Friday, July 30, 2010

a lady in disguise

So, my dear friend Sara and her business partner Frankie of Well Dressed Lady may be doing me the wonderful honor of making me some noble garb for renaissance faire.

Noble garb? Well, yes. My pirate character happens to be of noble birth. And she likes to look pretty. So why not?

Apart from the enormous task of finding and buying suitable fabric (heavy duty, pretty, AND semi-inexpensive? Yeah, good luck...), my piratey mind has skipped over all of the subsequent steps such as patterning, sewing, and all of the god-forsaken hand beading I'm going to devote my life to, and gone to what's really important.

Accessorizing.

I love me some shinies. Which explains why I'm dating a man who wears full steel armor at faire (shinnnnyyyyyyyyy). Now, let us look at the inspiration for my gown:

princesselizabethscrots.jpg Princess Elizabeth picture by xgenesisx

Behold, Elizabeth I in all her pre-queendom glory as a Princess of England. That gown is precisely what I want, though in a different color scheme. We've chosen burgundy, black, and gold for my colors, since they mesh well with my usual pirate fare of red and black.

See that massive brooch at the center of her chest. I want one of those. I need one of those, or I feel that my noblewomanness will be incomplete. Irrational? Yes. But as I said, I like my shinies.

There are multiple options for such a mission. My first, initial thoughts, go to garnets.


I absolutely adore garnets. They're so deep and rich in color. They also happen to be my birthstone, which adds a whole new dimension of meaning to it. This particular one above is hella blinged out. And also a few hundred dollars on Etsy. Considering that the fabric and beading for my dress alone, labor payment notwithstanding, is going to be at least $100, I need to find something far closer to my budget. Besides...if my bodice is burgundy, as we plan, I'll need a more contrasting tone in my jewelry if it's laying against it.


Something along these lines. Would that gold look fabulous against burgundy dupioni silk or brocade? Yes, it would.

Of course...


Much to Sara's chagrin, I find it very difficult to leave my piratey side behind. I have already made it clear that I will be wearing my big cuffed boots beneath all that silk and crinolines, and I'd love to have some semi-discrete piratey elements peeking through. A brooch similar to this one would be perfect. I think I could feasibly make my own, though, in gold tones and perhaps a more subtle Jolly Roger. If I paint the center bit myself, I could even have my ship's flag on it instead of the generic skull and crossbones.

If I get going on designing said flag, that is.

Thoughts?

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