March – August 2024
Over the past couple of years we’ve attended a handful of Renaissance balls. And even in air conditioned buildings, it’s really too warm for the fancy costumes. I’ve been dancing in my working class Italian gamurras, which are relatively comfortable given they’re sleeveless. And Aaron needed a sleeveless option too. Inspired by images of Italian working class men, I made him this linen summer ensemble. Some research images are in the gallery linked below. In most cases, the men seem to be wearing jerkins over shirts. Also shown is a servant with hanging sleeves (though it’s hard to tell if that’s a shirt or a doublet underneath).
The imbusto is described in Moda a Firenze 1540-1580 Cosimo I de’ Medici’s Style. This was a sleeveless doublet, worn mainly in the summer. There were 50 recorded in Cosimo’s inventory, made up in a variety of fabrics including linen. There are no contemporary pictures. The figure wearing black pants in The Woolen Mill and the one in green pants in Attack on the Fortress of Siena were used by the author to illustrate the imbusto on commoners.
In Cosimo’s wardrobe the imbusto often matched the pants. It appears to me that any combination of fabrics was likely for working class men. Thus the colors selected for Aaron’s outfit coordinate with my own Italian dresses: slate blue linen-cotton blend for the imbusto and red Judy linen for the Venetian hose (from Gray Lines Linen). Both garments are lined in cotton batiste.
The Venetian hose and imbusto are patterns I’ve made up in the past so the outfit was very straight-forward. As I was on a deadline, the Venetians were initially knife pleated (see side profile picture below). They were later updated with cartridge pleats, which gives a much better silhouette for the era.
I duplicated the construction methods used in Aaron’s Flemish skirted jerkin. Skirts and wings were finished separately and whipped on. The fabrics used were also the same. The imbusto pattern was based on one of his curved front doublets. 3/8″ knotted ball buttons close the center front. A couple of attempts were made to paint the buttons to match the fabric’s color, but the results were unsatisfactory. They came in dark blue only, which was just fine. As with all of Aaron’s other Renaissance outfits, eyelets run along the interior waist of the imbusto and another set along the pants waistband. This allows the garments to be tied together. (Moda a Firenze also states that the imbusto’s function was to hold up the hose). The Venetians, as it turns out, will stay up by themselves if laced tight. So Aaron can theoretically remove the imbusto if it’s too warm.
A red linen-cotton bonnet, similar to one in The Woolen Mill, was already in the closet. As was the linen Renaissance shirt. While the project was still fresh in my mind I made a pair of matching blue sleeves (not pictured). His shoes might be just a tad too fancy for this working-class ensemble. They are at least the right overall shape.
