Saturday, September 22, 2007

Italian Renaissance Dress


If you’re scratching your head wondering why this dress looks so familiar, you may have seen it before on one of English literature’s most famous characters: Juliet. Yes, Juliet always wears one of these dresses, and I bet no one loves these dresses more than Romeo.

I happen to like Italian renaissance dresses too for a bunch of reasons. I have to admit, there are a lot of Italian things I don’t like at all. For example, Italian food isn’t exactly a weakness of mine, but I do like Italian renaissance dresses. First of all, my ancestors probably wore them. It’s fun to think that one of my great grandmothers might have frolicked, or more likely toiled, in one of these dresses. Second of all, these dresses were relatively easy to put on although they were in six pieces. The first piece was a chemise, and women simply pulled it over their heads. Chemises are long, simple, loose white undergarments, and we can see a little of it peeking through the sleeves in this picture. Don’t worry; it’s supposed to, so our model isn’t unknowingly exposing her underwear. The actual dress was always sleeveless and also could be pulled over the head. Well, we’re up to two pieces, so where do the other four come from? The answer is the sleeves. Each sleeve was in two pieces, one piece for the upper arm and one for the lower arm; these sleeves were tied onto the arms. I imagine that it might be difficult to tie something on your arm because you would be trying to do it using only one hand, but that is what sisters, maids, and mothers are for. My third and final reason is that these dresses must have been comfortable. There is nothing to restrict the waist, and during the winter, the double layers could keep anyone warm.