Why are you doing that?

This is a question that was posed to me when an acquaintance of mine found out that one of my newest projects is the constructing of a historically accurate (as accurate as scale will allow) Elizabethan court gown for my 16 inch tall BJD (Ball Joint Doll) complete with underclothes, three skirts, and no zippers, snaps, or Velcro.  And NO use of a machine, save for overclocking the hem lines before turning them by hand. They asked if it was because I hated myself, since they knew exactly how complex those gowns can be.

So here is my answer:

I am doing this because I want to.  I know I can, and so I will.

My inspiration really began years ago, growing up going to Renaissance Faires.  But for simpler terms, let's begin with Google Images.  A quick search later, and I pulled two images to serve as my inspiration.  First: one of the best known images of Queen Elizabeth I. She was well known for her extravagant gowns, many of which would feature in her portraits.  This one in particular was the first image I ever saw of her, and it has stuck with me ever since.  So from this image I decided to do my best at imitating the shape of the skirt, the over ruffle, the hanging sleeves, and the general idea of the stomacher.  The puffy shoulders also feature in the scaled dress.  One modification to the dress comes with the second inspiration image.

The image to the left contains a still from the movie The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) and the gown, as far as I have been able to tell, is either the dress from the movie, or the dress that inspired the one in the movie.  I'm still not too sure because I have never watched it.  But I loved the shape of the shoulders, the split skirt, and the point that the bust is fully covered.

Now, in the version I am making, I have taken some liberties given that I'm working with a stiff brocade and a few other light-weight fabric remnants.  Due to the scale and the fact that my doll is a hard resin I have had to make some adjustments just to make sure it would fit properly while still coming as close as possible to the look I wanted.

This has been achieved through the use of a bum role, a satin underskirt, some cardboard, and lots of ruffles and top stitching. Did I mention the ruffles? And the top stitching?  Just to make sure I do mention them, there is heavy use of ruffles and top stitching.  Got that? Ruffles and top stitching? Good.

Once more materials are gathered this weekend, there will be another post to show the progress of the individual pieces.

May your stitches be straight, and may your thread never tangle.