The Ornamented Being

“Just outside the time line of my preferred style, I still want to include this dress from Pisa. I found no exact dates on it. The first restoration team names it as “XVI sec., ultimo ventennio” (16th century, last two decades), but to my eye it looks more early 17th century. What’s interesting about it, apart from being an extant 400 years old dress, is that the construction in large correspond to the court dresses of the mid and late 16th century. The skirt flares towards the hem, the bodice has lacing in the side/back, and the shoulder straps are still short and wide. The biggest difference seems to be the front of the bodice, which by now has grown a lot longer and more dominant. This particular dress also comes from the San Matteo monastery, as the other Pisa dresses, and large chunks of the back is also missing here (though more of the skirt survives). Like the grey/blue day dress, the surviving pieces has been “filled in” with neutral fabric. ”