A Step Through Time

"Conspicuous Consumption with Elegance"

Reconstructing History

Venetian Noble Women's Dress

Late Sixteenth Century

1570 Veronese

Venetian Lady 1570 Palo Veronese Munich, Alte Pinakothek	Venetian noblewoman's dress 1570 close view front
Venetian noblewoman's dress 1570 side rear	Venetian noblewoman's dress 1570 front

In the original portrait ‘Venetian Noble Woman’ of 1570 by Paolo Veronese,  you see a noblewoman dress in a front-laced Venetian gown.  Her sleeves have ‘lantern’ style tops to them through which you can see her carmica, (base undergarment similar to a smock), and are attached to her gown by bows. The carmica is seen forming puffs between the bows for a pretty effect.  At the wrist the carmica is again visible as a small ruff under the small tabs at the end of the sleeve.

These same bows have been used as embellishments at her waist also, replacing the ornate beaded girdle more regularly seen. Under the bows at the waist can be seen the gathering of the skirt. 

Under the lacing of the dress the carmica is visible.   Along the top edge of the bodice a small ruffle is seen from the gathering of the carmica.  Over her shoulders the sitter wears a partlet of a light fabric possibly silk chiffon or silk organza. No embellishment is discernable on the partlet.

In the recreation of this portrait gown the same features of the sleeves, waist, front lacing and partlet can be seen.  The fullness of the skirt at the waist can also be identified.  The method of gathering the 10 metres of skirt into the waist is called ‘cartridge pleating’ and is done by hand.  This is a similar method to the pencil pleating used for curtains today.

The torso is flattened out showing no curvature under the bust line as we would expect to see today.  This is because one of the foundation garments for this style of dress was a corset.  As well as a corset an under skirt and carmica would also have been worn.  This was like wearing two sets of clothes. 

Velveteen has been chosen for the recreation as a suitable substitute for the velvets available at the time.

This gown was made and is worn by Deborah Lane  of Canberra.

Venetian patrician gown made by Deborah Lane

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All intellectual content, composition, layout, designs and photographs, unless otherwise noted are copyright 2007 to Deborah Lane ©, or, copyright 2003 to Deborah Murray © also known as Mistress Oonagh O'Neill ©. All Original renaissance art works and artefacts are not copyright to Deborah Murray, and are shown for educational use only .  If you see something you'd really like to use, please contact me!