Placard Dress: Design Ideas

[hsifeng]

*sounds of brain spinning and gears grinding*

 

Having thought about the various inspiration images from my last post, I think it is pretty clear that I am interested in making one of the ‘placard front’/high necked dresses. The gown I end up making won’t be a recreation of any specific inspiration image, but I am pulling from all three current versions (as well as tidbits about historic tailoring I have picked up over the years) in an attempt to get the overall shaping and design to be recognizable.

 

So, I sat down with the Tudor Tailor book last night and came up with the following rough sketch. There is still a lot of tweaking to do here (the neckline isn’t yet what I want, and honestly may not get there until I am doing my canvas mock-up), but the rough design is here.

 

 

 

Until my mock-up is in progress (and I learn what an idiot I am) I am planning on drafting for a ‘three part’ collar; the back of the collar being an extension of the top of the bodice’s back, and the front being made of two separate/shaped bits that attach to the bodices frontside pieces at the neckline.

 

I am hoping to set the shoulder seam toward the back of the shoulder: extending from the bottom of the collar-join and terminating in the upper 1/3^rd of the armseye at the back. I am under the impression that this sort of seam placement is historically acceptable, and I like the ‘non-standard patterning’ look it gives to the finished back of a garments. It also gives me an excuse to do some creative sleeve drafting later, in order to try to get the sleeve seam to line up with the shoulder seam toward the back of the arm.

 

The shoulders will also be slightly dropped off the shoulder point, as this seems to be a common feature of all three inspiration images.

 

The neck will be ‘open’ (not designed to close at center-front), with the two bodice-frontside pieces having attached forebodies that will be concealed behind the overlapping placard. The forebodies will be lightly boned (probably with zip strips) and should allow me a means of creating the necessary support/shaping that I am looking for.

 

The placard will extend from side-seam to side-seam (or close to) across the front of the dress. The bodice will have side seams, and not back-side seams. This is to prevent a plethora of seaming/placard attachment points making the whole top look cobbled together. The top of the placard will curve slightly upward rather than in a straight line, as this shaping appears to be part of all three inspiration images. Depending on the strain that the mock-up placard demonstrates, this piece may also require some light boning in addition to canvas backing.

 

The forebodies/placard combination should close in a manner similar to this one (from the Tudor Tailor):

 

 

Using attack_laurel‘s cartridge pleating method, I will attach my skirt to a narrow waistband, before attaching that band to the bodice. I anticipate the opening in the skirt aligning with the “open” side of the placard. I am secretly thinking I may very well use this side-opening skirt as an excuse to make myself a ‘pocket’…. 

 

…wait, did German women have ‘pockets’ (the kind that hand around one’s waist on a cord) in the 16^th C?

 

Things to consider still:

 

1)      Regionalism of this garment; in order to better determine sleeve shape and trim details. Then again, I may just do some ‘standard frau’ sleeves and trim and takes the placards inspiration from these same original images.

a.       Donkey cuffs on the sleeves?

b.      Lots of slashing? A little?

c.       Multiple sets of guards on the skirt?

d.      Large solid bits of trim on the bodice top, or groupings of narrower trims?

2)      How to fix the ‘open’ side of the placard to the bodice while the dress is being worn. Pins? Hooks-n-eyes? Bueller?

3)      Stiffness of the collar; to stand or to flop, that is the question…  Probably to stand. Pad stitching, here I come!

4)      I am sure there are more, you tell me!

 

 

Comments, suggestions, non-flamey criticism welcome!

Comments

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[etaine-pommier.livejournal.com]

I've just recently started to use the forebodies idea with my Saxon gowns (which the majority of these seem to be,) and had good luck with it.

I've done three of these high-necked Saxon dresses in the last year, and had good luck with almost the same construction you propose - I'd love to geek with you about it if you're interested. (You can see pictures of two of them on the Landsknecht webring under Wendy Bliss.)

Re: Similar...

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

Hi there! I would be very interested in kibitzing about design ideas with you. I have seen your work on landsknecht.org and I think your garb is gorgeous! Are some of those gowns ones that you have used the forebodies on? If so, I would love to know which ones.

I love high necked gowns, but I am trying to steer clear of the plastron fronted design (i.e., the ones with the laced over Brusttuck). Then again, I may end up making a less-common version of one of those dresses out of sheer frustration if I can’t locate more consistent references for the alternate ‘placard’ style* I am contemplating.

I definitely want to make a Princess Dress, I think I just need more data.

In the meantime, my brain will keep whirring away on the details of construction, regardless. Once I feed the Muse Monkeys, it is impossible to keep them from climbing. chuckle


goes tra-la-la-ing off to friend you…


* I am currently see-sawing about the placard fronted dress after having talked to my husband and co-history snob about the ‘loosey goosey’ nature of the research I have compiled to date. I tend toward near-recreations of specific woodcut images rather than compilation pieces (where a set of clothes is designed based on elements of several different images). I know this isn’t everyone’s game to be so fixated on a main inspiration image, but my own internal Rules Lawyer is starting to nag at me…

[docryder.livejournal.com]

Kind of non-sequitur, but your drawings are rather well done. Just sayin'. :-)

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

Thank you honey! Although, I have to be honest and say that I got the basic start of the bodice in the 'whole gown' image by tracing a similar bodice front from the Tudor Tailor book. Then again, the rest is all me. *chuckle*