Black Italian Renaissance

This is my current favorite gown. I made it at the height of the Ever After craze, but I still adore it. It is made from roughly 4 yards of black jaquard and is extremely comfortable. The time period for this outfit is 1490's Italian. When I begin drafting a pattern, I never know exactly how it's going to turn out... Much of what I do is by trial and error; I just keep making costumes until I get it right. With this dress I got it perfect on the first try! The drape of the skirt is absolutely perfect, falling full and lush from the highwasted bodice. I pulled the front of the skirts flat and started the gathers just to the outer edges of the bustpoint, becomming fuller as they work their way toward the center back.

This shows the side back of the bodice. The bodice is higher wasted in the front than in the back, but it still sits about three inches above my back waist. It is laced on the side-back pieces, the bodice being constructed very similarly to that of Elenora Of Toledo's bodice from _Patterns Of Fashion: 1560-1620_ by Janet Arnold. The skirt is not very full at the top so as to keep the bulk at the base of the bodice as minimal as possible.

The sleeves are split, consisting of a top cap and a bracer (not shown) and kept in place by gold fillagre rondels. This dress is shown being worn with a pale gold silk full length chemise,

A view from the back. The jaquard is hardly period, but it's such a gorgeous outfit that I honestly feel justified in using it. The bodice and sleeve pieces are machine embroidered in gold thread.