This costume was my opportunity to engage with theatrical costuming, learning all the nifty tricks from backstage that are used to make a costume easy to clean, easy to adjust and easy to put on.
I started with pattern cutting, which I completed on the stand using historical and theatrical references from Tiramani, Waugh, Hunnisett and Arnold. (Bibliography below)
Cutting
Process
Every element of this costume is hand printed and dyed by myself, these include:
Principle fabric dyed blue and printed with pinking effect in universal binder
Cuffs printed with lace effect in puff binder
Falling band collar printed with hand drawn lace effect in puff binder
Kerchief and belt printed with gold stripe
Other materials used include: coutil, organza, white cotton broadcloth, plain cotton, cotton tape, petersham.
Making it for Theatre
These pages from my process book show how the inside of each element is made for theatrical adjustment, easy laundering and easy assemble. The garment only consists of two separate pieces (bodice and skirt) and two accessories which can be attached using catch stitches when needed.
Finished Garment
Bibliography
Anthonyvandyck.org (2022). Queen Henrietta Maria and Jeffrey Hudson. Available at: https://www.anthonyvandyck.org/queen-henrietta-maria-with-sir-jeffrey-hudson/ (Accessed: March 2022)
Arnold, J., & Tiramani, J. (2021). Patterns of Fashion 5: The content, cut, construction and context of Bodies, Stays, Hoops and Rumps c.1595-1795. The School of Historical Dress.
Blane Bone, Q. (1972). Henrietta Maria: Queen of the Cavaliers. University of Illinois Press.
Farewel. (1671) Memoires of the Life and Death of Henrietta Maris de Bourbon. Samuel Speed.
Hunnisett, J. (1991). Period Costume for Stage and Screen: Patterns for Women’s Dress 1500-1800. Players Press.
National Gallery of Art (n.d.). Queen Henrietta Maria with Sir Jeffrey Hudson, 1633. Available at: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.41651.html (Accessed: February 2022)
National Trust (n.d.) Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-1669) and Sir Jeffrey Hudson (1619-1682) (after Van Dyck) Available at: https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/486190 (Accessed: February 2022)
North, S., & Tiramani. J. (2011). Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns. Victorian and Albert Museum.
Plowden, A. (2001). Henrietta Maria: Charles I’s Indomitable Queen. Sutton Press.
PriorAttire (2022). Dress up and saddle up! - going riding circa 1630s. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkagzgdyPBA (Accessed: February 2022)
Stowell, L. (2020). The 1630s Dutch Thang – Badonk-a-donk, Petticoat, and Starting the Bodies. Available at: https://blog.americanduchess.com/2020/01/the-1630s-dutch-thang-badonk-donk.html (Accessed: February 2022)
Waugh, N. (2013). The Cut of Women’s Clothes, 1600-1930. Taylor and Francis.