1/13/07

Well, the whole thing is finished (except for some pearls on the sleeves, that is) and was worn to West Kingdom 12th Night as planned, and with great success. Read More...

12/07/06

The newest pair of stays are now complete. Read More...

12/06/06

Long time followers of this website may remember the sporadic first attempt of mine to recreate the Eleanor Benlowes gown, circa 2002 or so. Well, I gave up on it after issues with the sleeves and pushed it far back in the darkest, remotest corner of the basement and moved on to other projects. But all the while, I've wanted to go back to this gown. Finally, it came down to wanting something stunning for the West Kingdom's Twelfth Night (which I am totally going to. My room is booked and everything, and I'm dragging along Kendra and Trystan for good measure), and of course the Eleanor gown popped immediately to mind. Now, search as hard as I might, I still have not found either a high quality photo of the portrait, or a color version of the portrait, so I've given myself permission to use whatever fabric I want. And I just happened to have 7 yards of black & red shot silk taffeta hanging out in my stash!

The gown is a straight forward early Elizabethan high-necked bodice and skirt, territory I know by heart, so I'm anticipating it will go pretty fast once I get started. I'm so sure about it not taking me a long time to complete that this gown is also my National Costume Finishing Month project. I need it wearable a full week before the end of NaCoFiMo, though. I hope I'm not jinxing myself!

Stay Tuned...