ab. 1620 Style of William Larkin - Francis Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Trowbridge

The entire outfit is paned. I believe I’ve seen this in a few portraits, but I can’t tell if that’s actually the case or it just looks like that. This would be a gigantic pain in the ass to do, but it would offer many chances for creativity. I was thinking of doing an alternating pattern of different colored panes. Could be contrasting colors, but I think I would like colors that are the same hue but different tones, like a slightly more yellow green and a slightly more blue green. I was also thinking that these alternating panes can also have alternating embroidery, like one has gold thread and the other silver thread, one has a different type of flower design than the other, etc. In one of the few portraits that I have seen of this style, I also saw that there was a gold trim along the panes. I think there are many different types of trims that one can do like perhaps lace. The problem with this one is that the patterns for doublets and breeches that I have found are not 100% geometric, and one would need to cut into the panes or add onto them in order to get the paned doublet/breeches to fit the same way a normal pair of doublet/breeches would. Also, cutting into the panes would make them less strong than if you kept their shape. Perhaps I could overlap them? That would also add dimension to the doublet.

1627 Daniël Mijtens (Daniel Mytens the Elder) - Endymion Porter / (National Portrait Gallery, London)

1629 Cornelius Johnson - William Fitzwilliam, Second Lord Fitzwilliam of Liffer / (Detroit Institute of Arts)

Doublet chest slits that extend down the garment. This is related to the one above, as I feel like the few doublets that seemed to be completely paned also had longer chest slits. I like this idea because I’ve read that this type of fashion can get quite hot in the belly area, which is why the doublet evolved to be a small, unbuttoned vest in the 1660’s. This would allow for more ventilation and more room for decorative undergarments. Tbh, I was thinking of not actually having embroidered undergarments but instead having an inner lining that is attached to the doublet, but that may defeat the ventilation of the slits lol. But I think the inner lining idea would be less work and use less fabric so I’ll probably do that.

Paned sleeves that are diagonal or even curved. I really like the idea that the doublet body has paning that points towards the center in a “\/“ pattern, and this shape could be even better in a doublet that has diagonal paned sleeves that also go in a similar direction. Idk how practical this is, especially the curved type. Idk how the fabric would stretch and crinkle as the arm moves, how secure it would be, etc. so this may be only a fantasy. Even if the diagonal panes are possible, the curved ones probably aren’t lol.

Paned sleeves for men that are comprised of one larger puff on top and a smaller puff on the bottom. You do see this with men’s fashion sometimes, but it’s most common with women’s fashion. I would like to see this with men’s fashion more because it makes the transition from puffy sleeves to tight fit cuffs more smooth. I was thinking of making the sleeves able to be switched from the puffy upper sleeve to both puffy upper and forearm sleeves. The entire sleeve is paned, and you can adjust it by adjusting the bombast in the sleeve and securing the placement with a ribbon. The ones in portraits aren’t secured by a ribbon, but I think ribbons would be good for the versatility aspect as well as decorative.

ab. 1620 Unknown artist - Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman / National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

late 1620s Gilbert Jackson - Portrait of a gentleman, possibly a member of the Poulett family / private collection

Pinking details on the outfit that shows the inner lining. I’ve seen this a few times on doublets, and I really like this idea because it’s so renaissance. It’s also another way to show off the inner lining. The most complicated part of this would be the fact that, in order to get to the undershirt, you would need to also cut through the buckram which would make it weaker. BUT if I had a false undershirt that was actually an inner lining, that would fix the issue.

early 1620s Simon Vouet - Portrait of a gentleman with his dog / (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest)

Large epaulettes on the doublet shoulder. I think that the wing of the doublet should either be non existent or point up to accommodate the epaulette. Making the wing of the doublet point up would change the silhouette a lot, so idk. But anyway, I think a large epaulette would look best with slashed puff sleeves because the concentration of the puff of those are at the elbow so it wouldn’t look like too much at the top. Plus, idk how the epaulette would look with the panes. It could be too much stripes or too disorganized or something like that.

ab. 1620 Possibly Jacopo Ligozzi - Maria Maddalena, Grand-Duchess of Tuscany, with her eldest son Grand-Duke Ferdinand II and youngest daughter Anna de' Medici, later Archduchess of the Tyrol / (Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk)

Tabs of the doublet that are different shapes. The times I’ve seen this was mostly from Dutch women’s bodices and once from a costume (above), but I think there’s a lot of room for creativity on the tabs of the doublet. I think the tabs are essential to the silhouette, but kinda useless, especially since I plan on keeping the breeches up by either suspenders or being attached to a pair of stays that I may or may not wear with this outfit.

ab. 1625 Michel Jansz van Mierevelt - Portrait of a woman / (Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon)

1625 Paulus Moreelse - Portrait of a Man in the Strick Family, probably Dirck Strick and Portrait of Henrica Ploost van Amstel / (Allentown Art Museum)

1626 Pieter Soutman - Alexander van der Capellen, Lord van den Boedelhoff and his wife Amilia van Zuylen van Nyevelt / (Portrait of Alexander van der Capellen - Milwaukee Art Museum, portrait of his wife - private collection via M.S.Rau Antiques, New Orleans)

1621 Nicolaes Eliasz. Pickenoy (attributed to) - Portrait of a Gentleman

1626 Cornelis de Vos - Portrait of a Father with his Son

Kids these days! All they do is read all day!

I came up with this concept first, but now I wonder how many people were actually reading for leisure in the 17th century. The first novel meant to be read for leisure was Don Quixote, and that came out in 1615. I doubt it would’ve been mass produced to the point where a lot of people would have been able to read it. Also, literary rate??