Another historic ball upcoming, and of course I needed a new dress - actually already in June. Well, as so many things in my life, it was begun early and finished very late, namely the following year :D I've had the fabric in my wardrobe for years, waiting for inspiration, and I found it in another pattern from one of Arnold's books and in a dress I found online. The fabric is a pale green with golden threads, looks lovely even in candlelight!
The skirt is trained this time (great thing for washing...), and again it was amazing how many gentlemen liked the train so much they stepped on it :D It's the usual skirt pattern, folded neatly into a lined waistband so the stiffer lining fabric helps to hold 4 1/2 metres of brocade. The train is about one foot long, which makes it long enough to look good and short enough to handle it even when dancing. The skirt should be worn over a slightly oval hoopskirt but I had to improvise (due to lack of time again) and wore it over a round hoopskirt with bum pad and a definitely non-period tulle underskirt. Anyway, who would dare peep under a lady's skirts! ;D
The bodice is the same pattern I used for the green-black renaissance dress (drafted it when I was fifteen, sheer beginner's luck!), with two layers of boned lining and a top layer of brocade. It's laced at the back. Just the front is boned to give the bust the flat shape typical for the renaissance period, and two pieces stiffen the closing at the back.
The sleeves can be taken off, as there are two pairs of sleeves to be worn with the dress. One consists of ten strips of brocade sewn into tubes and ironed flat, joined at the wrist and at the shoulder and decorated with pearls (or gold ornaments? let's see...) in between. With these sleeves, the dress is worn over a renaissance chemise. The second pair of sleeves (still to be sewn) will be puffy at the shoulders and tight along the rest of the arm, to be made from the scraps of fabric that were left when cutting the trim pieces for sleeves #1.
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