Friends! I present to you the heading HISTORY OF FASHION and invite you to an exciting journey along the path that women's fashion has gone through.

Over and over again we will study the features of the women's costume of different eras and at one glance at the picture we will learn to determine the time of the people depicted on it. I hope this knowledge will be of interest to everyone who is interested in the history of fashion, and will also help many puppeteer artists in their work.

Let's start our journey from France at the beginning of the 16th century. It is believed that it was the French who taught Europe to dress elegantly. However, in those days, Italian and Spanish fashions had a great influence on the features of a woman's costume. This largely depended on the political and economic development of society.

Nowadays, there are almost no original dresses of 500 years ago. There is an opinion that outfits embroidered with real gold or silver, decorated with pearls and precious stones were simply burned to return the precious metal. And pearls and stones, of course, were cut off. But there are pictures! Paintings in which Renaissance artists were able to convey the satin shine of silk, folds of rustling taffeta, the transparency of lace, the nobility of velvet and the weight of precious stones ... Considering the works of the painters of those times, we will try to study and reproduce the female silhouette of this era.

Here is a painting by Jacopo Chimenti of The Wedding of Catherine de Medici and Henry II, future King of France. (The Wedding of Catherine de Medici and Henry II, King of France" by Jacopo Chimenti.) And in the other pictures is the doll, which I made from this painting, trying to reproduce the luxurious attire in detail.

This wedding took place in 1533. On the canvas, you can see in detail the outfit of Catherine. Her wedding dress is made of ivory silk. Its combination with a gold pattern, the silhouette shows a beautiful pictorial solution of the Italian costume of this time. After all, Catherine was a Florentine! She could not be called a beauty, but her style and fashionable novelties brought from Italy were to the taste of the royal court. For many years, Catherine became a trendsetter among the French nobility. I think it had a lot to do with their dressing style.

Let's take a closer look at Catherine's dress and note the main features of the female costume of the early 16th century.

The costume of a noble Italian woman during this period was divided into a skirt and a bodice. The dress had a train, and the entire silhouette of the dress served to maintain the image of a beautiful and healthy body, which was sung by the artists of the Renaissance. This idea was supported by the lady's pose. Hands folded on the stomach and draperies in this area suggested thoughts of motherhood, and this state was considered aesthetically beautiful.

The skirt was gathered at the waist in pleats and attached to a narrow bodice. The waistline was straight, slightly raised. The bodice was a tight short bodice with lacing on the sides, from the waist to the armpits. The wide quadrangular neckline of the bodice was covered with a thin insert, embroidered with pearls and gold threads - a shemizette. She was like a short sleeveless blouse that was not sewn on the sides, but tied with ribbons. A shemizette was worn under a dress.

Sleeves with ties, fasteners were attached to the bodice at the shoulders, and sometimes they were simply swept, leaving free space for the armpits. The sleeves were detachable, and women of fashion often had several pairs, changing them according to their mood. In the places where the sleeves were attached, folds of a thin undershirt could be seen. At the beginning of the 16th century, the top of the sleeves was decorated with small puffs, which further emphasized the beauty and luxury of the entire outfit.

Another detail of the costume is the “cutter” collar, which was still quite small in those days. It became one of the fashionable novelties brought by Catherine de Medici from Italy.

She also taught the ladies to wear women's pantaloons. It is believed that in those days, women did not wear underwear, except for a shirt made of the finest linen. However, Catherine was very fond of riding a horse and, to avoid embarrassment, wore pantaloons like men. They began to be sewn with expensive fabrics and covered with embroidery.

Another novelty that Catherine introduced to French ladies is shoes with heels. In those days, shoes were worn with wide blunt toes, decorated with embroidery and cuts. They were nicknamed "bear paw". Being short, Catherine ordered high-heeled shoes. And this novelty very soon took root in the French court.

As for jewelry - these are pearls, pearls, and pearls again! They wore necklaces made of large pearls, earrings in the form of pearl drops. The hairstyles were decorated with pearl threads and gold nets with woven pearls.

And a separate story is about fabrics. They were a real advertisement for wealth and luxury. Expensive, chic, high quality fabrics were made in Italy. Altabasy, aksamites, velor, brocato, lampasso, damascus. The pattern was woven in gold or silver. Its contours were trimmed with satin or velvet edging. The ornament used stylized forms of tulip, pineapple, grapevine, plant patterns. The most popular was the pattern in the form of a pomegranate flower, a symbol of the unity of the world.

It was this knowledge that I used when making a doll and her outfit.

Catherine de Medici. Ball-jointed doll, porcelain, 65cm.

Entered the TOP-10 of the second season of the @history_of_fashion_ international competition

Overglaze painting.

Detachable mohair wig.

All clothes are removable and sewn according to restored patterns of the 16th century.

The dress is silk taffeta with a garnet pattern of the time, hand-crafted in imitation gold embroidery technique.

Sleeves are dressed separately and fastened to the dress.

The chemise is natural silk, hand embroidered with pearl beads and gold thread.

The 'cutter' collar is worn separately.

In a private collection.

Author Olga Sidorova