My camera takes really good pictures. In a mirror, though, in a badly-lit room, of a dark navy-blue dress? Not so much. Sorry.
Front neckline, trim, and visible "cotehardie" underneath (which is all rumpled for some reason, and I didn't notice it until just now, hehe).
Don't recognize the blue cotehardie? That's because it's new, too - and actually, it isn't a cotehardie:
Have I mentioned how flippin' HOT it is here in central Ansteorra? We're talking 115º last Summer - and that's without the heat index. And it's already hitting 100-103º here at the beginning of June. Oy. So, rather than wear *four* layers in this heat - braies, chemise, under-dress, over-dress - I'm leaving out the chemise entirely for the summer, and now have only two layers: this crop-top fake cotehardie and a pair of braies, and my over-dress - in this case, the navy bliaut. (Or, best case scenario: just the braies and a full cotehardie). The crop-cote gives me sleeves and a neckline to show underneath an over-dress, but not an extra layer of fabric from shoulders to ankles. Whew.
And actually, I have another heat-buster idea, but that'll be its own blog post.
Meanwhile: blunt upholstery needle FTW. This is how I lace myself into my laced cotes - this thing slides right through eyelets and buttonholes, without catching the fabric or stitching. I've tried aglets on the ends of my laces, and I have yet to have them last more than one wearing - they pull off the lace, they bend, they tear out stitching around the eyelet or buttonhole, and they poke and scratch my skin when I tuck the lace-ends inside my dress. No thank you.
I'm wearing the bliaut to Dance Revel tonight; hopefully I can persuade someone to take better pictures of me in it. :)
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