中世ファッション

Medieval fashion is the visual language of fairytales: long trailing or bell sleeves, a high waist above the natural waistline, and a skirt falling in an unbroken line to the floor. Those two details — the sleeve shape and the raised waist — do most of the work in locating a garment in the period.

It is a compact, edited range of dresses and capes, plus wall stickers and wallpapers for anyone who wants the fairytale atmosphere in a room as well as in a wardrobe.

The cape. It works over medieval dresses and over entirely ordinary clothing, adds volume and movement no jacket can replicate, and covers whatever is underneath. A hooded cape over jeans and a plain top is already a complete outfit, which makes it the most flexible piece in the range.

Yes, provided you scale it. A floor-length gown belongs at a wedding, festival, renaissance fair or photoshoot. But a cape works on an ordinary autumn day, and a velvet dress with bell sleeves at knee length worn with boots reads as fashion rather than costume.

Velvet is the defining fabric for its depth of colour and heavy drape; heavy woven fabrics, brocade and linen-weight textiles also work. The palette runs burgundy, forest green, midnight blue, deep purple, brown, oxblood, cream and black, with gold and silver in trim rather than as base colours.

Look sideways. The gothic collection shares the long silhouettes, velvet and dark palette; the Victorian collection shares the formality and structured waist, and Victorian corsets work very well over medieval-cut dresses. The silhouette you want almost certainly exists under a different label.