The Tudor Revolution

I normally don't try to plug destinations for things you HAVE to visit, but if you love 16th century Italian , you need to make a visit to Tulsa, OK. Villa Philbrook was built in the 1920's as a private home, and is now an art museum open to the public. Photo by myself in the gardens behind the Villa. I was invited out to assist with a special even they were hosting over the summer. Our local SCA chapter in Tulsa was adding ambiance and entertaining guests prior to a vow renewal/wedding, and a screening of The Princess Bride. Because we were only to happy to help the museum allowed us to take photos around the grounds in our period clothing. This is not something that is normally allowed without prior permissions. Enjoy of few more photos of our visit to one of the hidden treasures of Oklahoma, and I hope all of you Italian architecture fans add it to your must see spaces! For more information on local events, including free admission days please check...

Strawberry Hill Miniature Before moving to Oklahoma I had fallen in love with this miniature believed to be Anne Boleyn in the Strawberry Hill Galleries. As I studied the miniature and compared the look to my previous Gable Hood I decided this was clearly an earlier and more conservative version of the hood. Instead of looking to Holbein and Jane Seymour for more understanding on the construction I looked backward to the styles worn by Katherine of Aragon. Even if this miniature is not Anne, the elongated shape of the hood and wider curtain style veil off the back suggest she was attending court and was sporting a style Katherine of Aragon can been seen wearing in many portraits from the mid to late 1520's. Katherine of Aragon by Wenceslaus Hollar My reading and research lead me to a book called The Queen's Servants. It is a sequel to the Tudor Tailor and focuses on fashions earlier during Katherine of Aragon's reign as queen. The updated hood research for ha...

It may surprise many of you that until last winter I had never worn the Tudor warming layer called a petticoat underneath my various Tudor gowns. While living in Oklahoma I moved into a home that was built in the 1930's. The windows all appeared to be original to the house, and despite updated gas heating being installed the old vents had never been filled in. Even after adding weather stripping there was still a draft sometimes. What is my point of this anecdote? for the first time since 2011, I lived in a place that was cold enough I might want an additional layer and could comfortably experiment with the addition to my silhouette. When you daily high for weeks at a time is 20 degrees, a petticoat magically seems like a marvelous idea! Remembering how warm my red wool kirtle based of Peter Brughel the Younger's paintings were, and from period sources I knew the garment had to be wool. I selected a bright red wool I had purchased at JoAnns on clearance. Its a tropical ...

  Photo by Melissa Jones. 2017  Last Summer as part of the Realm of Venus' Italian Renaissance Costume Challenge 7, I made a Venetian Ensemble inspired by the late 1560's. This dress was an extension of the learning I made in 2012. In 2012, I researched the layers that go into this silhouette and created this look. Personally I am excited to see the growth and better execution that 5 years of honing my craft has given me. New corset pieces. Stiffened with reed and 2 piece of synthetic whale bone. This outfit started with a new effigy corset like the ones I have posted about previously on this blog. What is new is the angle of the diagonal channel is wider for my larger bust. I also began experimenting with synthetic whale bone for some of the more important channels, like the afore mentioned diagonal. Over all I am very pleased with my new corset made from a recycled silk dress I found at Goodwill. I usually prefer to just use silk yardage, but it was harder t...