Visit to the local medieval fair

Medieval fairs are big in Sweden, probably due to the popularity of the Medieval festival in Visby that's been going on for quite a long time by now. Nowadays it seems as if every place with a remotely old house also organises a medieval fair. There are both larger and smaller ones, and the quality and actual medieval-ness of the fairs vary a lot as well. Up here in Dalarna there is the big fair in Leksand in May, which is a really good fair and in fact one reason I haven't been there for many years is  because I want to have something proper medieval to wear when there.

Now this weekend there was a small one in Borlänge, and I decided to go there. Even if I don't have any medieval clothes I still wanted to go in costume. So I decided to go for my old ballgown that was very much a copy of Maria of Habsburg's wedding gown from 1520.  I wore it with my 18th century chemise under, which was still probably the most accurate thing I had on. At the last minute I also pinned a piece of black/gold lace to act as a brusttuch.For the hair I siimply put it in a ponytail and teased it to give it some volume before covering it all with gold hairnet that I have.

I think this an example of  basically not being accurate in any way, but it still gives a pretty good early 16th century look. And I was still more accurate than a lot of people and vendors there.

There was some fun entertainment there as well.

A group of jugglers that did some pretty amazing things, the group is called Mareld.

There was also a group that showed off viking and early medieval battle skills. That really makes you realise how tough and hot it was to fight back then. None of them could do more than a couple of minutes before having to rest.

After the battle demonstration me, my sister and nieces, actually stopped on the best renaissance place in the area, Ornässtugan, and had some food there. It's a wonderful café, I really recommend their Gustav's plate if you want a nice summer lunch. By then I had taken off the gown though so I only wore my linen chemise and a pair of shorts. I love that linen chemise. Really it was 25 degrees warm, and there is nothing more comfortable to wear than a loose linen garment.

Maria of Habsburg gown

original costume

 One of my favorite historical gowns that still exist today is the wedding gown worn by Maria of Habsburg in 1520. I have been obsessed with it, in fact already in 20007 I had it as background on my computer. It's not just because I think the dress is beautiful, the fact that it's dated to 1520, which for me is a very important year. I am a medievalist at heart and one of my favorite persons in Swedish history was very much active in 1520, and it's a woman. I could always imagine her wearing something like this.

Anyway on to the gown. The gown is the second oldest intact female garb in Europe. According to tradition it was worn by Maria of Habsburg at her wedding with Louis II. Today the gown is owned by the Hungarian National Museum, and if go to Budapest some day I really wish to see it. It was restored in the 1980's, but already in 1929 the gown was analyzed and in 1962 an article about the gown with cutting diagrams was published. The best information about the gown, and the cutting diagrams themselves can be found here.

As mentioned, I have loved this gown for a really long time. Some years before 2008 I had bought 6 meters of polyester gold brocade, that I didn't really know how to use. Since I had bought it I had gotten a bit more interested in accuracy, and to me the fabric looked too modern to actually make an historical gown from. In 2009 there was a student ball that in a roundabout way celebrated an event in 1523, so I thought that this was my chance to make something out of the brocade, and to finally make a version of Maria of Habsburg's gown. My aim was not to go for total historical accuracy, but rather something that resembled the general look of the gown.

Since I was going to use the gold brocade I decided that I could be quite free and choose my own colour for the details as well. I ended up using some black poly crepe-backed satin that I had in my stash.

The first layer of the gown is a chemise, made from black interlock that I had at home. I basically used the pattern from the link above, but I didn't do it quite as wide as the original, that would be too bulky due to my fabric not being as lightweight as the original. It was the first time I constructed a chemise, and I found that it was actually quite simple, and that the result is a very comfortable piece of clothing.

For the dress I didn't use the cutting diagram that I found online. I was too unsure that I would be able to enlarge the pattern to something that would fit me. I did have a pattern with a bodice that I knew fitted me quite well, so I once again used my McCall's 4491 pattern. Only this time I cut it off at the waist, and I cut the front wide open. I have no idea what pattern I used for the sleeves, but I possible just took the upper sleeves from the pattern and lengthened them to full sleeves. I was a bit worried that it would stay up, so I added some hidden d-rings at the opening of the front and laced it closed.

November 2009

The original skirt of the gown is a full circle skirt, but my fabric wasn't wide enough to accommodate that. Instead I took all the meters of fabric that were left and made them into a large tube. I then used rolled pleats to achieve the look with those heavy folds of the original.

I'm very happy with the final gown. Too bad I don't have any better pictures of it. It definitely gives a feeling of renaissance opulence, even though it's not in any way accurate when it comes to choice of fabric or techniques that I used to make it.

I would still be happy to wear it, if I found a suitable occasion, but I would change the black poly chemise to one of my more comfortable white linen or cotton chemises.

Status: existing, but non-active.