A Loose Gown of Blue Wool Worn with a Round Kirtle of Black Satin

M. Alison Kannon

Rosalind Delamere

The loose gown was an extremely popular style of gown worn through-out Elizabeth’s reign by a broad spectrum of classes.

The term “loose gown” seems to refer to a variety of over-gown styles, usually worn with a kirtle, and is generally believed to also include the Flanders gown (Arnold, p.139). They appear to have been quite popular through-out Elizabeth’s reign and can also be seen in earlier portraiture from the 1530’s and 40’s (Fig. 13, 14).

As one might guess from the above description, there were many variations in style. A loose gown might hang loosely from the shoulders (Fig. 14, 15), it might be fitted to the waist in both the front and the back (Fig. 10), or the gown might be fitted to the waist in the front but loose in the back (Fig. 12). It might have long sleeves (Fig 3, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14), or short (Fig. 3, 7, 10, 15) and could be decorated with wide richly embroidered guards (Fig. 11) or adorned more simply with very little embellishment at all (Fig. 7). (Arnold, p.139) They could be worn loose (Fig. 7, 14, 15) or belted (Fig. 1, 2) and many examples of these variations can be found in art from the period.


Fig. 1. Hoefnagel, Joris c. 1560 “Marriage Fete at Bermondsey”. Here we se a variety of women wearing loose gowns. In some cases the women wear the gown belted and in others they can be seen wearing them loose. (Hearn, p.113)

The loose gown was generally worn with a kirtle. With a kirtle, the back of the bodice was not intended to be seen and there are examples of elaborately decorated kirtle bodices of rich materials with plain satin backs. It appears that there are also a number of style variations on the kirtle. A French kirtle is believed to have had a train and a round kirtle traditionally had a level hem. A French kirtle could be altered into a round kirtle and there are examples of French kirtles being sent to Elizabeth’s tailor for alteration into round kirtles (Arnold, p.120). Kirtles could be cut loose or with fitted bodices. Many of Elizabeth’s kirtles appear to have been fitted with separate skirts and a waist seam (Arnold, p.120) however; a surviving kirtle currently residing in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum (Fig. 6) is designed to hang loosely from the shoulders and has no waist seam. There is speculation as to whether this kirtle was a fashionable design or created for as maternity wear but that is all still theory. Finally, there were two main variations in the neckline of the kirtle. The kirtle could be made either with a high collar (Fig. 8) or with a low square neckline (Fig. 7) and both appear to have been fairly popular. (Arnold, p.121)

Fig. 2. Civitates Orbis Terrarium c. 1599. Here we see two women cleaning fish. The women are wearing loose gowns belted around the waist. It is difficult to tell what they are wearing beneath the gowns as they are turned from the artist. (Picard, Fig 13)

Fig. 3. De Heere, Lucas, c. 1570.

A Sketch of London women. There we can see the two women on the left wearing loose gowns that are fitted to the waist. The one on the far left is wearing short sleeves and the other has long sleeves. Both women are wearing the collar oven and falling back over the shoulders. (Lead, online)

I choose to pattern the body of my loose gown after the loose gown depicted in Janet Arnold’s Pattern’s of Fashion (Arnold, p.109), which currently resides in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. While that gown was made of black velvet, I chose instead to make mine out of blue wool, a material which would have been available during the time period. The original gown was fully lined in black linen and I chose to line my gown with wine colored linen. The collar is interlined with fustian and padded with a wool blend felt to stiffen it. Due to time constraints I decided to forgo the shorter sleeves that I had originally planed on making for a longer sleeve that had less of an infrastructure. The original gown is dated to c1570-80 so I wanted to find a sleeve style close to that time period. Lettice Knollys is shown wearing round, Spanish sleeves in a portrait dating from c.1585 (Fig. 4) and a French woman is also depicted wearing round sleeves in a woodcut dating from 1581 (Fig. 5). I liked the style and decided to use it for my gown. I based my pattern off of the sleeves for a girl’s loose gown in Arnold’s Pattern’s of Fashion (Arnold, p.122-123) but since they were dated later than the 1580’s (the gown is dated c1610-20) I altered the pattern to more closely resemble Knollys’ sleeves. The gown is closed with buttons I made from scraps of the silk (Crowfoot, p171) and button loops made from a silk fingerloop braid (Crowfoot, p138-140) and is guarded with guards also made of silk satin.


Fig. 4. Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester. c. 1585. Round, or Spanish, sleeves. (Arnold, p.127)	Fig. 5. And unmarried French noblewoman. c. 1581. Another depiction of hanging round, or Spanish, sleeves. From Omnium Poene Gentium Habitus. (Arnold, p. 116)

I chose to make a fitted round kirtle with a low square neckline. I altered a French bodice pattern from Jean Hunnisett’s Period Costume for Stage and Screen (Hunnisett, p.73) to give the desired shape and fit. The sleeves were patterned from Arnold’s Pattern’s of Fashion (Arnold, p.82-83). I made my kirtle out of black silk satin and it is fully lined in linen. I interlined the skirt at the top with a layer of wool to add fullness to the pleats and then cartridge pleated it to the bodice. The sleeves are interlined with a red shot dupioni silk, trimmed with a wool braid, and cut to show off the interlining. In period, small pinking tools would have been used to make the pinks and cuts that decorated clothing, however, since I do not posses a replica or reproduction pinking tool, I cut them using a chisel, which gave a very close approximation to a period cut. I also based the design for my cuts off of the cut design used to decorate the trim of the Svante Sture suit depicted in Arnold’s Pattern’s of Fashion (Arnold, p.57-59). The gown laces up the back and the sleeves lace to shoulders via hand-stitched eyelets (Crowfoot, p.164). Both the gown and the kirtle are topstitched, which is a period finishing technique that adds strength to the seam and creates a crisp finished edge.

There are some things that I would do differently next time. Next time I will probably do the shorter sleeve since I really like the style and add closures all the way down the front to the gown. I will also probably go back and guard the kirtle skirt. Overall I am very pleased with the resulting gown

Fig. 6. Loose kirtle currently residing in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. (Arnold, p.44)

Fig. 7. Mildred Cooke, Lady Burghley. c.1565. Lady Burghley is depicted wearing a low, square-necked kirtle with her loose gown. (Arnold, p.121)

Fir. 8. Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex. c.1575. In this portrait the countess is wearing a high-necked kirtle under her loose gown. (Arnold, p.121)


Fig. 9. Cutters for pinking. Late 16 th Century. (Arnold, p.187)	Fig. 10. ‘An unknown lady aged thiry-4’ c. 1569. She is wearing a loose gown fitted at the waist. (Arnold, p. 139)


Fig. 11. Details from the effigy of Joan Alington. She is wearing a loose gown with wide, richly decorated guards. (Arnold, p. 135)	Fig. 12. ‘Margaret of Parma’ c. 1562. Margaret is wearing a loose gown that is fitted in the front and loose in the back. (Arnold, p. 140)

Fig. 13. ‘Katherine Parr’ c. 1545. Katherine Parr wearing a loose gown of red silk with a woven design. (Arnold, p. 138)

Fig. 14. ‘Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan’ c. 1538. The Duchess of Milan wearing a loose gown. (Arnold, p. 138)

Fig. 15. ‘A lady aged thirty called Queen Elizabeth I’ c.1563. Here she can be seen wearing a loose gown and kirtle. (Arnold, p. 139)

References

Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion: The cut and construction of clothes for men and women c1560-1620. Macmillian. London, England. 1985

Arnold, Janet. Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd. W.S Maney & Son's LTD. Leeds, England. 1988

Crowfoot, Elisabeth et al. Medieval Finds in Excavations in London: 4 Textiles and Clothing c.1150-c.1450. The Boydell Press. Woodbridge, England. 1992.

Picard, Liza. Elizabeth’s London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. London, England. 2003

Hearn, Karen. Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630. Rizzoli. New York. 1996

Hunnisett, Jean. Period Costume for Stage and Screen: Patterns for Women’s Dress 1500-1800. Unwin Hyman, Ltd. England. 1988