Renaissance Dress, Cultures of Making, and the Period Eye

Abstract

This article argues that fashion was at the forefront of Renaissance visual styles. This makes it as important as paintings for understanding the Renaissance as an aesthetic movement. An understanding of fashion follows from a knowledge of how things were made and what visual skills were involved in the making processes. I propose that we see tailoring as akin to a process of polychrome sculpting and investigate the significance of color making. The article explores the political and emotional meanings of color in the early sixteenth century and demonstrates how remaking can be part of a heuristic process for academics. Building on Michael Baxandall, the article concludes that dress needs to become firmly embedded in our conception of the period eye.