Getting Dressed in the 15th Century // Italian Renaissance Gown/Gamurra/Cotta

Now that we have our undergarments in place to protect our overlayers from, well, our skin's own corrosive influence, we move on to the Gamora or Kota, the basic foundational gown worn by all classes of women. While I wrestle with these laces and the gown in general, let us discuss the What distinguishes this garment from social class to social class are the materials from which it is constructed, ranging from linen and low-grade wool to heavy, sumptuous-figured silks and rich doe-skin wool with its graceful fluidity. Doe skin was in fact one of Florence's great exports. This particular Kota is made of a green taffeta and flatlined in a luminescent golden silk tabby Doing so is a practice attested in Lorenzo de' Medici's inventories. This gown is laced up in the front with three different sets of laces, which are made of black silk and have been fingerloop woven by hand by yours truly. Fingerloop weaving was a frequent form of entertainment for both ladies and, unfortunately, for their house tigers. Looking at you, Huagu. The lacing rings are gilt-cast pewter and are replicas of originals, made by Billy and Charlie's Fine Pewters. When intended to amaze crowds outside the home, and therefore prove just how puissant and honorable a family was, honor had a different meaning, obviously, for the Florentines. Such gowns are frequently embellished with embroidery, jewels, and applique. However, it is rare that a lady is seen by non-relatives in this lair. So rare, in fact, that Lucrezia Medici, née Tornabone, Lorenzo de' Medici's mother, writes to her son about having glimpsed a young Clarice Orsini in her Gamora, noting that the young woman had a fine figure. And, of course, implying that she would make a good mother for future Medici scions. Ah, mothers as meat market brokers. Some things never change. In a collaborative effort whose flowchart would resemble a metastatic hydra, gowns such as these were constructed by a host of artisans, with individual craftsmen being in charge of specific components. Professional tailors, seamers, embroiderers, furriers, jewelers, an upper-class gown often involved a cast of dozens. As an aside, the bottom rungs of society frequently ended up with the second-hand linen and wool castoffs of their betters, which could be purchased in the thriving rigatieri markets found in every town and city. Much like today's flea markets. And yet, also unlike today's flea markets, today's second-hand shoppers ironically tend to be the affluent, seeking hipster vintage in a bid to signal irony, or something. No Medici would have been caught dead in someone else's castoffs, irony or no irony. Well, now that that ordeal is done, we still have the sleeves, which is actually, honestly, the hardest part. So I'm going to require some assistance for this, obviously. Now on to the sleeves. The sleeves complex set of lacings require the assistance of Adam Donar. But in these times of plague, the resident condottiero shall just have to do. Thankfully, I've trained him. Although generally of the same shape, sleeves can feature a variety of openings and slits intended to reveal the snow-white of the camicia underneath. A risque display of the most intimate layer of clothing. Oh my. Often, the left sleeve is decorated with ornate embroidery representing the arms of the house, and labeling its wearer as a member thereof. Clothing branding is nothing new. Except I think it was possibly more tasteful back then. And probably less commercial. Maybe less commercial. Nah, meat market, it was commercial. Now, back to business. Sometimes, the sleeves might be detachable and affixed by means of laces or pins, while others are simply detached from one dress and whipstitched onto another by nimble fingers. When one has a host of servants, such labor is no inconvenience to the lady being dressed. As an aside, I currently have no such ladies' maids in residence, sadly. Sad, sad Contessa. You can see up close as my condottiero deftly does up my ties, utilizing a knot that some people call an arming knot. It's basically an overhand knot that can be easily undone by simply pulling on those little metal egglets that are dangling there so alluringly. And there it is. The dress is completely laced, and it looks delightful, but as delightful as it looks, this is definitely nowhere near to being fully dressed. I could go about my house attired this way, but definitely not leave. Next layer coming up, and here's a close-up of the gorgeous embroidery that I fashioned myself. No vanity here. No pride either. And so now I'm going to enjoy my wine. But if you have enjoyed today's video, and please, please, please don't forget to like and subscribe if you haven't subscribed already. And if you would like to actually support me more actively, please do become a patron on Patreon. I'm always happy to keep creating, but I do need some support for that. So if you feel you can, excellent. If not, then just like and subscribe. And please, in the comments below, if you are interested in seeing any particular video on a subject of any of the range of subject matter that I cover, whether it's on some other piece of dining wear or medieval life, or something more active and tutorial in nature, put it in the comments below. Thank you for watching. Stay creative.