on Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:33:52 -0700 Sister Claire wrote: ....Last night I saw a DVD of *Elizabeth: the Golden Age* (I think that's the right title) and was struck by the collars and ruffs. I am positive that they did not hire lacemakers to make these beautiful articles, but if they had done, what is that style of lace called? Is it "Renaissance tape lace"?
Dear Sister Claire and other spiders, I'm surprised no one else has taken up this thread, but it gave me an excuse to get out the DVD and watch the film again - highly enjoyable. "Elizabeth: the Golden Age" takes a certain amount of dramatic license with history and doesn't pretend to be an accurate period reconstruction. The same can be said of the lace: it is dramatically effective and there's lots of it (unlike "Shakespeare in Love", set in the same period, with hardly an inch of lace!) But it has little or no resemblance to what was worn at the time. High fashion in Elizabeth's reign demanded needlelace, preferably Italian, 'reticella' and 'punto in aria'. It was highly geometric, with lots of pointy edgings, and mounted on the very finest linen. Yards and yards of it were needed for for a ruff. Bobbin lace was also known, and was made in England, but mainly for the cheaper end of the market, and for metallic thread lace (gold if you could afford it!) which was appliqued onto heavy velvets and satins - again yards and yards of it. It was definitely an age of conspicuous consumption. It could all be referred to as 'Renaissance Lace' beause that is the period, but not 'Renaissance Tape Lace' . Tape lace is a much later technique, popular in the 19th century as a cheap but effective response to the competition from machine laces. Back to the film. There were a few nice stand-up collars with the right shape of pointed edge (later known as 'Vandyke Points'). But I also spotted embroidered muslin (18th century), Idrija-style squiggles, and even what looked like Honiton (19th century in the form we now know it). I'm pretty sure most of it was machine-made. There are other options for filmmakers who want more accuracy. A cooperative in Sri Lanka (powerofhandsfoundation.org) has been commissioned to make lace for several recent TV productions: Dickens, Jane Austen etc (eg. "Bleak House"). But of course Dickens requires less yardage than the 16th century. I doubt if there'll be much lace in "Little Dorrit", which is not set among the lace-wearing classes. It is still possible to find antique lace of the right style - the Victorians made lots of reproduction period lace, much of it almost indestinguishable from the real thing (though they used cotton instead of linen) and there's a lot more of it about that genuine 16th - 17th century. I seem to have rambled on a bit, but I hope this will be of interest. Google Queen Elizabeth I for lots of images. Bridget in Pinner, Middlesex, where it is sunny but with snow on the ground! - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
