Introduction

6th May 2004

I've been fascinated by this image of the artist Sofonisba Anguissola ever since I first saw it. There's something about the solemnity of her expression plus the book she's holding that reminds me very strongly of myself at that age, and her subdued dress is a striking contrast to the opulent court gowns more often portrayed.

So I've been wanting to create this dress for a while and, now I have my own webpage to show off on, plus the sewing for this year's Kentwell is pretty much done, it seems an ideal opportunity.

Sofinisba painted this self-portrait in 1554, when she was twenty-two. Although the date is bang on correct for this year's Kentwell, the location - Italy - is not and, as Sofinisba was of far higher social standing than the peasants I usually portray, it's unlikely I'll ever be able to wear this costume on the manor. It is possible, however, that I could wear it to an American Rennaissance Faire, if and when I ever get to one. So, in adittion to trying to copy the look of the portrait as much as possible, I also want to make the clothing lightweight enough to carry on an aeroplane, as well as cool enough to cope with the heat of an American summer.

But first I need to figure out exactly what it is I'll be making.

Examining the portrait

I'm sure when Sofinisba was painting herself she would never have dreamt that, four hundred years down the line, someone would attempt to recreate her clothing. From a seamstresses point of view, this painting is a nightmare. The waist is hidden by the book she's holding and, of course, there's nothing visible from the waist down. But there are clues lurking in the image which hint at the layers she might be wearing.

The image above is fairly small and some of the details I'll be describing don't show up overly well in it. There is a better image available on this site although you'll have to click on the small image to get to it.

Looking at the obvious first of all, and starting from the inside out, there's clearly a small, white, linen frill at the neck and the wrists. Whether this is a high-neck shift or a shift and partlet is impossible to know. I'll be making the latter for the simple reason that I already have a number of low-necked shifts and I have a very fine piece of linen left over from making my boyfriend's shirt, which will be just big enough for a partlet.

The next two visible garments are the brown sleeves and the black layer covering the body. The black layer is obviously snug fitting, yet it's closed with just a few widely spaced buttons. It's not gaping at all, which means it can't be under any load, so there must be either a corset or a boned kirtle underneath to take the strain.

Indeed, looking closely at the image, it's possible to see a horizontal line showing where that supporting layer stops. That bodice - if indeed that's what it is - is quite high cut, which adds to the propriety and reserve of her appearance.

Turning to the shoulder tabs, there's another clue to how these garments are constructed. There are two rows of tabs. The uppermost one is black, and presumably are part of the black outer garment. But the second row are brown. It seems implausible that brown tabs would be attatched to a black garment, so they must be joined to either the sleeves or the underlayer. I've never come across tabs on sleeves - they're always part of the shoulder treatment - and the way they're being pushed down by the layer on top suggests they're attatched underneath it. So, to me, this suggests that under that black layer is a bodice of the same brown material as the sleeves.

What's going on at the waistline and with the skirts is, of course, anyone's guess. This image doesn't show anything at all. I'll need to consult other sources and attempt to extrapolate what the bottom half of this dress may have been like.

Looking at the fabric, to my eye both the brown and the black have the distinctive appearance of wool. Here's where I'll be making a practical compromise: I don't have any brown wool, but I do have three yards of brown linen. Linen will be more comfortable in the American heat, as well as easier to pack and take on the plane, and I can't really justify buying more wool for what really is just a fun project. I'll be sticking to wool for the outer garment as, if it's really hot, I can go without it, and a wool gown or doublet bodice potentially will be useful for Kentwell.

So, so far, it looks as if I'm going to be making:

• A white linen partlet and set of wrist ruffs.
• A brown linen kirtle with small shoulder tabs and sleeves. This will be heavily boned to provide the support neccessary for the smooth body-shape shown in the portrait.
• A sleeveless outer garment in black wool. Whether this is a doublet-bodice (although it would be a little early for that) or a fitted gown is as yet unclear. Whichever I end up making, it'll also have small shoulder tabs and will be fastened with buttons.

The next stage is to hit the books and see what other evidence I can turn up.

8th May 2004

It's amazing what google can turn up. Frustratingly, I'd found most of the images I'm going to use by slower, more conventional means, when typing 'Sofonisba' into google would have turned up everything I could possibly want on just one page. That one page is here and, as well as thumbnails of plenty of Sofonisba's work, has large, good quality images too. If the details I'm describing don't show up on these images, then they will on those.

This was the image that made me jump up and down in excitement. This is another self-portrait, this time painted two years later. What's great is that she's quite clearly wearing the same dress. This time, however, she hasn't fastened the black garment all the way. The top button (maybe the top two?) are done up, but the open edge of the black layer sweeps back, clearly showing a brown bodice underneath. So I was right! She is wearing a brown kirtle in this image, and the sleeves and tabs are part of that.

It's this portrait that holds the key. This time she's shown sitting at the keyboard of a musical instrument, and much more of her dress is visible. It's not quite the same outfit - the shoulder treatment on the black garment is different, and so are the fastenings - but it's close enough that I wonder if the dress shown in the two portraits I've discussed already has been modified from this.

What's really exciting is that this image shows part of the dress from the waist down. It quite clearly has a full skirt with what look like either box pleats or rolled pleats attatching it onto the bodice. The fullness is potentially a problem for me because, whilst it's easy to achieve with wool, linen tends to lie flatter. So I'm going to have to pad my pleats with wool to get the same shape.

This image also fills in the blanks on the black layer. Whilst this isn't so clear on that little picture, it's obvious from the big one on the site above that the black garment is fastened to the waist, and then continues on, sweeping back over the brown skirt. It's not a doublet bodice but is rather some sort of gown. So it looks like I'm going to be making a brown kirtle, with a full pleated skirt, and then a black sleeveless gown to wear over it.

This image also shows really nicely how the shirt collar fastens. There's quite clearly two pairs of ties, one above the other, which finish with little tassles. That's a nice decorative detail, and one I'm intending to copy.

The waistline is still unclear. I suspect it dips in a point at the front - if it didn't I think the top of the pleats would be visible above her arm - but how much of a dip there is and it's shape is hidden. So, again, I'm going to have to extrapolate from other sources.

I don't think this sketch is intended to be of Sofonisba, but it does perhaps give the best impression of what the kirtle might be like. It shows the high front and the straps with the downward pointing tabs. Those straps are set right on the edges of the shoulders, which is going to be an important detail to copy if this is to look right. Out of all these images, it's the only one to show the waistline, which does, indeed, drop down in a point. I'm going to be using that information to help in shaping the bodice.

What none of these images show is how the brown kirtle fastens. It's quite obvious it isn't front fastening - I can see the front and there's no sign of an opening. So it must fasten either at the back or at the side back. I've decided to make it side-back fastening. There's documentation that that was done in period - the bodice of Eleanora of Toledo shown in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion does so, and there's some pictorial evidence of side-back fastening, too. The clearest image that comes to mind is this and,although it's of a child, it illustrates nicely how I think the back of the kirtle should look. I confess, though, I've no way of knowing whether it's the correct closure for this dress - it's simply an informed guess in the absence of definitive evidence.