Italian Working Class Dress

The inspiration for this dress are the paintings of painter Vincenzo Campi. These are from the 1580's.

This dress is very simple, yet pretty. I wanted something Italian, but something cool and comfortable to wear in the daytime during the hot summer months of Meridies events. This dress closes in the front, which is how I will make mine for ease of getting in and out of. I purchased 10 yards of a linen/cotton blend from fabric.com for $2.95/yard!! Its very pretty and soft. I think I will do yellow guards on it...I thought about doing red...I'm not sure yet. Notice the ribbons on the shoulders that were used to tie up their sleeves and chemises when working. I will do the high necked smock in linen as well.

Here is another example of a working class dress. Notice the wrinkling on the bodice in front...that means no corset! Yay! I will probably put a little light boning in the very front to support the lacing. Other than that I will use a heavy duty canvas for the interlining. Since I have 10 yards, I may line it with the blue linen. If not I'll get some cotton or more linen to line it with. This dress has different color sleeves, so I may make some in yellow and blue, or line the sleeves in yellow and make them reversable.

Another Campi...this one is great because is shows many different styles. You can see examples the side back lacing and side lacing. Also the woman in the back has her sleeves pulled back and pinned or tied so they won't get in the way.

In my next post I'll have pictures of the patterns and fabric I will be using.