Golden Age Dress Project

Merry Company

I finally cleaned up my sewing room and am ready to start. Heather Heroldt, is going to be the model for the women's gown, so I have all the basic slopers (from the Queen Elizabeth gig) to start with - a great time saver. I am also doing a 5 year old child....don't have that model, but I figure I can make it to fit a standard 5T and then find a rug-rat to stick in it.

I have found a few interesting things during my research. There seems to be two fairly unique styles of gowns being worn concurrently during this period. There is the style of dress like the one the PAM has asked me to do, which seems to consist of an almost always black outergown, typically dark underbodice, typically dark underskirt, and a large, always plain white cartwheel ruff and tailored cuffs. Then there is a style of gown which is almost always worn with an open, sometimes supported, sometimes flat lacy collar and lacy cuffs. This style of gown is usually done up in very bright colors. This being said, you can always find exceptions to the generalizations.

These two types of gowns are shown together in a painting at the Rijksmuseum by Hals Dirk called "Fête Champêtre"

You can find more pictures of women in portraiture here. But be sure to also visit the children's pages here.

There are several other general trends I noticed in the portraiture. The adult men and women in the sittings are almost invariably wearing black. Perhaps it can be assumed that black, being one of the most expensive colors to produce, was considered most formal. The children on the other hand wear a wonderful variety of colors and small prints.

Well, here I am again. As I announced a few months ago, I have been asked to do another dress for the Phoenix Art Museum (PAM). This is to be displayed in conjunction with their brand new wing opening in early 2007 and a visiting exhibit from the Rijksmusem from Amsterdam.

Our original idea was to try to do at least four costumes, and try to present them in a sort of "Merry Company" format. But funds are tight and now time is getting a little tight to do all of them. So for now, unless we get any more funding, I will just be doing a costume from a picture which PAM owns. This is a an unknown woman by an unknown artist - the museum attributes it to an artist, but I'll be darned if I can find my information sheet on it. I'll be down at the museum soon, and will post the information when I get it again.

I am having a really hard time finding any fabrics I like, (I spent two days in the New York City fabric district) so if you see something you think might be appropriate, Please do contact me: