Mechtild's

Ah, Whiteling, what a thrill and pleasure to see your non-anonymous, lovely-icon-graced comment! I love the Renaissance, period, Italian and Northern, and the costumes are super. It was just before the clothing got terribly stiff and extreme, as in the Elizabethan period in another half century. The clothes were very formal, but followed a more natural line. They had the ruffed collar, but just the suggestion of it. Not the huge lion clown ruffs to come. Those had their own appeal, but as "fashion art" rather than as clothing to be worn.