A Masque Costume 1590s French

This masque costume was inspired by the designs of Inigo Jones for the French Court. I also looked at other resources such as some of the masque designs of Buonoavellio and some of the early staging instructions for Danae, the first Opera.
Constructed entirely by hand. The red and gold silk satin costume is worn over a base gown of deep salmon pink silk. The rich skirt uses deep cartridge pleats to create a foundation for the satin over robe. A bodice of the same silk is used to give the body form. The bodice is made to close at the side back, so that it does not interfere with the opening of the over robe.

Unshown in this photograph are the sleeves for the robe. They are short and puffed - as in the inspiration drawing from Inigo Jones. I continued the paned or feathered treatment at the base of the sleeve. Each pane of the sleeve echoes the decoration of the panes of the skirt.

Decoration of the costume is applied gold mesh in the shape of chevrons (I freely admit that I applied the mesh by machine, it was chewing up my hands too badly.) On the lower panels of the skirt, the bands between the chevrons are hand beaded with 3mm gold beads.

The chemise shown in the photograph is not the correct chemise for this ensemble. The correct chemise has a lower square neckline. I just didn't want to show off the less-than-stellar condition of my model. I'll try to get a better photo this year at Pennsic.

Other images of Masque Costumes by I. Jones.
Items of Note:

Because of their use in dance events, many of the dresses are decidedly short. Many stop at or above the ankle.

Items designed for Chorus members are decidedly more risque (bared breast) than those for members of the Court.

A few of the designs, mainly those for principle dancers, do not involve sleeves that fully cover the smock.

The air of fantasy was enhanced by the use of draped cloth about the body.