Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. Between my SCA elevation quickly followed by COVID I haven’t been doing much at all. With the looming return to In Person SCA, I am long past due on making new clothes. Never mind none of my old gowns fit anymore!
I have a few Kampfrau gowns in the works, but they’re boring and not very challenging. With everything going on lately, I have found a real kinship with the internet ideals of St. Felicitas – the patron saint of farewells. Wikipedia tells me she is the patron saint of lots of sad things related to children, but I like the internet meme of her patronage of farewells much better.
Mashing my willingness to say goodbye to a lot of things, and my love of early modern German clothing, I stumbled across this little gem of a depiction of the saint herself Felicitas of Rome.
Looking past that magnificent sword bearing the heads of her 7 dead sons (Christianity is so very dark) we see a beautiful late 15th century dress sporting a deep V neck line crossed with lacing. Despite the post period colouring job on this image, the V was probably open to the kirtle underneath of a contrasting colour matching the undersleeves. The shorter sleeves of the cote appear to be trimmed in fur and the whole thing is a brocade. Voluminous under sleeves (coloured yellow) were either attached to the kirtle or matched the kirtle and were pinned onto the cote sleeves.
The image below depicts more of these deep v cut late 15th century cotes over contrasting kirtles.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michele_da_verona,_scena_di_fidanzamento,_1495-1500_ca.jpg
Ms. Felicitas’ headware and braids are the precursor to the early 16th century Wulsthaub and probably done in a white linen or silk (she was a fancy pants and all).
This look was very popular in the late 1400’s.
There are plenty more examples of this style of gown throughout late 15th century art.
I especially like the lady pouring water with her short sleeved red cote over a green kirtle with the V neck. You can see the skirts of her cote are turned up and shown to be lined with a dark fabric and her kirtle is showing at the hem. The lady in gold seated to her left is shown with one sleeve on (blue) one sleeve off (showing her hemd) reaching into the water.
Look at these details!
Look at those details! The gold brocade, the tucked in partlets, the turned lining over the hems of the cotes! I SEE A RABBIT HOLE!
Madam servant on the right is displaying a lovely apron and another tucket partlet.
Before I get too far down this rabbit hole of research, I do ACTUALLY want to make this outfit. Here are my list of items to be created:
- Hemd – white linen
- Fitted throughout
- Wide round collar
- Fitted Kirtle – Green Linen (I love the colours on the water girl in the birth of Mary
- Side lacing?
- Lower bust line – probably square necked
- V necked Cote – Red light weight wool something brocade and not a bajillion dollars an inch – lined in charcoal linen
- Front lacing short sleeved
- The heck is edging those sleeves? Probably fur. I will need to decide how specific I want to be here
- Voluminous sleeves – Silk? in Green
- Pin on
- Hat/Head wrap – White linen
- I hope I can find a tutorial online somewhere because this seems a little much!
- Need fake braids of nice hair to add to the front.
- Simple partlet to tuck/pin onto cote – White linen
- Apron – because they are 100% necessary even if good ole Felicitas was rich enough to have staff to do menial tasks, I am not. Also white linen.
- Sword and 7 severed heads. Too far?
Ideally I will have this all completed in time for our first Kingdom Event – when I can host an “All Saint’s Party” or something. So lets say a target date of September long weekend 2021 (because years are important in project planning)
Let’s see how this goes!
heads off to look at more 15th century art
fröliche Frau 
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