Renaissance Fitted Dress "Renaissance Memories

Cotton Renaissance costume dress with sleeves 

When you think about it, you can still see her, clear as day: her hair catching in the breeze as she walked along the castle walls. Occasionally she would catch your eye, a shy smile playing across her lips as she looked away, hurrying off. Sometimes she would come down to the gardens, just to sit near the willows and enjoy the quiet birdsong. You can’t remember the last time you saw her, though - was she just a dream? Or perhaps a distant memory…

As with many of our most beautiful creations, we found inspiration for this stunning dress in history and then altered it slightly to create something flattering and unique. We have taken silhouettes and features from the late XV/ XVI centuries, picking and choosing different parts of various garments to create what has become our “Renaissance Memories” collection. Though this Renaissance dress isn’t strictly historical, it won’t look out of place at any medieval events, and is great for SCA, LARP, Renaissance Faires and more!

This is an overdress, which means it is best paired with a chemise underneath. It features a fitted bodice, square neckline, side lacing, tailored sleeves, and a massive, gorgeously draped skirt. It features silhouettes and shapes that are undeniably feminine, and we have aimed to make the shoulders of this dress fitted and dainty, with a sculpted waistline a flowing skirt, complete with generous box pleats. We have created the front panel of the dress to have horizontal pleats, imitating the front lacing you would commonly find in gowns of this time period. We chose to move the lacing to the sides of the dress, however, to accommodate people of all shapes and sizes and to ensure it looks great on every body type.

This dress looks amazing on any modern figure, and the side lacing ensures you get the best, most comfortable fit possible. The main part of the dress has short sleeves, finishing at the bicep. You can choose to wear the dress as-is, or also wear the matching velvet sleeves, made from a contrasting color. These sleeves do not tie on and are instead worn as if they are arm warmers, without any lacing. The sleeves are also close fitting, creating a beautiful silhouette with the rest of the dress. If you do not wish to wear the sleeves, your chemise will be visible, which is also a perfectly suitable way to wear this outfit.

The majority of this dress is constructed from our premium cotton. It is a structured, strong fabric, giving this dress some much needed form, but it also drapes beautifully and creates a dramatic skirt that will flow when you walk. To give this stunning garment an extra touch of luxury, we have used velvet accents. Velvet has a beautiful texture, which feels lovely and also looks fantastic in photography. You will find three stripes of velvet along the bottom of the dress, as well as bordering the shoulders, down the bottom of the bodice. We have also finished the short sleeves with velvet and created separate tight sleeves made out of a slightly stretchier velvet, which close around your wrist with a few dainty buttons. The wide lacing on the sides of the dress is also in the same color as the velvet, to add some visual interest.

There are a number of different types of characters who would wear this dress, and we feel that it is incredibly versatile - noblewomen, merchants, townspeople, princesses... it depends on your imaginations, really. We would love to know the kind of character you play if you end up wearing this dress!

To check how to measure yourself please click here.

Please contact us if you have any additional questions.