I don't know the dates, or even if it's period accurate, but a friend gave me an ivory/cream Tudor gown yesterday. It's a gorgeous brocade!

Go to very fancy events?

Most of my garb is the stuff you saw me in at Pennsic.

My friend is a brilliant seamstress, it had been commissioned for someone who never came for it, and had the dress lying around. So: Mine. ;)

I can’t answer for Tudor, but in Hans Memling’s Crucifixion from the late 15th century, there’s an ivory/light beige kirtle. It’s likely an underlayer, but certainly not underwear. Mary Magdalene is also wearing a light colored kirtle in van der Weyden’s Deposition.

Crud. It’s not Memling’s Crucifixion. I mis-marked it in the paper. In any case you can see it here: http://www.mathildegirlgenius.com/Documentation/KASF2006/KirtleWithTrapezoids.pdf

I’d better go fix that.

So, wearing white wasn’t unheard of in the 15th century, at least.

ETA: The icon is Coeur from King Rene's Book of Love, so it very well could be allegorical. But there you go. :-D

Edited at 2009-06-15 02:47 pm (UTC)

Like I said, I can't speak for Tudor. But it's certainly *before* the Spanish influence in England in the Elizabethan period (which was part of the question), and while Flemish isn't English, in the late 15th century the two nations were diplomatically close (and in the absence of much 15th century English art, we sometimes use it to fill gaps in knowledge). Take it for what it is, and only for what it is. Which very well might be nothing.

Sorry - doing earlier stuff, I'm so used to having to dance around with datapoints that don't actually answer the question and having to deduce from there!

I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Well, I have used a creamy ivory for my wedding gown but it was an ivory cloth of gold fabric which probably makes the difference.

New Year's Gifts - 1577/8:

By the Lady Margret Countess of Darby, a petticote of white satten, reysed and edged with a brode embrawdery of divers colloures.
Delivered to Rauf Hoope, Yoman of the Roobes.

Quick look at New Year's gifts - lots of white satin in just one year - and I've only copied two items.

I have Henry VIII book by MH - do you want me to look in there for any reference to white or ivory french gowns?

By the Marques of Northampton, a kyrtill of white satten embrawdred with purles of golde like clowdes, and leyed rownde abought with a bone lace of Venice golde.

Just got home myself - and am looking through Maria's book.

Page 120 - Table 6.5: Cloth delivered to the King 1542 - 47 from the Whitehall Silk store.

Cloth of gold - White: 41 yards
Velvet - White: 26.5 yards
Satin - White: 158 yards
Damask - White: 67 5/8 yards
Taffeta - White: 16 1/4 yards
Sarsenet - White: 237 3/4 yards

Page 159 - The Court of as a centre of Female fashionable Dress.

"Jane Seymour's possessions included 'oone great babie lyeng in a boxe of wodde having a Gowne of white cloth of Silver, and a kyrtle of grene vellat, the Gowne tyed with smale Aglettes of golde with a smale peir of beades of golde and a smale Cheyne and color abowte the necke of golde' and 'two litle babies in a voxe of wodde, oone of them having a Gowne of crymsen satten and thother a Gowne of white vellat'. While precise details of of the clothes worn by the dolls are not given, there were parallels between the dress of the first doll and Jane Seymour's gowns, in particular the aglets on the sleeves."

Page 163: Principal Garments: the gowns and the kirtle.

"the yardage required for making gowns and associated items are indicated in a letter from John Husee to Lady Lisle, dated 25 April 1529. ...He then states that 'I have delivered Mrs Katherine 12 yards of white damask, two and a half yards of carnation velvet, a roll of buckram and half a yard of velvet for a partlet'

Page 179 - the Wardrobes of Henry VIII's wives and sisters.

Table 10.1 - Analysis of Catherine of Aragon's wardrobe in March 1520 by colour:
Gowns in white - 0
Kirtles in white - 1
Sleeves in white - 1

Page 181 - Anne Boleyn.

"There is one warrant that has been listed in Letters and Papers with the coronation documents, but the editors acknowledged that it may not be linked with this event [the coronation]. The document includes payment for 3 yards of crimson taffeta to line Anne's velvet gown, 5 yards of white satin for a kirtle and 2 1/2 yards of red cloth to line the kirtle."

Page 182 - Table 10.5: Analysis of Jane Seymour's clothes by colour.
Gowns - 3 in white;
Kirtle - 1 in white;
Sleeves - 16 in white;
Stomachers - 3 in white;
Frontlets - 3 in white.

I am sure there is more to be found but I would say, you can certainly use a white or ivory fabric for your french gown. If you decided to go with wool and silk then you have a Bridges or Russells Satin. Quite period!

That color combo is going to be STUNNING on you. I say go for it! :)

I've seen a few ivory gowns from a few decades after that, but not from England specifically iirc. And all but one was heavily embroidered with gold. If you look on lamodeillustree, you will see the non-embroidered one. It is from Italy 1580 (like I said, decades later and a different region entirely): http://community.livejournal.com/lamodeillustree/188313.html (Though the sleeves are gorgeous!)

However, there are definitely golden colored ones. I suppose it depends on whether the ivory tends towards the white or towards the yellow-y. :) But if you aren't wearing it to a strict re-enactors event, you could always just make it anyways because it is pretty!

You might want to join the community. It is a collection of portraits and photographs from many different time periods. Generally, the stuff shown is not the normal run of the mill stuff you would find on websites. Most of it is 18th, 19th and early 20th century, but some earlier stuff too. When I joined, I took a look through the previous posts and just drooled!