Today things got very interesting. Even as I've been realizing that I have a lot more to do to get these gowns accessorized in time for CoCo, several other costumers have been making suggestions for getting my shoes ready, finishing the trim on the white gown, and maybe making a turban or two.
Below is the hem of the dress, hanging on the ironing board getting the rest of its trim pinned in place for hand-stitching.
This afternoon, at the suggestion of a couple other people, I spent time looking at Regency turbans. My hair does not lend itself to the curly do's of the Regency. Tracy has offered to help me with that, but I think having another option would be really nice.
I started by pulling some straw hats to disassemble for their crowns, which can be used as bases on which to build some longer-lasting head-dresses. The pink crown has had its edge bound to prevent fraying. I don't know what I'll do with the brims, but that's for after CoCo.
Once I had the crowns ready, I had to figure out fabrics. Funny, for all of the fabric that I have in my studio, there is really nothing appropriate in color, weight, fiber, or pattern for a Regency turban. I did find some feathers that could work, a couple of ostrich in a turquoise blue and a cluster of the skinny feather pieces from a peacock feather.
That still didn't solve the fabric question. The only thing that seemed sort of usable were the poly brocades from JoAnn's. They're just too heavy and stiff.
JoAnn's did have some actual silks, surprise, surpise - a bit expensive but available less than 2 miles from home. The green and the cream are dupioni from the apparel section, and the stripe is from home dec, also silk. Also below is the surprise I found in the floral section - a feather candle wreath. I don't know if it can be part of a turban, but my wire snips and I are going to find out.
I also found a couple of other colors of silk, a salmony shade and a blue, along with some cotton velveteen.
So what am I doing with all of this? I'm still figuring out Regency and all of it's variations. I'm thinking that the green, cream and striped silk, along with the feather wreath could be something to go with the green gown.
http://costumeraz.blogspot.com/2010/06/well-this-may-be-record.html
I'm looking at the cotton velveteen and a striped silk from Renaissance Fabrics - http://www.renaissancefabrics.net/cgi-bin/showAll.cgi?id=472&category=Silk%20Fabric&fabric=54
The green gown would be worn as a daytime gown, and so would need a simpler turban. The white gown would be evening, and I plan on wearing it for the Gala. That turban could be fancier. I'm looking for gloves too, and thinking about jewelry.
Sheesh . . . there's so much to do, so much to consider! If you think that I'm thinking my way in the wrong direction on any of this, please YELL!
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