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Some Assembly Required:

The 18th Century-Inspired Ballgown

I've always wanted to live the movie, Labyrinth, y'know, the one starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. I'd follow that Goblin King anywhere. What kind of a punishment is it to send off a bratty sibling to Jareth? Well, okay, there is the whole turning the baby brother into a goblin thing.

Anyhow, my favorite scene in the whole entire movie was that wonderful, gorgeous masquerade ball. Yum-my! So, one day while I'm cruising around checking out the Labyrinth fansites, I stumble across The Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball. Yow! I simply had to go! Luckily, they held the 1999 Ball in New Orleans, which is much closer to me than California.

After some deliberation, I decided to do something inspired by the 18th century European silhouette. After all, I'd done English Renaissance so often, it was becoming old hat. I didn't feel that I had enough time to learn about Victorian costuming, so that was out. It boiled down to 18th century with the pocket hoops, or Regency. And frankly, I wanted something damn impressive.

This is the costume I put together for that little soiree.

Frosti's Costuming Lesson: Don't procrastinate. New Orleans is just too way cool a city to spend inside finishing up one's costume.

No pictures yet! Sorry!

The Overgown
PATTERN Pegee's of Williamsburg 1776 Dress
FABRIC Dark Purple Acetate Taffeta for the body of the gown, with a wonderful tapestry in dark green and dark purple for the stomacher.
The Underskirt
PATTERN Used measurements and instructions I found via the 18th century women's e-list on Egroups.
FABRIC Dark Green Acetate Taffeta for the underskirt.
The Pocket Paniers
PATTERN Jean Hunnisett's Period Costume for Stage & Screen 1500 to 1800, pages 143 to 144.
FABRIC Plain ol' white cotton muslin over hoopsteel from Lacis.
The Stays
PATTERN Drea Leed's Elizabethan Corset Generator. Okay, I cheated. I didn't have time to draft out a pattern for 18th century stays. The Elizabethan corset worked out just fine.
FABRIC Plain ol' cotton muslin over steel corset boning. If you want to talk about time crunch, the muslin was originally my mock-up before I ran out of time. I am Time Management Challenged. .

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with any of the companies or entities that I mentioned on this page other than that of a satisfied customer or user.

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