15th Century Capsule Wardrobe

V-neck Burgundian gown worn with my red horned hennin

The next “Capsule Costume Collection” is another small one, but one that I think is perfect for doing as a capsule collection because there is the potential for multiple layers with certain styles, and I have created an abundance of amazing headdresses for this era.

German Costume Capsule Wardrobe

German Renaissance Cranach gown costume with gown, chemise, gollar, cap, sleeves, and hat.

A fairly poor contender for my capsule wardrobe collections is my German costume – namely because I only have one gown with a few accessories at the moment – it’s not a layering costume where pieces can be interchanged to create that “capsule” impact. As much as I utterly adore that gown – I don’t really foresee myself making another.

My existing costume is a Cranach style gown, but I also want to make a Landsknechte style costume as well. Since I have a lot of fabric ready for that outfit… and lots of other fabrics I need to weed out – I figured that it would be a good idea to at least brainstorm colour schemes for that outfit as well.

Byzantine Capsule

11th Century Byzantine costume

The next “Capsule Costume Collection” is another small one- I have two main outfits (and a few extra accessories and pieces) where some of the accessories play double-duty.

Byzantine Capsule Costume Collection

I didn’t originally think I’d end up making very many outfits in this area. I made the original for a thematic contest/fashion show (where I won first place in the advanced category!) and really liked it- but it’s so far out from the time frame I’m mostly interested in.  Then my friend from Adventures in Block Printing got an amazing Persian Prancing Pony block and lent it to me… and another outfit was born.

Egyptian Capsule wardrobe

Orange loose sheath dress with ‘sleeves’ and a v-neck with a teal ‘coat’.

The next “Capsule Costume Collection” .. well.. isn’t. I have one outfit. However, I really liked making it, and found it fun to wear, so I can foresee making other items to go with it. I think with the simplicity of the items, and how interchangeable the layers are, it would be a great candidate for a capsule wardrobe.

Finnish Costume Capsule

My new Finnish Iron Age outfit, minus the underdress.

One of the ‘wardrobes’ I’m examining for my Capsule Costume Collection is my Finnish Iron-Age costume ‘wardrobe’.

Finnish Iron Age capsule wardrobe

Calling my Finnish Iron Age costume items a  “wardrobe” is a bit ambitious really. Right now what I have for this costume amounts to very few garments.

• I have one peplos-style overdress, and use the under dresses from my Viking Age wardrobe.
• I also have a small selection of accessories including a hat, two coil-embellished apron panels, and a few pairs of mittens.
• I also have jewelry like a set of brooches, and two necklaces. There are other accessories I would like to add (or improve upon what I have) like a knife.

However, each layer works well with other layers, and I think it’s another good candidate for a capsule wardrobe.