Fashion Has a Way of Repeating Itself

Hello darling! I hope you’ve enjoyed this little mini series on renaissance fashion. If you haven’t seen my last pots on renaissance inspired fashion trends and designers using renaissance fashion click on those links.

The only item that does not have some renaissance meaning in this outfit is my shoes. Even my hair has a reasoning for being the way it is. The renaissance period definitely had trends we wouldn’t try to recreate but there are a few that we can take notes on.

Hair.

If you’ve been reading my blog for some time you’ve probably realized that I pretty much only wear my hair curly or straight. I do have one post in the beginning of my blogging career where I wear my hair up but that was about three years ago. Anyway, during the renaissance, women used to be obsessed with high hairlines. They liked to have the appearance of having a huge forehead and actually plucked out hairs to draw back their hairline. If you think about it or look at the pictures in my last post you can actually see the women’s hairline falling on the back of their heads. I didn’t want to go that drastic (I like my forehead the way it is) so I decided to do a high ponytail to show off my forehead. Never thought I’d say that in a blog post…

As for my hair color, if I were trying to drastically recreate a renaissance look; I would have blonde hair in this post. Blondes were very sought out after and women actually tried to dye their hair lighter with alum, sulfur, and soda. Women would have to sit outside in the sun to bleach their hair but this was a very hard process because they wanted to have pale skin. So they would sit outside for hours covered in clothes to protect their skin. I’ll stick to my brunette/red hair thank you very much!

Velvet Skirt.

If you saw my last two posts you would know that velvet was a very important textile in the renaissance period. Rich women would show their class by wearing velvet and other materials such as lace, linen, and silk. This skirt is definitely a more modern skirt because the ones the women would wear in the renaissance would be large and in charge. They would include a wheel farthingale that would make their but look big. The dress would  reach the floor and be expanded in every direction. Since I wanted to include another textile used in the renaissance period, I thought it would be best to wear a shorter skirt.

Lace Tights.

Lace was another very important textile to the renaissance period and was relatively new. It was invented in the 16th century was was affordable by only the wealthy. Lace was worn on sleeves, ruffs, corsets, skirts, anything you name it. If you were wearing lace it was known that you were a very wealthy individual because it showed that you did not have to lift a finger. Lace is now a more versatile textile in today’s society and not nearly as expensive because machines can make it. The lace tights I am wearing are very old and I adore pairing them with any plain skirt or dress because it adds a little something to every outfit. I wanted to pair it with thigh high boots because showing the entire lace tights would be a little too much in this outfit already over the top outfit.

Statement Sleeves.

The women in the renaissance had sleeves that would attach to their corset or shirt. Not all sleeves were attachable but most of them were. They were also usually decked out in jewels and lace. Some of the shirts would billow out and some would scrunch up at the wrist. Since I’ve never tried statement sleeves, I decided to borrow my roommate’s shirt (don’t worry, she knows) and incorporate it in this outfit. This is definitely a fun element to add to an outfit, but I admit… it’s just not me. I find the sleeves a little bit distracting because of their large and in charge nature. It would definitely be a fun shirt to dance in though. I hand it to the renaissance women… they knew how to add some “wow” factor into their outfits.

Statement Necklace. 

Okay, this clearly isn’t a ruff, but it will have to do. I put on this necklace to imitate the impressive, lace collar the renaissance women would wear. Since some women wore jewels and rhinestones underneath their ruff or even just in replace of the ruff, I thought I could get away with it. You’ll have to let me know in the comments down below if you agree.

Pearl Earrings.

Like jewels and gemstones, pearls were also highly sought after. After all, The Girl With The Pearl Earring was painted during the renaissance. Pearls were often attached to garments and worn as jewelry as they are today. I pretty much wear my pearl earrings every day and now I can think about girls many years ago were wearing them too.

What do you think about the renaissance period? Would you try some of these fashion trends or do you think they’re better left in the past? Let me know in the comments down below.

As always,