Recreating the Blue Italian Dress

This is one of my favorite paintings of a Biblical scene. So often in portrayals of Mary Magdalene she is a passive victim. Many people see her as a whore, passed from man to man, due to very early church tradition linking her with the unnamed 'sinful' woman who anoints Jesus's feet in Luke 7:36.

She is possessed by seven demons, and trapped by cultural norms where she was seen as beyond hope, the ultimate lost cause.

That may have been true but the Bible is quite clear that she was at the crucifixion when the majority of Jesus's male followers had run away or watched from 'far off.' She was there, she had some real courage. 

Luca Signorelli's Crucifixion

What is less clear in the 4 gospels is what she thought when she was at the foot of the cross. Did she see this as Jesus becoming the ultimate lost cause?

I like how the painter has a little 'fan fiction' moment. He's taken a stance or a guess which is that Mary Magdalene felt angry. She was like Jesus get OFF that cross, call the hosts of heaven and let's take these Roman bullies down! She really believed He was the son of God and wanted him to act like it.

In this portrayal Mary Magdalene has agency - she is not only not a victim, she is not only courageous, she is clever and she has a plan for how to work this out.

Only Jesus had a better plan. He took the punishment all humanity deserved to satisfy the wrath of God and build a bridge between heaven and earth. 

But when He rose on the 3rd day, she was among the 1st to see Him. So she was probably among the 1st to understand. And the 1st to believe.

A similar dress in a different painting also caught my eye in 'Penelope Weaving on her Loom' in Lives of Famous Women. I liked the red kirtle behind the dress for a bit of contrast. There's more detailing of the sleeves. I like the story of Penelope, the faithful wife, though recently I did wonder why she didn't just leave her weaving and go find Odysseus - I reckon she could have taken all those adventures and ordeals in 20 minutes, not 20 years. But it's a nice dress.

Penelope Weaving On Her Loom

I decided to recreate a dress based on these two paintings.

I chose royal blue cotton velvet. The kirtle underneath is red linen. There's also a white linen shift under that. 

I asked my friends who have done Italian gowns for advise and they were most helpful! One of them let me trace her kirtle pattern. 

I made the kirtle 1st but it was quite loose and the fabric relaxed so I've had to take it in multiple times. I'd probably do it in white next time and just pin a red piece of fabric to the front, so it would be more versatile.

I did about 5 'muslins' or trials for the bodice out of an old curtain. It's three layers of fabric so it is a bit smaller than the muslins so I wish I'd added bigger seam allowances.

There's no boning or zip tie or other similar support in any of the garments. Just fabric.

I pleated the skirt before attaching it. It's ankle rather than floor length. The hem is bound with bias tape in royal blue.

The ribbons are just the literal cheapest satin ribbons ever. They looked better than the fancy soutache I bought to be honest.

The pendant is a unicorn necklace my mother gave me.

Gold piping finishes the sleeves, to prevent the excessive red-white-and-blue thing that was going on.

There was a lot of hand sewing. I don't recommend Italian gowns if you don't like hand sewing but also can't bring yourself to machine sew visible seams.

Surprisingly it's not too hot, I'd say it would be good to wear in 5 to 16 C weather. It did get up to 18 yesterday and I was too hot though.

I definitely like how flexible the gown is in terms of I feel like I could wear it if I gained 10 pounds or if I lost 10 pounds. I think this is a really clever solution to the problem of fast fashion, before really stretchy fabrics were a thing.