Boleyn Skirt Set
Can be made with can-can on request.
The silhouette for the Boleyn skirt is heavily influenced by the dual-layered skirts that were often seen worn in the Tudor court - the first layer being a farthingale, made to enhance the shape of the female hips and add volume to the skirt, while the second layer would be a decorative attachment that would split in the middle, leaving room to see the lower skirt, as can be seen in the last picture of a young Elizabeth I wearing the same style. In this interpretation, a foundation of virginal white velvet serves as both literal and symbolic canvas—a surface of conventional innocence and purity. The overlay writes over this, decorating it with 12 panels, each curving to form a sharp scallop at the hem, with a detailed glass-bead and pearl-embroidered edging - shaped to look like the edges of the clamshell within Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
The 2 central panels are then extended till the floor to add movement, and complete a full circle from the central inspiration. Each panel is intricately hand-embroidered with silk threads to feature oceanic emblems and motifs - some taken from a mixture of those found at Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn’s Childhood home, and the others from the Oxburgh Hangings, made by Mary Queen of Scots, during her time in imprisonment in England. Through this confluence of imagery, Boleyn merges the legacies of two historically maligned queens. In embodying their resilience and erasure, the skirt becomes not only a garment, but an offering—óasi’s gesture of remembrance and reverence at their altar.
The Boleyn Blouse features various oceanic emblems and motifs, spread across on a luscious velvet. Embroidery motifs are taken from embroideries hung around Hever castle, Anne Boleyn’s Childhood home. The blouse features an asymmetric cut neckline that mimics waves sweeping sand off the beach, once again going back to the central reference of Botticelli’s Venus. The asymmetric neckline, coupled with the notched hem at the waist of the blouse lend the look a rather renaissance atmosphere.
The highlighting detail on the piece rests in the sleeves, and the hand embroidery upon them with the contrasting materials being used, along with the combination of embroidery styles. We pay particular attention to the ‘spike’ detailing across the blouse, reminiscent of the shell often associated with Aphrodite, or Venus, across all forms of representative imagery. The shell-like effect is tied into a final symphony with the elegant panelling on the flared segment of the French-knotted bell-sleeve, which finishes with a pearl encrusted lining. Delicately and thoughtfully embroidered on, we believe that while the thread-worked embroidery is for the viewer, the pearls are for the wearer - a secret that is only visible when the wearer feels enough comfort to move within the garment.
View as Seperates:
Colourway: Cerulean blue and eggshell with pastel highlights
Fit: High Waisted. Flared.
Fabric Composition:
Skirt: Viscose Velvet
Inner Lining: 100% Modal Satin
dry clean only
