Temenos
This dress is worn by Phèdre while still on Crete.
I had a little fun with this dress and mantle. The description is reasonably vague, so I took a lot of liberties. I looked at Greek and Roman draping to figure out how this dress could work. Under the mantle, it’s actually a one-shouldered number. I especially like the tassel trim on the coat. It’s described simply as a gown of saffron with a crimson mantle.
The yellow silk is for the dress. The red is for the coat. I wanted to add some embroidery so I found a tiny meander embroidery symbol (very Greek) and included it. The brown velvet acts as a trim with an extra layer of tassel for fun. I realize now that I found a necklace for her but didn’t draw it. Oh well!
Kriti
This next dress is described in Kushiel’s Chosen as a dress of white linen and a blue mantle. It’s plain but fine. The dress is something provided Phèdre when she is marooned on Crete. I looked to ancient Greek and Roman costumes for this. As an aside, I copied the hairdo from a wedding magazine!
The white linen is for the dress, as is the grey/taupe binding ribbon. The blue dupioni is for the mantle. I have included a couple of accessories (hair band and cloak clasp) that I liked.
Forgotten tidbit – the Unforgiven
Well, though I have lots of new designs and no scanner, when looking through what I had, I did find one that somehow got overlooked while I was posting a while ago.
It’s the dress Phèdre wears when she seeks help from the Unforgiven. It is described by a traveling gown in black velvet with bodice and sleeves that hug the form and flowing skirts for riding astride.
The fabrics are below. I guess the only thing that needs explaining at all is the jewelery. Because the sheaf of wheat is one of Montrève’s symbols, I figured Phèdre would occasionally sport one.
As I said, I have more designs. Done and ready to be scanned are the remainder of Phèdre’s clothing from Kushiel’s chosen (including a naughty see-through dress from Crete and a dress inspired by Hollywood’s ancient Rome). I also have a few outfits of Jocelin’s done…so stay tuned.
Trying to get back into it
Hello all,
I have been going through some major life changes in the last couple years (divorce, selling a house, going back to school, starting a new career, starting a new relationship, moving, etc.) and have been neglecting the blog.
The good news is, I have been doing more designs, just not posting them…The bad news is that my scanner is in my parents’ garage along with all of the other things that didn’t make it in the house to apartment move. Next time I am there, I plan on retrieving it and scanning some designs in. So I will post again!
Illyrian Cloak
This next drawing was a quick and dirty one. It is described as a cloak of fine-combed, dark blue wool bordered with a white pattern. Not overly complicated. I didn’t feel the need to design a dress for under it (Phedre would probably still be wearing the rose-coloured one, and it wouldn’t match very well). I also got a little lazy while drawing the trim pattern. So, pretend it goes throughout the white strip.
The fabrics are simple. I didn’t find the kind of embroidery that I wanted in white, so I included a suitable one that I found in gold.
Illyria
Back from a while. My Christmas party was a success! It was fun, it went well, an I’m glad it’s over.
This next dress is described in Kushiel’s Justice as made out of a silk damask of deepest rose woven with a trefoil pattern. It is necessarily simple as it is made out of stolen fabric by women in a small village. It’s gathered below the breasts and hanging straight to the floor. Phedre wears a long shell necklace given to her by a young pirate enamoure with her.
While I was designing this dress, I happened to be reading Pride and Predjudice for the 10ish time. The gathering on the dress reminded me of a regency dress from Austen’s time, so the dress has a regency kind of feel.
I searched for fabrics for this dress forever. The ones I found aren’t perfect, so you will have to use your imaginations a bit. I like the tone of the darker silk, but the lighter one has a fleur-de-lis motif that is somewhat like a trefoil. The lace serves as an inset. I have also included a pretty blue flower that Phedre might have picked to adorn her hair.
posts
I have not abondoned you all! I am having a Christmas party this weekend and my spare time has been eaten away by that lately. I will try to get a new post up as soon as I can (I’m hoping for tomorrow!)
Second visit to the Doge
When I drew this dress, I also quite liked it. It lost a little for me when I did the detailed drawing of it, but I still like the concept behind it. It is what Phedre wears for her second audience with the Doge of la Serenissima. It is described as a rich blue satin gown inset with velvet. Accessories include a fretted silver girdle with jet beads and caul to match.
The darker fabric is the velvet for the insets and the lighter one is the satin fabric. I found the perfect belt.
La Serenissima
This dress, I must confess, is my very favourite one. I always figured that if I ever designed my own wedding dress, this would be it (it wouldn’t be the same colour though). This is also the very first fabric that I found and may actually be responsible for every dress I’ve designed since. I found the main fabric by chance one day while I was doing something else and thought, “that is how I pictured the fabric from that one dress”.
The dress is described in Kushiel’s Chosen as a gown of apricot silk with gold brocade woven with seed pearls. Simple, elegant. Gold mesh caul, dangling pearl earrings. It is a dress that Phedre wears to see the Doge (Duke) of Serenissima (Venice).
Here are the fabrics and accessories. The brocade is obviously for the overdress, it would be embroidered with the seed-pearls as well. The linen is fine and for the underdress. The gold fabric is the trim as well as the lining for the overdress. The mesh is for Phedre’s hair. The jewellery is some that I found and really liked.
Delaunay at Alcuin’s presentation
The first post that I did was what Phedre wore to Alcuin’s presentation. Here is what Delaunay wears. It is also understated so as to keep the focus on Alcuin. It is described in Kushiel’s Dart as a doublet and hosen of sober black velvet. Hair braded. A pomander hanging from his belt. I incorporated some leather details for interest.
And the fabrics:
Favrielle's Atelier 