6 Tips for Making Paned Trunkhose
The Tailor: Gianbattista Moroni 1565-70
Panes, the Nifty, but Troublesome Layer
Paned trunkhose are among the most frustrating and fiddly variations on breeches that you’ll work with from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Many people don’t fully understand the way the panes layer works. It is perhaps because the panes add so much labor to a suit that they are so common in aristocratic menswear during their heyday as they showcase an extra extravagance.
Most people, when they make panes, consider them to be more like a trim rather than an actual leg panel. Particularly in beginner’s work, it is common to see a nice full under-layer with flat, listless panes thrown on top, or, in some cases, stitched down onto the under-layer. Stitching the bands down onto the under-layer is simply not how panes are done but some old costuming books recommend this method. Sometimes the panes are kept flat on top and are not gathered much or at all into the waist band which doesn’t allow them to hang properly. Still other times, they’re put on a little short with no vertical ease to allow a roundness to appear. This can give the appearance of Pluderhosen (A uniquely Swiss/German style of paned breeches, unlike any other), but this post is about the style of breeches shown in the painting above. They’re round, full breeches…the kind that people can effectively call “pumpkin pants.” Now as far as historians are concerned, the term “pumpkin pants” should never be uttered. I will not type it again for fear that the ghosts of Early Modern tailors will appear to smite me.
When extant garments are examined, the panes, when laid next each other, form a complete outer shell of the trunkhose leg and appear to be cut as a single shape. The panes are cut apart from this shape after much of the decoration has been applied. Then they are lined, edge treatments are worked such as bindings and picadill strips and sometimes fringe. Once all of this has been done, they are stiff, they are substantial and they are the main structure of the trunkhose. Too often I see them without interlinings, without linings, without structure and poorly made. If you want to look like you stepped out of a time warp…there is a better way to make your panes.
I invite you to think of the panes not as individual strips, but as a fully formed, pattern shape for the leg of the hose, that happens to be cut into pieces. With this in mind, let us look at a few important points.
Don’t make the panes too soft
This was an early mistake in my own paned hose. I tended to think of the panes as decoration and not the main event and because of this, I never supported them properly. In all extant examples of panes that I have read about (I haven’t examined any in person yet), I have never read about one which didn’t have at least three layers. At the minimum you need to have exterior, interlining and lining. Some panes have an additional layer of silk if the outer layer is pinked or slashed. Additionally, with panes, there is usually a lot of trim. All of this makes the body of the panes substantial. With a good, stiff structure, you can have a fantastic shape, even when the outer layer is cut into strips.
2. Don’t try to sew the panes into the waist and leg seams (unless you’re really experienced)
This is one of those things that I personally do when I make paned hose. I saw the technique used on a pair of trunkhose that were attached to armor in a museum once, long ago. This is likely not an accurate historical technique, so why am I writing about it? Because, especially if you’re working with a sewing machine (and I know most of you are), the bulk is often too much for the machine to handle and it causes less strife to apply them later in the process. Secondly, most people making these kinds of clothes are not professional costumers and making the panes as a separate layer, applied after the main body of the trunkhose are made, allows more finesse in fitting and adjusting the pane layer to drape properly. Essentially, it gives you an extra chance to succeed with the silhouette.
I suggest making the trunkhose as though you weren’t using panes at all. Then, when it is time to add the panes, sew them into a binding at the top and bottom. The top binding is cut to fit along the bottom of the waistband seam and the bottom binding is cut to fit in the right place at the leg opening or along the seam for the canion (a cone shaped piece that comes to the knee). This does require that you hand sew them on but because the work is so effortless when done this way, you won’t even notice the extra time.
There are some added benefits to this as well, one of them being that the gathered layer of the main body of the trunkhose and the pleated or gathered layer of the panes are stacked on top of each other, allowing for more visual “bouf” to the silhouette.
3. Don’t skimp on the edge finishes
One of the many things that paned trunkhose show in most aristocratic-style portraits, is a lot of decoration. After making several pairs that represent this social class, I can say that it wasn’t until recently that I became clear on just how much money is showcased in panes. From detailed couched embroideries to miles and miles of trim, slashing, gold-work, and pinked edges all the way to silk shag fringe, the edges of your panes are where the “visual gold” lies, ready to be mined. I wove 80 yards of trim for a single pair once. EIGHTY YARDS…It took me three weeks of solid weaving to achieve it, but I got it done. It was for a client and not for my own enjoyment so there was a different sort of drive behind the work. When you have a chance, look at the edges of things, particularly in the paintings of Gianbattista Moroni. If you can find hi-res images, you’ll see the complex and fascinating techniques that were used to make the panes pop. The trunkhose that are shown in The Gentleman in Pink by Moroni shows not only a beautiful, scrolling silver couched design, but also shows every pane and all the edges of the doublet, trimmed in silk shag fringe. I know it looks like velvet, but I’ve seen the painting up close. It is FRINGE! You can see similar fringe on a belt that is in the book 17th Century Men’s Dress Patterns, published by the V&A Press. This amazing book shows details that you don’t normally see, such as silk fringe. If you haven’t already read this book, get yourself a copy and dive in…there aren’t any paned hose, but there is a wealth of information to be had.
4. Do as much of the decoration as you can before cutting the panes apart
It should go without saying that when you’re decorating your panes, you need to do the main work before the lining goes on the back. There aren’t extant pieces which show the stitches of the decoration going through the lining. Sometimes the stitching of the trim along the edge might penetrate, but the easiest reason to hold onto is that the backs of your panes are going to look messy! You don’t want anyone to see that as you’re wearing them. You also don’t want to expose any long floats of stitching to the outside world where they might get caught on things and pull out.
Put as much of the trim on as you can before the shape is cut into strips.
One of the best ways to keep yourself on a safe path is to decorate the panes before they’re cut apart. Assuming that you’ve cut your paned layer as a whole piece, rather than cutting strips and then trying to mash them into the right shape, you can do a large amount of decoration long before you slice the layer up. Decorating like this is more manageable for sure. It also prevents you from misplacing any of the strips. Until they’re cut apart, of course (I number them once I do with right and left indicators and numbered from center front to center back). In addition to all of these benefits, it also allows you to do less work. Any trims which need to line up across the gap between panes can just be sewn on in long lines. It wastes less trim too because you’re not leaving extra allowance hanging off the edge (A common occurrence when working with tiny, short lengths of things). You’ve spent all that time making dozens of yards of trim, anything you can do to minimize the waste is a benefit. This minimizes waste and speeds up the work. Now that’s a win-win.
5. Anticipate Repairs
We are modern people. We don’t go around with too many things on our bodies that can catch on doorknobs, chairs and the like. So it is inevitable that wearing paned trunkhose will lead to one of them tearing out at some point. Keep a stash of pane fabric and trim in a little ziplock and label it. You may need it for repairs later. When it comes to panes tearing out, we have already made them easier to repair by applying them over the pouf layer with bindings at top and bottom. These bindings, and the manner in which they are applied, are already meant to anticipate the panes catching on things. The bindings make it stronger. If you catch, it is likely that the binding will come loose, but it might not tear out. That is an easy repair. You just stitch the binding back into place. The beauty of this is that if you had sewn the panes into the waist seam itself, your clothing would require a MUCH more intense repair than if the panes are applied into a binding a sewn on in their own step. Additionally, if the binding itself tears and the pane comes loose, it is easy to cut out the damaged length of binding, add in a new piece and put the panes back in place.
6. Wear the right pads
I’ve said it before but it always bears repeating. If you want to get the right silhouette, you must accept that pads had to have been in use to achieve it. Go have a look at the first photo, the one at the very top. You can almost make out the proportions of the hip roll he has under that pair of trunkhose. There is no other way his trunkhose would have that shape.
I would love to see more people make paned trunkhose and get the look right. Proportion is king. Too many people skimp on the fullness and they won’t wear the appropriate pads under the suit to give the right drape to the hip. If you’re skipping this because of vanity, you’re just thumbing your nose at the truth of history, probably while claiming your outfit is an accurate representation. I can speak from personal experience, when it is done right you can tell. When you put the clothes on, they will feel effortless to wear and you really will look like you’ve stepped through time. You will feel that they are right because they 100% will not feel like your modern clothing, yet they will be comfortable in ways you didn’t think were possible.
80 yards of trim. I was very proud of my perseverance.
