The trends and movements of referring back to Antiquity that came to be 'the Renaissance' flourished in the Mediterranean especially and spread from there over the Western hemisphere. The Renaissance is generally dated to have begun around the 1500s in Northern Europe, although in Italy it dawned even in the early 1300s with the outstanding frescoes of Giotto and the beginning of scholarship into ancient knowledge.

As time is fluid, dividing time into eras is contested in (art) historical research. As a rule, however, dating the beginning of the Renaissance to 1500 for Northern Europe and 1450 south of the Alps is generally accepted.

 Culturally, it was an age dominated by increasing wealth through international textile and banking networks, rising manufacturing, art patronage and scientific progress. Nonetheless, it was also a time of epidemics and armed conflicts. Florence was a major hub of Renaissance activity, ruled by the immensely rich Medici family who had acquired their wealth through banking and cloth trade. The names of Italian artists of those days are still extremely famous, e.g. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarotti, Fillipo Lippi and Sandro Botticelli, just to name a few. Lesser known but very significant artists are, for example, Domenico Ghirlandaio who captured scenes of the everyday-life in his works.

Renaissance dress is, like dress of all eras, complex and very varied depending on the wearer's social status, fortunes, and place of habitation. Everyone wore a linen shift under their clothes, regardless of whether these outer layers were very lavish or rather plain. In outerwear, the materials were still the same as in the medieval era, that is to say natural fibres such as linen, wool and silk. Women's gowns were no longer cut as one-piece tunics but had a waist seam that divides their construction into bodice and skirt. This allowed for a tightly fitted bodice together with a flared skirt. 

Women's gowns were usually floor-long, with full skirts. Sleeves were often detachable so that they could be exchanged between different dresses. This meant that there was a) the opportunity to mix up one's clothing and b) the chance to save some money by having fewer pairs of sleeves than gowns. Clothing was still extremely precious in the Renaissance. Needlework was an essential female skill but most pieces of clothing were not generally made in the home but commissioned from specialised tailors and dressmakers. Often, only the sewing of linen shifts, baby linen, alterations and mending were executed in the home. Sumptuary laws in many regions still restricted what styles, cloths and colours people of each rank and profession could wear. 

As in all periods, dress in the Renaissance era was incredibly complex and varied from region to region. Therefore, this page can only represent dress in rather general terms and by cherry-picking a few particularly well-known styles.  The cut of clothing, materials, trim and decoration reflected the individual circumstances of towns, persons and decades. 

Florence, second half of the 1400s: 

I am personally particularly partial to this period, and its representation in the works of the artistic Ghirlandaio family of Florence. The Ghirlandaio brothers were sought-after artists who created large-scale frescoes, altar pieces, and small-scale intimate portraits. They represent the lives of the Florentine gentry in great details and also allow glimpses at working-class city life in their urban scenes.

The women in the Ghirlandaio images are dressed in the characteristic gamurra style of Florence in the later 1400s. The bodice with a round or slightly boxy neckline was tightly fitted, usually with front-lacing over the linen shift beneath. It was cut with a characteristic curved diagonal seam, allowing the dress to follow the female form. The tight sleeves made in sections were laced or pinned on, too.  

Florence, 1550s:

Eleanor de Toledo (ital. Eleonora di Toledo) was the wife of Cosimo I de'Medici. As her name suggests she was born in Toledo, a province in central Spain. In 1539, aged 17 years, she was married to the future ruler of Florence and brought an immense dowry with her. Her father, Vice-Roi of Spain, had tried to persuade Cosimo in vain to take the elder daughter with an even larger fortune as a wife. Cosimo, however, wanted to marry the younger Eleonora, whom he had seen some time before and liked well. It is reported that he remained faithful to her throughout their marriage.

Around the year 1545, Angolo Bronzino painted Eleanor and her son Giovanni. Eleanor is clad in a patterned gown. By then, dress was rather different to the late 1400s gamurra style. The bodice is elongated and very stif, the waistline lower and the neckline very wide on the shoulders. Eleonora's sleeves in the portrait are constructed from four long strips of fabric held together by many gemmed little brooches.

2. Venice, early 1500s:

The fine gowns of these two Venetian ladies depicted by Carpaccio are notably high-waisted. Strongly inspired by antique tunics tied under the bust, the gowns are quite column-like. This style would later come back in the Empire/Regency style which was also inspired by antique Greek and Roman tunics. 

Pearls are stitched around their wide necklines. The lady in yellow wears a necklace of big pears and the other a heavy silver one. Gold threat is worked in the fabric of the sleeves of the woman playing with the dog and her hem is decorated with golden braid. The lady in yellow has a hem edged with a silver saw-toothed braiding. The sleeves, like Eleonora de Toledo's, have huge cut-outs showing a wide, white linen shift/underdress.

Two other styles as examples for the variety of dress in the German-speaking lands were the Swabian Gown and the headdress called 'Wulsthaube' (seen in this portrait). 

Swabia is a region around modern-day Stuttgart in southwestern Germany. The Swabian Gown is characterised by a V-neck with several large gathered pleats underneath the bust over the belly. It has a full skirt. It is worn over a linen shift, like all medieval and Renaissance garments.

The Wulsthaube headdress is made from a stuffed tube of fabric worn towards the back of the head under a cap or wrapped cloth. It is reminiscent of, and indeed contemporary to, the Italian Balzo. 

Shoes:

Usually, the delicate footwear of the ladies was hidden under heavy floor-long skirts. In the  Renaissance, the high heel became a fashionable attribute: the story goes that in the year 1533, the small Caterina de'Medici, Princess of Urbino, came from Italy to France to marry the Duke of Orleans and she wore high heels to appear taller. Many female members of the French Court soon copied this fashion. Heels had previously been a part of male dress to make riding on horseback and staying firmly in the stirrups easier. In the following time the women wore shoes with more  heels quite as high as modern stilettos. The cow-mouth-shoe, however, that had come up towards the end of the middle-ages was still in fashion.

By the end of the 15th century, another style of footwear had arisen: the so called Chopines. Those platform shoes had their origins in the pattens. The Chopines' soles were made of sometimes cork trimmed with fabric which, at their zenith, reached substantial heights, as can be observed in surviving examples in museum collections such as this one in Venice. This fashion was most popular among patrician women in Venice as it was a costly, indulgent fashion. 

Beauty:

A high forehead was considered an expression of intelligence and virtue, and consequently the front hair was removed by plucking or shaving. The hair line thus wandered up the head by some centimetres. Fair hair was a beauty ideal and there are historical depictions of Italian women sitting in the sun with their hair spread out to bleach it.

Cosmetics were created from the available recipes and resources at the time, using medicinal plants and also animal-derived products. There was a degree of social pressure to maintain and enhance one's best physical self, as physical beauty was believed to show a beautiful spirit resided in the person. Women especially were also effectively publicity tools for their families, attired to display the wealth, influence and physical beauty of a family dynasty. This was particularly enacted by noble families, to whom it could materially help in securing the family's power and secure strategic marriages.

Andrea del Verocchio’s bust of a lady demonstrates this popular hairstyle of mid-1400s Tuscany. 

The exquisitely carved head shows the middle-part, the curls framing the face and the rest of the hair under a coif in an up-do. 

The coif is small and round, secured to the top of the head and adorned with trim. You can just make out the small triangular section behind the ear which leads down onto a small chin strap. Andrea del Verocchio's carving is so realistic that it even displays the small gathering pleats at the bottom of the coif, showing how life-like the bust is. 

Jewellery:

The nobles and the increasingly rising middle class wore jewellery. Precious stones, metal and coral were believed to have powers to heal and protect. 

An extremely popular style of pendant seems to have been one of gold and containing two gems set above another – a blue one (presumably diamond or glass) and a red one (probably ruby or glass). Attached to the pendant were often three pearls. The portraits of Florentine artist Domenico Ghirlandaio depict these pendants frequently. 

In portraits of women wearing the “Saxon gown”, they are wearing huge chunky gold chains, great golden and gem-studded collars and finer golden necklaces. With portraits it is always slightly dubious how many of these precious metal pieces or sparkling gems were added by the artist at the request of the commissioner of the painting, or for artistic effect, and how many actually existed and were worn. 

The Ferronnière was a head ornament primarily fashionable in the 15th century in Italy. It consisted of a thin ribbon or thread (usually black) on which centrally a jewel was attached. This jewel was usually crafted of precious metal and studded with one or several gemstones and pearls. This jewel was placed centrally onto the forehead and the threads were run horizontally to the back of the head over the hair where they were affixed. An example of the ferronnière in art history is  the portrait 'La Belle Ferronnière' from the school of Leonardo da Vinci (1490-6), or the Portrait of a Woman by Bartolomeo Veneto.

Patterns:

• Burda 7171
• Butterick 4571 (dresses)
• McCall's 2806
• McCall's 4107 (Renaissance top with several sleeves)
• McCall's 5444
• Simplicity 5582
• Simplicity 7096
• Simplicity 7097
• Simplicity 8735 (Italian style Renaissanc dresses; out of print)
  
• Simplicity 9531 (COSTUME COLLECTION) (Italian style dresses; high-waisted and puffed sleeves)
  

 - Please note that this list claims no completeness and does not operate as advertisement. It was merely composed for informative purposes. Furthermore, no valuation of the patterns is implied or intended -

Further reading on culture and society in the Renaissance: 

Tim Parks, Medici Money, 2005.

 Publications from the international research project 'Refashioning the Renaissance'.

 Ulinka Rublack (ed.), The First Book of Fashion: The Book of Clothes of Matthaeus and Veit Konrad Schwarz of Augsburg, 2015.

 Caroline P. Murphy, The Pope's Daughter: The Extraordinary Life of Felice Della Rovere, 2004.

 Carole Collier Frick, Dressing Renaissance Florence: Families, Fortunes, and Fine Clothing, 2005.

 Cecilie Hollberg, Textiles and Wealth in 14th Century Florence: Wool, Silk, Painting, exhibition catalogue, Galleria Dell’Accademia (05 December 2017-18 March, 2018), Giunti, 2017.

 Maureen Fennell Mazzaoui, The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middle Ages, 1100-1600, Cambridge University Press, 1981.