I had the rather great privilege of getting involved in a costume-for-portrait
trade with the fellow who plays Nicolas Hilliard, who happens to be a fantastic
artist in real life. This is …
Category: Costumes
This was a commissioned costume for a very nice fellow who
is playing Robert Cecil, the incredibly cranky hunchback. The costume was a
challenge on a couple of levels. The most obvious is that the actor wanted t…
This is a strongly germanic dress that would date to about
1535 or so. German costume history isn’t my strongest suit (I’m working on it),
so I’m not sure about the date. I’m absolutely positive that the construction
is not authentic (eve…
There’s all sorts of info on how this was put together in the
diary I kept while making the
dress. (Well, mostly I kept up with it. Until I got distracted by the actual
sewing part, that is….) The basics go like this: It’s a big silvery …
I was playing around with the idea of doing reverse applique in leather when
I made this — it’s more of a test piece than anything. The technique itself
was used in period, and is seen on a suit of men’s clothing in Patterns of
Fashion (Janet Arn…
This year’s middle class endeavor is a kirtle and doublet, based
vaguely on the "doublet for a slim young woman" on page 107 of Patterns
of Fashion. (Based? We’re far enough departed that "inspired" is probably
a b…
Playtrons of the Bristol Faire have embraced the tradition of having
a “Day of Wrong” — where the idea is to wear something totally wrong, especially as compared to what you would normally wear. It’s sort of a chance to bust out a little and make something in a different style, weird people out, and what have you.
Mme. de Grande Rose (that’s "Lady of Big Pink", for
the non-francophones in the audience) was inspired by one of Boucher’s Mme.
de Pompadour portraits. The portrait was used more as a starting point than
a goal, and the dres…
At the end of the 2005 faire season, Bristol announced to it’s
cast/crew/the rest of us schmucks that the theme for 2006 would be "nautical….
Be prepared for a surprise!" Well, gosh darn it all if the decision wasn’t
made …
After a lot of sewing for other people, I wanted to sew for
me. I *needed* to sew for me. I’d been wearing the same dress most of the season.
It was driving me buggy. I’d started a new set of pretty undies a while back,
started a diar…