AIBU to think it would be lovely if we could all dress in Renaissance clothes nowadays?

[Salmotrutta]

I quite fancy trailing velvet robes and a hair mesh encrusted with seed pearls and twinkly diamonds?

And have little velvet slippers with gold thread on them.

I could sit in a bower and dream of courtly love.

(Indulge me - it's better than a thread about MIL)

[Salmotrutta]

Mind you - not so sure about the cod pieces on men...

[AlpacaPicnic]

Ooh yes!
I've always fancied one of those tall pointy cone hats with a wafty scarf trailing from the point...

[SantanaLopez]

Oh yeah, for sure. Although I'm not keen on corsets to be honest. But I'd rock something like this:

(I hope the photo works)

[Salmotrutta]

Yes!

A lovely floaty veil would be nice

[Salmotrutta]

That's a lovely picture Santana...

Who is she?

[CailinDana]

Yab very u. I had to wear a corset once. Never ever again.

[SantanaLopez]

I don't know, but it was painted by Antonio (complicated Italian surname I'd just butcher if I tried). It's just called Portrait of a Young Woman.

I love the details.

[utahforever]

Ooh, I love the Renaissance period; so much that I made my own red/gold velvet dress with wafty sleeves - not practical in the rain though

[Salmotrutta]

We could go corset less and just have lace-up backs.

She's lovely that Young Woman

[Salmotrutta]

But we wouldn't need to worry about rain utah!



We'd just waft around palaces looking pale and interesting.

It'd be lovely.

[DPotter]

No knickers!

[neverputasockinatoaster]

I have a very lovely black velvet dress with shot silk inserts in the floaty sleeves. And a cloak to wear with it as I can't get the sleeves in a coat.

I plan to buy more for everyday wear.....

[AdoraBell]

It's fecking 32C in the shade where I am, and this is autumn. Piss off with your bloody Renaissance dress

[utahforever]

Ok, so no rain then. I can do wafting and sewing. Plus we can have little dances with men in cod pieces

[Salmotrutta]

Well, you could maybe go all Roman Adora?

A nice toga?

neverput - ooh, sounds lovely!

[OscarWinningActress]

Ooh, yes please. I'm for any historical fashion that means I don't have to show my legs in the summer. I'd particularly like Austen-esque empire dresses for summer, I think. Except for the muddy hems. And what would you wear if you wanted to go for a run or something .

[Salmotrutta]

I don't think laydeez ran in Austen's day.

They just did lots of brisk walks and painted stuff.

[expatinscotland]

Fuck that!

[MyFirstName]

My wedding dress had a beaded bodice, stiff skirt and floaty chiffon sleeves and reception was in a 15th Century Hall.....

[TempusFuckit]

Renaissance is pre-corset, just. So count me in!

Although I bet those trailing sleeves got in the potage.

[florascotia]

Yes, the frocks are fab and you could waft with a will but as a Renaissance noblewoman you'd be married off with little or no choice to a man chosen by your father at 14 or 15. You'd have multiple pregnancies (very, very frequently if your babies were bf by a wet-nurse, which was the norm) and a good chance of dying young in childbirth or suffering from lifelong gynaecological problems/anaemia/infections. Your husband might well have a STD (syphilis was rife in Europe c 1500); you might catch TB. Because you were rich and could afford sugar, your teeth would probably rot, like Queen Elizabeth's (which were black by the end of her life) and your breath would smell accordingly. Your cosmetics would contain deadly lead and arsenic; your hair-dye (reddish-blonde was fashionable) was corrosive. Your corsets would restrict your breathing; your stiff, heavy, padded clothes could not be dry cleaned - they'd smell musty or be very very heavily perfumed (to cover BO). Your palazzo would be infested by rats and fleas; your ponds/streams/lagoons would be full of malaria-carrying mosquitoes. If you lived in city (and you probably did), you'd have a good chance of dying swiftly and horribly of plague.

You'd honestly be much better off as a peasant.

[Salmotrutta]

Well that burst our little dreaming bubble flora...

It was just a bit of fun...

[florascotia]

Sorry - I really agree that the clothes are romantic and wonderful and I wish that modern fashions could be anything like so flattering.

I happen to feel sorry for those women in the past (and, more importantly, very grateful for our modern healthcare and freedoms) but PLEASE don't let me spoil the fun. I do share your admiration for past styles. I once made an evening dress based on a 17th cent frock pattern and it really was fantastic to wear. The swoosh, the rustle...

[Salmotrutta]

Ach, it's fine flora

I know it was a bit crap back then but we have lots of crap stuff today too.

It's nice to imagine isn't it?

Actually, I'd like a rustly, swishy taffeta gown - so I could flounce about.

[WillYouDoTheFandango]

I quite like a man in a cod piece actually. Especially blackadder II with the ruff too.

Plus you'd have lots of lovely lute players and men with nice soft hats with big feathers in them.

What's not to like other than what flora said?