“Once we know what to look for, retouching becomes quite obvious. It is there in the smooth cheeks of Edwardian women, in the impossibly sloped shoulders of debutantes, in the famous waist of Polaire.”
The camera has been lying for over 100 years. Read more…
MAY I PRESENT TO THEE, PRINCE RUPERT OF THE WESTERN KINGDOM!
I first approached the idea by redesigning him completely from the official art, but keep his color palette. To keep with the fairy tale tone of the story, I decided to use the Renaissance as the basis. The costume draws heavy inspiration from the 1490’s Italian Renaissance and the mid-1500’s English Renaissance.
Another visual demonstration that historical clothing wasn’t dingy and monochrome.
All of these colours can be obtained from vegetable dyes, producing different shades depending on what mordant (colour fixative - alum, different metal filings, different vinegars) was used. See hereandhere for examples.
BRING THIS FASHION BACK.
Not clothes, but this was a palette developed by the National Museum of Denmark based on paint residue from archaeological finds for the purpose of painting a reconstructed hall.
Apparently, they can tell from the chemical composition that the colours wouldn’t be mixed with black or white to mute them, but be used in their brightest form. Bright yellow and red was achieved with expensive dyes (orpiment and cinnabar) and was thus fashionable. (Source in Danish)
