Red Kirtle: Medieval Mix & Match

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Another attempt at "Medieval Cosplay"!

But this time with my new red kirtle.

I know basically nothing about clothing pre-1500, so this is very much me playing historical Dress Up...

But I do love this ridiculous bycocket hat (originally made for a similar attempt at styling my blue kirtle) and will take advantage of any opportunity to wear it.

The base of the outfit is my new red kirtle, which is adapted from a bodice pattern that I've basically been using forever (but with sleeves and more shaped skirts taken from "The Queen's Servants").

This is paired with the above mentioned bycocket hat, a simple linen yard square, a white silk sash, and a pair of rust coloured 3/4 length wool sleeves.

And that's it!  A pretty simple, but very silly and fun, outfit.

As I've mentioned before, I love this veil style. I think it's super flattering around the face.

And despite this bodice being quite a bit shorter than other iterations I've made, the sash creates the optical illusion of an elongated torso, and the A-line nature of this combination (from the hat and veil right down to the flared skirts) makes for a very elegant silhouette. 

Or at least I think so.

And let's be honest, it's as close as I'm going to get to a stereotypical  "princess dress" and so I am totally here for it!

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Resources & Materials

Pattern:  

-The Tudor Tailor (book and/or ready-made pattern...but really, the bodice is mostly self drafted at this point)

-The Queen's Servants (book and/or ready-made pattern)

Fabric:

-Red wool from B.Blacks & Sons

-Rust wool from Dorr Mill

-White "Judy" linen (5.5oz)  Gray Line Linen

-Red "Judy" linen (5.5oz)  Gray Line Linen

-Hemp/cotton muslin for interlining (10.5) from Hemp Traders

-Muslin for mockup (also from Hemp Traders, but any muslin should do)

Trim and Notions:

-Black cotton tape (1/4")  for lacing from WM Booth Draper

Thread:

-Red silk thread

-Black silk thread

-White cotton thread (silk finish) for linens

Boning:

-7mm Plastic coated spring steel bones (4) from Vena Cava Design

-7mm Synthetic whalebone also from Vena Cava Design

Other Supplies:

-Red felt hat blank from Amazon

-Swedish pattern paper from Amazon. (This stuff is great! You can iron it!)

-Pattern weights

Blue Kirtle "Mix & Match 2: Medieval (ish) Madness"

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Welcome to the second of my "Mix & Match" posts for my Blue Kirtle. 

The insanity continues!

As I mentioned in my last post, I'd taken some additional photos of my new kirtle but these quickly devolved into playing ahistorical, Medieval dress-up...so I thought they'd be better off in their own post.

It started innocently enough with this image:

The woman is wearing a blue gown, lined in black on top of a light blue petticoat or kirtle.

The foundation layer is a very good (if not exact) colour match to my kirtle, so this is a look I could easily replicate in the future...but in the meantime I thought it might be fun to do to a nod this this outfit with the accessories I had at hand.

The look of a full length gown could be (vaguely) approximated by the addition of matching blue over-sleeves and the black lining with a gathered up, black apron.

That just left the headwear.

I already had a linen yard square to use as a veil  so I just needed a red hat.

I assume it would have been felted, knit cap with a turned up brim. I didn't have time to make or purchase one, so thought I'd experimenting with a felt cloche blank from Amazon.

But how to block it? 

Now...I have seen the hat in the inspiration image specially called a late bycocket hat in some online articles. 

To my eye I could see how it could be interpreted either way, so thought it would be fun to try for a traditional bycocket shape.

Given that I've never really blocked a hat from scratch before and know literally nothing about this style, the result isn't terrible as you would think!

Having finished the hat I'm not totally convinced that this is what the image shows...but I do think it looks pretty snazzy!

On to the photos!

Overall the result isn't bad. 

I mean...it's totally and completely WRONG in every detail, but it has the overall vibe of the inspiration image.

Sort of.

Kind of...

Maybe not.

ANYWAY...!

Now that I had a new hat to play with, I decide to just throw a bunch of accessories together and see what happens.

I know nothing about clothing pre-1500, so I don't even know how wrong I am in what follows. I suspect it's a lot.

The first look is a bit match-y, with red sleeves and and natural/undyed linen.

And again, with green sleeves!

And the same again...but this time with a jug!

(I love props...)

This green variant is probably my favourite. 

I love the colour combination. It has all the brightness and fun that I associate with Medieval imagery, so purely as a costume I think it works rather well.

I can definitely see myself wearing this to a Renaissance Faire at some point.

Next up are some dark blue sleeves.

In general I really like the combination of the dark blue sleeves with the lighter kirtle, but I don't think I quite landed the accessories.

(As an aside, I do really like the veil look overall. I have a very square face/jaw/head that I've often felt self conscious about and I find the veil really softens the harsher angles of my face.  I can see why it would have been a popular style!)

Now at this point  I just start playing with colour and shapes.

I lose the yellow purse and bring back the red sleeve and stark white apron.

The pallet is now only blue, red and white.

The veil is also left untucked so I get to play the angular folds off the point of the hat.

The result (I think) is interesting visually, but again I make no claims on its historical accuracy...

And finally, the same look without the hat.

And that's it! 

Again, I LOVE this kirtle. It's super fun and endlessly versatile. 

I still have a bunch more sleeves and accessories that I'd love to try but those will have to wait for another day.

(For more on this blue kirtle see the original Dress Diary and my previous Mix & Match)

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