As a costume designer and historian, I find I get a lot of
questions about Renaissance costume history. Since color trending is so
prominent in current fashion magazines and articles it’s often one of the first
questions I hear. What colors were popular during this time in history?
(Approximately 1450-1550.)
According to Lucy Barton in Historic Costume for the Stage this was a time of “strong, often dark
colors,” reds, deep blues, wines and gold brocades accented by white linen and
black velvet. This was also a point in time when foreign trade and travel
increased, and with the expansion of the know world, Europe gained new
knowledge in the areas of fabric production and the creation and use of dyes.
Patterns with color combinations rose in popularity with woven patterns and
embroidered cloth at the higher price points and applied dye combinations more
accessibly priced. It has been noted that black and gold was a particular
favorite color combination of Lucrezia Borgia. Politics also played a part in
fashion, for example, the trend for applied woven braiding and embellishment
arose as a way around sumptuary laws that forbid the use of silver and gold
embroideries. Synthetic dyes were a long way in the future and all colors had
to be produced from natural resources.
This was a time of historic upheaval, violently partisan
politics and economic hardship due to huge long-term military expenditures.
Then, as now, people looked to fashion and entertainment as a way beyond the
hard times as they waited for the economy to improve and the new globalization
to bring new opportunities and tends. (Koehly, Examiner.com)
Today’s costume is inspired by an illustration of medieval French
countrywomen in the medieval tailor’sassistant: making common garments 1200 – 1500 by Sarah Thursfeld.
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