Adrienne Lapp

Adrienne's charming Florentine gown is such a perfect outfit for a summer faire. It's great to see such authentic attire that is not only beautiful, but looks so cool and comfortable as well! And it is even more impressive when we learn that this is her first Renaissance period costume. Wow - great job! Adrienne has also sent us a nice description of her outfit, and if you have any other comments of questions, you can email her at alapp(at)oregontrail.net.

This ensemble is my first foray into late period design and I'm pleased with the results. :-) I play Viking in the SCA, but wanted something closer to Period Renaissance for a Faire that I attended in June of 2003.

The dress is made out of a yarn died lavender fustian that screamed for something other than t-tunic. The skirt is box pleated in front and double box pleated in back. The gamurra used less than 4 yards of 60" fabric. The camicia is just plain quilters muslin as budget and time constraints ruled out 100% linen. I am also wearing a corded corset & a simple petticoat. Cotton velveteen comprise the guards. The gown is side back laced. There is very little machine stitching showing, keeping with my pursuit of authenticity.

This dress was inspired by Jen's Florentine Dress Diary, for which I relied heavily on her research and portrait-examples. I also had quite a bit of help from Marion McNealy and Tish Thompson, without them this dress would have succumbed to one of my costuming fits.

There was some fitting problems with the bodice, as I lost about 10lbs during the month it took to design, fit, and sew the gown.