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'Flemish' Dress
The "Flemish Dress" is a one-piece side-lacing kirtle that is fully reversible. It is loosely based on late 15th/early 16th century Flemish styles. Although this style does have some historical basis, I first drafted the pattern back in 2000 and was *not* good at keeping records of documentation at that time - so any documentation that I currently have is done retroactively. Retroactive documentation is never as good as pre-design documentation... so this sits firmly in the "fantasy" section.
That said, this is a very comfortable style, it looks great on lots of body types. I've made a ton of these - these are pictures of a few of my favorites.
The wonderful thing about this dress is that it is fully self-supportive without any sort of boning - so it's amazingly comfortable and versatile. The dual side-lacing gives it flexibility in sizing - so if you gain or lose weight, you're still able to fit in it. The dress can be made more or less fancy depending on the fabric you use - my personal Flemish has plain navy linen on one side, and a green brocade on the other. It's fully reversible, so it's terribly practical to bring to a weekend event.
Retrocative documentation: St. John's Altarpiece, by Masseys, 1507.
