Good morning Gentle Reader,
My goal for this competition is a 1580s working-class style dress in the style of a Northern Italian pleasant as seen in the paintings of Vincenzo Campi and all of the outfit’s underpinnings: A dress with the distinctive contrast-striped trim, a camicia with embellished sleeves, an apron, a set of stays, a ruff collared partlet, and at least one pocket.
I wanted to work on an outfit reflecting more of my simple country tastes, and took inspiration from the viral “Strawberry Dress” by Lirika Matoshi seen all over Instagram and TikTok this past summer.
I have picked out linen in a pale pink, sage green, white, and red. One of the things I really enjoy about the inspiration paintings I have found is the apron is not necessarily white. We see different shades of blue, yellow, and even red in Campi’s paintings. I’m looking forward to having fun with color on this project.
With Love and Gilded Stitches,
-Fortune St Keyne
HI Fortune! I am Fionna, one of the judges. I am looking forward to watching your progress as I have always love Campi’s work. Also, please share this strawberry dress as I have neither Instagram nor TikTok! Yes, I am a Luddite.
Good day and well met, your Grace. Severin from BBM, and one of the judges, although not one of yours, yet I am looking forward to following along with your work.
Thank you Severin!
Hello, Fortune! I’m Beatrice, and I’m one of the judges for your group.
I, too, would appreciate you sharing the “Strawberry Dress”, as I have missed this piece of viral costuming.
Are you drafting your own patterns for all of these pieces, or starting from patterns from some source?
Feilinn linked the dress below. I didn’t want to add a picture as the work is currently for sale by the designer.
I had made a version of this dress before for myself, I own the pattern from Reconstructing History (mostly for her great notes) but I self-draft my patterns. As a plus-size person I find it takes me the same amount of time to draft a pattern as it would to adjust a commercial pattern.
Here is a link to the strawberry dress in case people can’t find it: https://lirikamatoshi.com/products/strawberry-midi-dress
Thank you Feilinn!