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| Today the report brings you a fashion-history lesson to turn you into a true Renaissance connoisseur. |
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A brief schoolroom refresher before we begin: the Renaissance was the vast cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement that swept through Europe from the mid-15th century to the end of the 16th. It was a time of great change — in art, thought, and manners.
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Portrait of Frances Howard, dowager Countess of Kildare (1600)
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Adam I von Neuhaus by Jakob Seisenegger (1529)
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| From a sartorial point of view, it marked a break with the medieval austerity that preceded it. With the rise of trade, the splendour of royal courts, and exchanges with Italy, dress began to transform. Silhouettes became more structured, fabrics more sumptuous, and garments more expressive. |
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As exemplified here with Elizabeth I of England in her Ermine Portrait, William Segar (1585)
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or here with this portrait of François I of France by Jean Clouet (1530)
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| Clothing took on a new importance. Among the elites in particular, people dressed to be seen, to signal belonging, to impress. And sometimes, quite simply, for the sheer pleasure of costume — a pleasure still shared by the team at 15 rue Racine, five centuries later. |
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Portrait of a Lady in a black dress with pearls, English school (1590)
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To help you shine at dinner, here are a few definitions of our favourite words, gathered along the making of the collection, and now entered into the Bourgi-lexicon:
Vertugadin: An underskirt frame — made of wooden or wicker hoops — that gave petticoats their flared shape. In other words, the ancestor of the crinoline.
Corps à baleines: A rigid bodice reinforced with stays, designed to flatten the bust and narrow the waist. In other words, the ancestor of the corset. For this collection, we have reinterpreted it through the busc, the basquine, and a thoroughly Bourginian invention: the “coeurpiqué.”
Coiffe: A headpiece worn by women, varying greatly from region to region. Our particular favourite is the attifet, with its pointed, heart-like shape, which we quite naturally decided to resurrect.
Pourpoint: A fitted masculine garment, though women sometimes adopted its cut for outerwear. A sort of jacket.
Haut-de-chausses: Men’s puffed breeches, now reborn as Bourgine’s Spring-Summer shorts.
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Bourgine
15 rue Racine à Paris
Lundi-Samedi, 11h-19h
Dimanche, 13h-19h |
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