Vicomtesse de Lezay-Marnesia

A Lady-In-Waiting To Empress Eugenie of France

Original gown inspiration. Full & Detail of the portrait by Winterhalter.

To read the historical documentation associated with this project, and to see the other recreated gowns in the portrait, Go Here.

To download a portion documentation dealing with the gown worn by Vicomtesse de Lezay-Marnesia, Click Here.

This project was essentially handed to me by Kendra one day in August 2007, when the original girl who had been cast as le Vicomtess had to back out of the project. Needless to say, it was a daunting proposition: Not having had the benefit of 3 years worth of research and discussion and sourcing of fabrics for this project as the other ladies had, I ended up with a scant 6 months to get everything in order, from my underwear to the gown itself. Most of the construction research had been hammered out already by the others, so I simply followed their lead. The 1850s is a time period I'm not that excited with, but I was inspired by my friends' enthusiasm for the project, so I dove in and began with the obvious place to start:

The Fabric: What ensued was five months of fruitless searching for a believable match to the fabric in the portrait, and wouldn't you know, sheer silk organza with a gold/bronze/reddish stripe is darn near impossible to find these days. I played around with different options, from dying fabric, to actually entratining the notion of hand applying narrow satin ribbon to 15 yards of silk organza (and was thankfully talked out of it by others in the group), but nothing seemed to really work. By February 2008, I was starting to get antsy. Luckily, Bridget was able to find a source for silk striped organza, in India; we placed an order through Diana Habra's fabulous fabric website, Renaissance Fabrics, and within a few days of my self-imposed deadline, I was in posession of 15 yards of the most beautiful striped silk organza I had ever seen. The one teeny draw back was that the stripe was a gold color, and a little wider than the stripes in the portrait, but after all the trouble of finding a fabric that so much as referenced the fabric in the portrait, and with less than 2 months until Costume Con 26, the consensus was reached that we had done the best we could and it would have to do.

So, with the fabric finally dealt with, and my underwear all ready to go, it was time to make the dress. At this point, time was of the essence, so I did not do any documentation of the construction phase. I had almost 3 weeks to work, and during that time I went through a breakup, moved to another city, and was working on average 50 hours a week. Needless to say, I was pushing myself to the absolute limit of my ability. There were times (many times) when I wanted to bail on the project, but Kendra kept talking me off the ledge. Plus, I didn't want to disappoint all the other girls in the group, each of whom was going through their own crises getting this project completed. The one thing that I focused on in the days leading up to Costume Con was that I was doing this for the group, these were my friends, and I couldn't let them down.

It's taken me over two months to recover from the entire experience of competing in a Master level competition at a Costume Con. The end result was fabulous, our presentation earned us a standing ovation, which was so incredable for all of us. We knew that even if we didn't win any major awards, we still got that standing ovation and that was enough for us. At the very end of the night, waiting for the judging results, we reassembled in the ballroom. An usher moved us all off to one side, saying that we should sit in an area where we could easily access the stage should we win an award, so we all trooped over to the far side of the ballroom in our big skirts. Awards went to several of our good friends, including Bess Chilver and Lindsey Eastman, but the big awards of the night were being handed out to others. We watched the Presentation award go to a dance group from the Emerald City and we looked at one another. Had we been passed over for an award? Presentation was the last award they called out, after all, and it was in our division, so what now? The MC paused and drew his breath, and the next several seconds were a blur; the Best in Show award for the Master Divison: Empress Eugenie and Her Ladies In Waiting. We ran on stage and Trystan punched the air with her fist. It was incredable.

I confess that just writing that out caused me to erupt into tears just now. We invested so much of ourselves into this project, and I know I pushed myself harder than I ever have on any other project in my entire life. I've been stalling on writing this little diary for months now, knowing that the memories, good and bad, of the weeks proceding Costume Con 26 were still too much to really take in. It cost me SO much... Not in financial terms, though I estimate I put at least $750 into this dress, if not more, but mentally, spiritually and physically. I almost lost precious friendships in the course of making this dress, I lost a loving partner in the midst of making this dress, I nearly lost my sanity in the days afterward, when the exhaustion caught up with me and compounded upon all the other stress in my life. I came very close to checking myself into the hospital for a few days... Like, actually sitting in the hospital filling out an intake form and debating whether or not I could miss a day of work just because I needed a mental vacation.

It will take me a while yet to really feel that this whole project truly was a positive experience. I love that I have achieved a goal of mine that I've had since I was 12 years old: To become a Master Costumer. That outcome makes this feel like a gruesome fairy tale in some ways... The heroines must suffer great obstacles, and personal demons (for one, having to do hand sewing; for another, enduring the death of a family member; for another, having to overcome the association of costuming with personal tragedies) and in the end are rewarded with accolades from their peers. For me, winning was bittersweet, but beautiful nonetheless.

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1. Courtesy of Calanimephotos. 2. & 3. Image Craft Studios. .4-6. Katie Van Camp.