As Promised (For Once)

The first of three of my Florentine outfits from BAM weekend.  This one's my new Caerleon livery, a refit of what was originally going to be black and silver:

photo by Simona della Luna

Long hair wrap inspired by this.  After a bunch of ridiculous trial and error with the sewing machine and various scrap fabric, I finally realized I could just do this with my plain, long, silk gauze veil that I use for everything. HA. I just laid it over my head, tied it around my hair in back (which was in a ponytail with a plain elastic band), and then looped the ribbon ties around it until I reached the end.  It never once fell out, but was really easy to just pull off without having to untie anything at the end of the day.  Win.

Big bag sleeves, with company motto embroidered (machine) around the edges of the sleeve openings.

photo by Simona della Luna

A better shot of the back, with satin ribbon couched along the edges of the dress; sash made from wide upholstery scraps; corset and dress straps that won't stay up (a result of the cut of the back of both garments, I now know); the hair; and my new raven tattoo, lol.

photo by Simona della Luna

Another shot of the ribbon couching, sleeve embroidery, and sleeve attachment.

Man, that is some unfortunate Pause Face.  Blech.

photo by Simona della Luna

Evidently I forgot to remove  my bobby pins on this day, hehe.  I used them to keep my veil in place while I was wrapping it up, and while I was tying on this skinny velvet ribbon;  but once the pins were removed the whole shebang stayed in place like a champ.


















Things to work on for future Florentine outfits: 

• a higher back on the corset, to keep the straps in place.  
• a shorter corset, because this one kept trying to sit above my hips, which pushed the whole thing upwards into my armpits, and made the straps fall off
• wider-set straps in the back of the dress pattern, to help the back fit better and to keep the straps from trying to fall off. Sigh.  The off-shoulder look was popular during this time period, but it was achieved by cutting the outfits to BE that way, not because they just wouldn't stay up.  I love this dress, but I look like a pile of laundry.  :/ 

That said, my absolute favorite thing about this outfit was the sleeves.  They came out perfectly, and looked fantastic.  They were also, in combination with the boofy silk chemise sleeves underneath, very warm in the chilly, rainy air, without being too hot, or too bulky.  Yay! 

More tomorrow!   :)



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