Sunday 22 March 2009

The Renaissance by Maufugta

Maurita's clothes aren't just historically inaccurate.  They're also boooooooooooooooring.  They're often historically inaccurate because they're boring.  

Any medieval maiden who could afford velvet would put some damn trim on her dress.  As for the Elizabethans, they went mad on clothes for court.  They might spend as much on one gown as they had on their house.  Remember, they had to fit in with this.  Does Maurita really think her own court dress is going to cut it?  One (badly) beaded band and a string of fake pearls?  It doesn't even have sleeves!  And the fabric pattern?  Darling, that looks modern.  The Elizabethan bridal gown has modern fabric too... they never would have used these little satin flowers which look Rococo at the earliest.  The trim is minimal, so this would be the bridal gown of someone who couldn't afford satin anyway.  And the sleeves?  Even if they'd been done right, with the satin bits lacing over a separate chemise, they'd look Italian Renaissance and not Elizabethan.

The Tudors liked their fancy court dress too, and there's no way they'd wear one paltry line of braid trim.  So do you think even for a moment that a Tudor princess would wear this?  This is like walking around naked.  There's no overskirt.  No underskirt.  No goddamn farthingale!  This is a real Tudor princess, people, and she is not impressed.

Same goes for Medieval maidens.  They'd never go out wearing nothing over their undergarments, yet Maurita offers us this.  Also note that they had no front-lacing bodices in the middle ages, either.  Oh, and in the kid's section?  The Medieval princess costume is Italian Renaissance... done badly.  Once again it's way too plain for a real princess, and no one would use that ugly, nubbly trim.

I'll leave you with one parting shot: the Medieval bride.  Why is this not in her Modern section?There's nothing Medieval about it.  Looks like a discount version of Lady Arwen's dream sequence.  LotR was fantasy, people, and it owed a lot more to Art Nouveau than to the middle ages!   

2 comments:

  1. There are a couple of them I'd give a half-pass to for being children's clothes. Or a quarter-pass. People like to make children's clothes very cheap and simple, on the theory that they'll only outgrow them or go make mudpies in them. Still, you can do better than THAT. Check out http://i44.tinypic.com/35mgw8x.jpg and http://i44.tinypic.com/1z9mkm.jpg for Tudor children (awwww) and http://www.elizabethan-portraits.com/Bia.jpg and http://www.elizabethan-portraits.com/ElenoraToledo1.jpg for Elizabethan children (awwwwww).

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  2. I'm intimately acquainted with the Cranach girl. She's from my favourite period of dress, and she looks just like me!

    And I think you're being waaaaaay too lenient. You can make cheap, simple children's clothes that are accurate and not damn UGLY.

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