The Creative Contessa Blog

Watch a medieval Countess get dressed, from the skin out, in full 15th century Florentine finery!

When I was a teenager, I attended a medieval ball at a massive 10,000-person medievalist event known as Pennsic. . I had some skill at medieval ballroom dance, but not much. Here is a turbo tutorial, complete with basic footwork, so that you may not find yourself caught quite so flatfooted at your next medieval or Renaissance ball! 

I am doubtlessly not the only fashionista who works best under pressure. Tight deadlines drive me in ways I somehow cannot necessarily drive myself. Enter the gorgeous custom-made buckle and strap end that I purchased from Armour & Castings in the Ukraine, intended to create a beautiful wide belt of the sort worn by grand ladies such as Mary of Burgundy and Margaret of York. But I had never made any sort of belt before, let alone one covered in expensive silk damask and "harnyssed" in gilt fittings. Also, I decided that I needed this belt in time for our...

"Every savage can dance", Darcy famously quips in Jane Austen's masterpiece, "Pride & Prejudice". Such snobbish protests notwithstanding, moving to music has probably been part of humanity's interactions since we first figured out how to beat a stick against a log in a set rhythm, and in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, dance went from being a ceremonial activity to a social one, in which unmarried men and women intermixed and engaged in salacious behavior such as holding hands. In fact, the concept of couple's dancing seems to have been invented in the late 14th century, with certain polities even...

Before the era of social media, dance used to be the only way in which strangers could engage, flirt and perhaps even court in a socially acceptable environment. And in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, practice makes perfect!

The details of daily life are what fascinate me about the past and constitute the primary driver behind my near obsession with history. Clothing plays a major role in all of our daily lives now, but in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, fashion served a greater function than merely clothing our bodies and protecting us from the elements: it acted as the visible symbol of a family's "honor" and reputation, displaying their intangible wealth and power in a way that was extremely tangible. So here is a video that illustrates all of these symbolic layers from the skin out, specifically for...