Masked ball & new medieval veil & houppelande changes

While the pannier is currently on ice until I've decided if I like the size (and until the more pressing projects are done, to be honest), I've got some photos to share.

First there was a Venetian carnevale style masked ball for which I threw together a "Victorian Vampire" costume out of my normal & costume closets and made a mask. It's great fun to dance the waltz in a bustle!







Then some friends and I went to a ren faire/ medieval market thing and I made some changes to the green houppelande. I had been given an old fur stole by someone from my historical dance troupe, so now the trim is a dark brown. I also wanted a "brode harnysed girdille" and because my friends ran late, I made one out of scraps. Eventually, I want to exchange it for a tablet woven silk one, but I'd need to learn tablet weaving first...
(There aren't many photos of me, so this is rather bad - sorry)





The veil is a take on a painting by Rogier van der Weyden and I was quite happy when a lady walked up to me and told me she thought it was great.

I was wonderfully warm thanks to the woolen dress, hose, and my new pattens (of which I forgot to take a picture) - that made my boyfriend quite happy, because it meant he could steal my cloak. Now he's finally convinced I was right when I told him he needed pattens, too. This is him, with his chaperon that didn't like the wind:

Green Houppelande

Yesterday a protestant monastery nearby held a public event centered around medieval culture including lute music, readings - and us dancing! I finished my green overdress in time and wore it with a stuffed roll hat in green (albeit cotton) velvet.

I had made the hat before getting the fabric for the houppelande when I was planning on red wool, so I'm going to make a new one that isn't quite so matchy-matchy.

But now on to some pictures (click on them for a bigger version):





I love the pleats at the waist!
I'm going to taper the sleeves a bit towards the end, as the fullness proved to be a bit annoying, and am planning on adding fur to them as well. The slight train is hard to manoeuver in some dances, but I love it too much, so I'm keeping it.

This was my inspiration board for the overdress (from back when I hadn't settled on the exact date, so there are a few late examples in the mix):