jamie oosterhuis

my final piece within this body of work took quite a large leap from the starting point of the initial works. i was interested in examining textile objects throughout the renaissance period that had no true utility other than flaunting status and wealth. undoubtedly, ruffs (a ruffed collar) struck me as exactly that. these garments had no purpose other than aesthetics and to express existence within the upper class. they were commonly made from linen or fine cotton, gathered or pleated, starched, then ironed using a goffering iron. starching would need to be done frequently as ruffs could lose their shape after one day of wear due to humidity within the air and moisture from the body. 

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this ruff in particular was taken from patterns of fashion 4 by Janet Arnold and is based on a 16th century extant original. because the pattern was quite simple (larger rectangles with smaller rectangles) i created the ruff free hand and only looked to the book for specificities such as cutting with the selvedge or on the bias. there was a lot of backend research that went into learning how to create the garment, as even within patterns of fashion there are not enough in-depth instructions on how to complete such an item. here i use cotton instead of linen with cotton thread and polyester/cotton lace. 

 

after creating the garment, i photographed myself seated and naked, wearing solely the ruff. as a precursor, i must state that i did not come from royal lineage nor do i consider myself upper class (or even middle class) in this lifetime. without going into too much detail, as the viewer's perception is more important than the artist's intention, this photograph was created to be felt as a strange yet holy presence while also holding space for humour and interpretation of what could possibly be going on behind the lens. there is a vacancy within my gaze which speaks to various renaissance portrait paintings, yet even with the vacancy, the image still demands to be viewed.