Boning inside the Pink Florentine
I’ve been debating about the structure of the bodice for La Junesse. Basically, whether to put it over a corset or not. The inspiration gown is prob. 1580s-90s and so is my SCA persona. Now, I have a feeling I will veer away significantly from that picture — my gown will be pink, it will be 1580s, and the bodice and skirt will be similarly shaped, that’s about it. The neckline and sleeves and trims may be wildly different (this is me we’re talking about).
But back to the structure. By this point in history, it is plausible that women of that class and place (Italy or France; the painter is Italian but the style looks rather more French too me, a touch Spanish even; heck, let’s just call it Continental and be done with it ;-), she could be wearing a corset, aka a pair of bodies stiffened with boning of reeds / bents or even whalebone. There’s a clearly conical bodice shape going on. And yet, there’s a hint, just a hint of a swell of bosom in the painting too. It’s a tad more noticeable in this version of the image in the closeup. Right around where her arm is bent. The waist/bust area isn’t a hard, straight cone. Over-analyzing much?
The point of this is, should I go standard-issue and build the bodice over my mostly-reed-boned effigy corset (made by Sarah), as I’ve done for pretty much every other 16th-c. gown I’ve made? Or try something different? The other historically accurate option is 15-bazillion layers of material without boning, including things like buckram and pasteboard, which, uh, no thanks, not in the kind of weather and use I’d be subjecting this garment to.
What I did way back when I first started in ye olde renfaire days was layer and bone the heck out of my bodices. Which is close to the historical method, just with some judiciously placed steel boning. I used layers of twill or denim underneath velvet or damask and boned the seam lines and along the lacings — made for super-durable bodices, no corsetry required. And they were a bit more comfortable too, because with everything being of one piece, there was less shifting around, cutting in, and less overall weight.
Sooooo … I think I shall return to my roots and do this hybrid historical / theatrical style for La Junesse. I cut out a twill interlining for added strength, and I ran down to OSH for packs of cable ties to add boning.
My stash had no sufficient boning, and I’m trying to keep this a budget-friendly project. Thus I’m trying cable ties for the first time! 18″ long ones were $4 for a pack of 10. I’m snipping them with wire cutters and filing the ends smooth with a sanding attachment on my Dremel tool. Then I’m slipping them into bone casing tape (from The Stash) that I’ll sew in a fan pattern along the front of the bodice to the twill interlining. I really just want the front boned so my boobs are supported. I don’t trust fabric alone to do the job!