izodiea | Polonaise Finished and worn!!! (Reply)

The finished dress!!! I'm dressed to attend the PEERS Le Mardi Gras des Vampires Ball (http://www.peers.org/mardigras.html) Along with my dress, I am wearing my African Springbok horns and a lace "mask" a la Marie: http://www.costumersguide.com/MA/masq9.jpg

Side back view showing the sash tails. The skirt is tied up for dancing, If I wanted I could let the train down.

Sorry about the weird color, the lighting was really bad so I had to drastically lighten the photos.

My Shoes! The stockings are recycled cotton knee socks from sock dreams: http://www.sockdreams.com/_shop/pages/socks_detail_ProductID_382.php
They are super soft and stayed up even with lots of dancing.

With my leather mitts and lace caplet, which just barely fits over my hair. Who ever owned the original caplet this pattern is from must have had a small head. I had to add a gueset to the hood and it's still fairly small.

And at the ball, Photo by MJ. I noticed that as the night more on the center front of the bodice started to gape a little bit, so you can see the white of my corset- need to add a little modesty panel or something.

Details of the bodice:

Close-up of the trim on the sleeves, bodice and skirt. The trim is made from gathered strips of self fabric, bound with bias on the edges. All of the trim was hand-sewn on, you can see the stitches in the inside view photos:

Interior shot of the bodice and armhole. The center front has a 1/4" bone, and closes with alternating hooks and eyes. The center back also has a bone, but that one is plastic. The center front of the bodice is also piped for a little added visual interest.

and the inside of the skirt front.

The entire outfit was very comfortable and fairly flexible for all the dancing I did. The only thing that was a little bothersome was the weight, but I got used to that after awhile. I would say this was a sucsessful first attempt at the 18th century, WOOT!