----- Original Message -----
From: "Melissa Brown Muckart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
As the 2nd portrait was done in 1516, would the bottom half of the dress
(as seen in the first portrait) be appropriate for the time). I'm oh so
new to Tudor costuming and have a sneaking suspicion that the open fronted
skirt comes into fashion a bit later... but I'm a complete newbie to this
so that's based on nothing but having looked at a few dozen photos.
The split-front skirt wasn't _common_ until later, but it did appear on very
fashionable women (for example, Anne de Bretagne) this early and even
earlier. Mary was a famous beauty and a fashion icon, so I wouldn't be at
all surprised to see her wearing it, especially after time in the court
where A de B had worn it so recently. Here's A de B in split skirts just a
few years before:
http://www.formfunction.org/temp/AdBreceivingHistoryOfBretagne.jpg
http://www.formfunction.org/temp/1508AdeBbyJeanPerreal.jpg
(I have another dozen or so c1500 split skirt images on various people, if
anyone is looking to document them.)
That said, I look at this painting with deep suspicion. The part that was
copied from the Brandon portrait looks like it could concievably have been
done in the 16thC, but the trim along the bottom of the skirt looks 243
different kinds of wrong for this time period.
At this time, the waist seam was not universal, though it showed up often
enough that--given the habit of portrait sitters of putting their arms RIGHT
THERE--it's generally a toss-up on any given portrait whether or not the
sitter had one. The few images from that decade that actually show the
waist clearly show more gowns without visible waist seams, at least in the
front; almost all had waist seams across the back. It's possible that some
of the smooth-fronted gowns did have hidden waist seams across the front
(probably around where the belt falls, i.e. sometimes a dropped waist) but
the desired look is clearly that of no waist seam.
Here are some typical gowns of the French court, 1513-1517:
http://www.formfunction.org/temp/1513claudeoffrance.jpg
http://www.formfunction.org/temp/1517queenclaudecrowned.jpg
I keep pointing to the French court, because even though Anne's earlier
marriage was short, she went straight from it to the Brandon marriage, and
so is likely to have been wearing French fashions for the wedding portrait.
The Brandon marriage portrait dress is slightly deceptive in terms of
figuring out exactly what she's wearing. First, because of the large amount
of pearls--which may or may not have been on the actual dress, but were
probably either added or exaggerated by the painter--and second because the
undersleeves are the same color as the oversleeves. The actual dress was
probably much like this:
http://www.formfunction.org/temp/1500-25lieges.jpg
http://www.formfunction.org/temp/manuscripts.jpg (Simon Bening, c1515)
http://www.formfunction.org/temp/c1518portraitofawoman_circleofandreadelsarto.jpg
(Looks Victorian, but was actually done by a visiting Italian, hence the
different style--and yep, that looks like a split skirt to me too.)
-E House
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