18th Century Pockets. The Italian Ren version of pockets, a Saccoccia,
is pretty similar to the 18th c. version anyway. The red scarf was
bought from a streetside vendor in NYC. I'm also wearing gold earrings
with blue glass bead drops, a vintage ring, a gold filigree ball necklace from Portugal (part of my Portuguese folkloric dancing costume), and a girdle. The girdle is cobbled sloppily together from 2
flea market necklaces: a very long chain and pearl necklace, looped up,
with a chain tassel removed from another chain necklace.
The lower sleeves are my favorite part of the whole dress. They took several weekends to make; just the piping took an entire day! The piping is made from a silvery-champagne fabric that my aunt gave me a year ago. The outer fabric, a gorgeous silver-green damask, was a gift from her as well--remnants from an upholstery project almost a decade ago. The mother-of-pearl-ish (plastic) buttons are vintage (1980s) from a sweater my mom had. The beige ribbon loops are made from those ribbons sewed into clothes to hold them onto hangers. The lower sleeves were completely free!
The neckline trim is made with metallic gold lace sewn over a strip of the silvery-champagne poly satin. A few pearls are sewn on as well; historically accurate or not, I loved the depth and luster of the pearls. The dress fastens in the center back with 40 handmade eyelets
I honestly did not notice those wrinkles in the back while I was making this /: It's difficult to fit a back-lacing garment on yourself! In fact, I think the wrinkles aren't as noticeable in person--at least the ones in front--and show up more prominently on camera.
I realized that though the dress isn't as perfect as I'd like, I don't love it any less. I had to realize that in the end, this project was a historical costume, and not a faithful recreation. For one thing, most of the materials are synthetic (though they were selected because they didn't look synthetic). Secondly, this was my first try at a garment from this period, and there is much more that I have yet to learn. I learned new skills--cartridge pleating, sewing eyelets, making piping--that contribute to both the historical accuracy of the gown and to its glam-factor.
Materials:
4.5 yds of blue poly satin ($3/yd) -- $13.50
1 yd of green damask for bodice interlining -- stash
1 yd of green heavyweight linen? for bodice lining -- $1
Muslin for hem guard -- stash
Silver poly satin -- gift
Silver green poly damask -- gift
Plastic mother-of-pearl buttons -- stash
Pearls -- $2 for 100
Gold metallic lace -- $5
Various threads -- $4
Yarn for piping -- stash
Pink ribbon -- gift (wrapped around a birthday present!)
Total: $25.50
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| The hem is whip-stitched by hand. A muslin hem guard was also whip-stitched by hand, a total of 12 yds of handsewing! |
The lower sleeves are my favorite part of the whole dress. They took several weekends to make; just the piping took an entire day! The piping is made from a silvery-champagne fabric that my aunt gave me a year ago. The outer fabric, a gorgeous silver-green damask, was a gift from her as well--remnants from an upholstery project almost a decade ago. The mother-of-pearl-ish (plastic) buttons are vintage (1980s) from a sweater my mom had. The beige ribbon loops are made from those ribbons sewed into clothes to hold them onto hangers. The lower sleeves were completely free!
The neckline trim is made with metallic gold lace sewn over a strip of the silvery-champagne poly satin. A few pearls are sewn on as well; historically accurate or not, I loved the depth and luster of the pearls. The dress fastens in the center back with 40 handmade eyelets
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| I'm wearing a soft cup, wireless bra just for some "definition"--the clear straps are showing here. |
I realized that though the dress isn't as perfect as I'd like, I don't love it any less. I had to realize that in the end, this project was a historical costume, and not a faithful recreation. For one thing, most of the materials are synthetic (though they were selected because they didn't look synthetic). Secondly, this was my first try at a garment from this period, and there is much more that I have yet to learn. I learned new skills--cartridge pleating, sewing eyelets, making piping--that contribute to both the historical accuracy of the gown and to its glam-factor.
Materials:
4.5 yds of blue poly satin ($3/yd) -- $13.50
1 yd of green damask for bodice interlining -- stash
1 yd of green heavyweight linen? for bodice lining -- $1
Muslin for hem guard -- stash
Silver poly satin -- gift
Silver green poly damask -- gift
Plastic mother-of-pearl buttons -- stash
Pearls -- $2 for 100
Gold metallic lace -- $5
Various threads -- $4
Yarn for piping -- stash
Pink ribbon -- gift (wrapped around a birthday present!)
Total: $25.50
