Fashion in the Renaissance Period
Renaissance
Renaissance literally means ‘rebirth.’ Apart
from the decline of the feudal system and the growth of commerce, it also
witnessed exploration of new continents, the substitution of Copernican for
commerce and the invention of potentially powerful innovations like paper,
printing, gunpowder and the mariner’s compass. It is knows as a time period for
classical learning and wisdom after a long period of cultural decline and
stagnation.
Renaissance:
Costume History
It is
around the 1490s that the new dress for Renaissance began. This period of
clothing can be defined as excessive and extravagant in all areas of the costumes.
Different countries had a completely different take on it. For example the
northern European countries loved distorting the natural figure. They achieved
this by using padded sleeves, doublets and stocking. Italy did not go as far.
England and France’s tastes were similar when it came to clothing. Their style
was influenced by the medieval times. Germans believed in enhancing the natural
silhouettes. They would put large puffs at head, shoulders, thighs and small
puffs like boils over chest, arms, legs and feet. Apart from discovering new
ways to dress one selves, clothing during that time was also a way of
expression.
Permanent characteristics in all countries are
summarized as thus: rich heavy materials, in voluminous amount, large sleeves,
close body garments, large hip-clothing, wide-toed, heelless shoes and covered
heads masculine and feminine.
Women would often wear low-crowned hats in the
same fashion like men. In other times, they would sport elaborate hairstyles
like the native Germans or just tie them up with a simple handkerchief. When
young and unmarried, women wore their hair loose, but once married they tied it
up in complicated braids and twists. Their head/hair would always be
covered with any kind of a head gear. Some of the names of the head gears are
kennel, crescent, gable, transparent half-dome bonnet or wimple and gorget. Peasant
women wore the cote of the earlier period and handkerchiefs or collars around
their neck. They looked like what we associate dress of the Puritans.
Women in the renaissance period would long
dresses. They usually had detachable sleeves. These sleeves were sometimes
gifts from the groom to the new wife. They could also be passed on from the
mother to daughter or aunt to niece. To keep their dresses clean, women wore
washable aprons or overdresses, with linen chemises and shifts as underwear.
Imported fabrics and rich textiles demonstrated
wealth, but not always nobility. More than one complaint was raised against
Venetian courtesans for dressing like 'ladies', and visitors remarked that they
could not tell the courtesans from respectable women. This was because both categories
of women wore similar low-cut dresses and high shoes (pianelle)
Men that
time sported hair in a short bob. The length of the hair depended on the
individual’s taste. They sported it according to their natural hair quality
i.e. straight or curly. As time [assed, men preferred wearing their hair
shorter, like that of how men sport their hair in modern times. They would
style their head with low crowned, brimmed caps and would often turn up all
around or with just one side turned up. It was much more acceptable for men
during the Renaissance to make a show of the way they dressed, especially for
the noble class. Shirt sleeves were typically wide and billowy with an open
neck. Rich men wore materials such as cotton, satin and velvet, while the
poorer classes made do with flannel or other cheap fabrics. Sometimes, ruffles
were incorporated into fancier versions.
Doublets were worn over the billowy shirts and
were worn with belts. Peasant men wore
loose-fitting pants, or trews, which tied at the waist and laced around the
lower leg. They were made of cheap materials. Noblemen, on the other hand,
sported breeches, also known as Venetian breeches, that were roomy and loose.
Bibliography
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