Accessories page 1   2   3 
Ruffs 

Open, stand-up ruffs made their appearance late in the 16th century. 

After much experimenting, I came up with a design for a standup ruff.  I based my ruff from late 16th century pictures of Elizabethan and information found in Janet Arnold's Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd.

     I built a ruff as I normally make my ruffs (see Tudor Techniques). I used very stiff organza that was doubled over with the lace on the end. I added machine embroidery to add body to the organza.  Instead of hook and eyes on the ends to fasten the ruff, I stitched 2 "eyes" on each end of the ruff. 

 

Front view

Back view
     The foundation of a stand up ruff is the rebato or supportasse. I made mine out of linen as described in QEWU. I stiffened it with buckram and corset boning leftover from another project.
     In period, pins would have been used to hold the ruff in place. The idea of becoming a walking pin cushion did not appeal to me. I also  wanted to be able to wear the rebato with more then one ruff and more then one gown. So I stitched hooks on the upper side that holds the ruff  in place. 
     The rebato is kept in place on the bodice by two fabric covered boning strips and hooks on the underside that connects to a sewn stitch on the gown. I wanted to be able to wear the dress without the ruff and a "eye" on the neckline would have drawn more attention then a stitch. 
Side view

Rebato
The ruff by itself