Just a quick note: Gowns In Action

I must admit that as I typed the title for this post, I had the Muppets "Pigs In Space" theme going through my head!  Ah, the silliness that is brought on by cold medicine :)
Here's a photo taken at the R.M.S Titanic Dinner:

The Bottle Green Gown came out wonderfully, much better than I had ever anticipated.  I have an hourglass waist, so I wasn't sure how a high wasted gown would work with my figure.  Answer: it worked just fine.  I even find myself excited to wear it again, the sign of a successful project.

Here's an oldie but goodie, a bustle day dress that I created for the Durango Heritage Train last year.  It uses the Truly Victorian TV101 bustle, so a very 1880s look.  At one point, as I was strolling around Durango with some friends of mine, a 'gentleman' drove by in a car and yelled "Nice A*s".  Very classy!!!

I unfortunately didn't get any shots of the maiden voyage of my new Pale Green Natural Form Gown for the cruise, but my husband was sick with a head cold so my attention was elsewhere.  That said, the gown was a success!  Short of losing one of the flowers that was safety pinned on the side of the gown, everything went nicely.  It is a little long for flats, which is what I wore, so I will have to pick up a pair of flesh tone or white dance shoes with a bit of a heel so that I don't have to worry about stepping on the hem.  All in all, though, it was very nice and I got TONS of compliments.

A Slight Change of Plans...

Hi all!
So, after getting all psyched to make the emerald I have had a slight change of plans.  My husband and I were in Durango at Durango Heritage Festival this weekend and were chatting with a few fellow passengers on the Victorian Dance Cruise we will be going on in January.  That's right, Victorian Dance Cruise :)  It will be epic: 7 days; Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica; AND 3 Victorian Balls during the evenings!!!  Any of you that have ever been on a cruise ship know that things can be a little... tight on board.  Tiny rooms, miniatures of everything.  And my hoop skirts are 126 inches.  One of the balls, the Sapphire Ball, semi-requires a gown with a blue theme and originally I was thinking the  Sapphire and Snow Ballgown would be perfect.  But not with 126 inch hoops!!!  So, a new gown is required.
Hence the change in plans.  I will be making (hopefully in time!!!) a new natural form gown.  Another natural form gown would also make it so that I have no hoops or bustles to pack :)  Enter the Starry Night Gown:

Starry Night Gown

Keep in mind that the original gown, from La Mode Ilustree, was in black and white, so you'll have to use a bit of imagination here.  I am picturing a deep blue (perhaps royal?  navy? sapphire?) in either dupioni or shantung.  Silver lace to adorn the edges of the bodice and skirts.  And, I already found a lace that I love (see photo below)!!!  

Either silver or black bullion fringe trim for the skirts and bodice edge.  White lace for the neckline of the bodice, hopefully I can find some soft (aka not itchy) white lace.  I have some blue samples on order from NY Fashion Fabrics, which has provided me with fabrics in the past and they have been VERY good quality silks :)

All in all, I am pretty psyched about this project.  It will be tight to get it all done in time for January with classes and work etc, but I think I can make it happen.  I will also have to get over this nasty head cold that I picked up, although I don't anticipate that lasting too awfully long. 

Silver Lace

The patterns I have aren't quite perfect so I will have to do some re-working of those.  Not the end of the world, just a bit of extra work.  I'll keep you all appraised as samples come in and things begin to progress.

Help me choose the next gown :

Ok, everyone, I need a new project.  Honestly, if I don't have a project I feel a little lost.  Even if I had a project that I sat on for a few months (*cough* Green Gown *cough*), I at least still had a project to work on from time to time.  I am currently without.  OK, not completely without, I still have to finish the butterfly train on the Natural Form Gown for the cruise, but that's not a lot of work.
So, let's look at some options:

 This emerald gown could be interesting- not too much expensive trim, but it has a neat melding of greens.  And I don't really have a deep green Victorian gown.  I have the Sapphire and Snow antebellum gown, the Ruby Gown, and the new Pale Green Natural Form gown.

The Blue and White gown here caught my eye because it has some interesting trim work.

 This is an extant gown from the 1860s that I've had my eye on for a while.  If I can find the right fabric and lace, this gown could be absolutely stunning!!!

 This is another I've had in my archives for a while.  This one is more the 1880s massive bustle style that is always interesting.  It could be done either in deep blue or green, or for any color for that matter.

This is a pretty sweet natural form gown, but the lace may be SUPER expensive.  That is A LOT of fabric.

So what do you think?  Any gowns strike anyone as "Must Have"!?  I'll take a poll and see what you all think....

10/2/12 7pm MDT NOTE: I am adding 2 additional gowns, both blue (I seem to have a thing for that color).  Both are day dresses, not ball gowns.

 1870s Blue Paisley Gown

1870s Blue Plaid Gown