The Lotto Frock

This dress dates to around 1530.  The original inspiration was the Lorenzo Lotto, Portrait of a Lady as Lucretia, of 1533.  I had a lot of velveteen I had been lucky enough to find on special for $1.69 aust per meter.  Unfortunately I didn’t have enough of some colours to make a dress.  The solution was to make a parti coloured frock.  The construction this dress was made longer due to the need to cut the fabric into strips and then reconstruct it into the parti colour effect.  I didn’t want an exact copy of the Lotto dress so I looked to other artists of the same time for inspiration.  

I decided on a black forearm, this was a standard sleeve pattern that I altered to utilize only the fore arm section.  this was constructed as a separate piece being fully lined with linen.  On reflection I would line this portion of the sleeve with silk or other slippery finished fabric so that it slipped on more easily over the chemise.  The upper arm was extended to below the elbow and then some for the fullness in length, but also extended in width to give the all round fullness required by thins style.  Again this was taken originally from a standard sleeve pattern which was then extended out to the maximum width of the fabric.  The upper sleeve is mounted on canvas to help give body and hold the shape, an lined in linen.  This was also constructed a s a single piece then cartridge pleated all around the lower portion of the sleeve and stitched into the fore arm piece.  The top of the sleeve was cartridge pleated also but not in the section that would sit in the under arm.  That portion of the sleeve would only bunch up and become uncomfortable to wear.  The bodice is also mounted on canvas and boned to give body and stop the lacing collapsing.  Once the bodice is constructed the tops of the sleeves can be hand stitched into the arm holes.  The eyelets on the bodice are metal rings placed over hole punched into the bodice, then worked over with embroidery floss.  

The skirt is cartridge pleated and hand stitched onto the bodice.  A small hook and eye at eh bottom of the lacing ensures that the lacing doesn't pop open, and another hook and eye in the split in the top of the skirt just under the lacing closure, mostly for modesty.  

The outfit is finished off with a balzo, girdle, earrings and necklace.

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All intellectual content, composition, layout, designs and photographs, unless otherwise noted are copyright 2007 to Deborah Lane ©, or, copyright 2003 to Deborah Murray © also known as Mistress Oonagh O'Neill ©. All Original renaissance art works and artefacts are not copyright to Deborah Murray, and are shown for educational use only .  If you see something you'd really like to use, please contact me!