Holy Bottle Green Batman!

For those of you who don't know me well, I love dressing up.  It really doesn't matter the era, I just love escaping my life and transforming into something entirely different.  Usually something a little more elegant and feminine than my regular life allows me.  Last year, Matt and I went down to the Durango Heritage Celebration for the Victorian Ball and the Heritage Train, all of which is done in full costume.  We were unable to attend the Titanic Dinner due to coursework on my part, but this year we are going to make it happen.  Essentially, you are assigned a personage who is listed on the actual Titanic passenger lists.  You dine, you dance, and at the end of the evening, you find out if you went down with the ship.  That may sound fairly morbid to most people, but I think it sounds like a fabulous time!  Probably because I am a woman; a good portion of them were saved.  Being the dainty creatures that we are, we got the lifeboats first.  The men, on the other hand, were expected to be chivalrous.  Matt has predicted an 80% chance that his character went down with the boat.  We shall see.

Ok, I diverge.  I have no 1912 clothing, especially not a 1912 evening gown.  Which necessitates another project (once I have finished the current natural form gown, of course!).  After some searching, I found that there aren't too many books of fashion plates from that era, which I find to be strange because there are TONS from the Victorian era.  I did some real gown searching on VintageTextile.com and AntiqueDress.com, which happen to be 2 of my most favorite window shopping sites ever!!!  I found one of the most beautiful gowns I have ever seen, and of course it was WAY over anything I would ever be willing to spend on vintage clothing.  Too bad, because it actually would have fit me!  Anyway, I will re-create it, or at least make a go of re-creating it because it will not be easy!!!

See what I mean, BEAUTIFUL!!!!  If I can accomplish half of that beading, I would be happy.  I think that this will require finding some pre-beaded fabric, which of course will not be inexpensive.  Some of the more rich details will, in fact, have to be embroidered by hand.  But, I think it is doable.  It may take me most of the summer, but in the end I might have one of the more beautifully classic gowns of my collection.  I will keep you all updated when I start this beauty, it will be an adventure!!!!