Look what a wardrobe here is for thee!*

*The Tempest Act 4 Scene 1 Line 223

To continue the theme of school assignments: this is the dress I made for a presentation on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The assignment was to perform a monologue followed by a short talk about our interpretation and presentation. (I did Miranda’s monologue that begins 'If by your art, my dearest father'.) We didn’t have to perform in costume – most people didn’t – but I wasn’t going to give up an opportunity for a new dress.

My choice of design was largely motivated by several Venetian dresses showing up in the online costuming world in the year before, but of course I had task-appropriate reasons too (some of them were probably a bit of a stretch really…)

Shakespeare’s play was written in 1610ish so assuming that Prospero left Italy in the 1590s I supposed the fashions he would be familiar with would be those from the time he left or slightly earlier. (This style of dress appears throughout the 16th Century). Miranda was a small child at the time they left Italy, so her adult clothes would either need to have been taken with them or have been magically produced, which would remove any need for historical reference. (I am unable to justify why they would have a Venetian dress, at least, not beyond “I wanted one”.) I used portraits (mostly from Realm of Venus) for reference which, happily, included an example in dark blue. Story-wise my choice of blue represents the ocean around the island on which Miranda lives.

For the bodice I think I just used my body block pattern and drew diagonal lines down the front. It is ladder laced with lacing rings. The lacing rings are better than the D-rings I initially used but the opening still tends to gape a bit. The skirt is made up of two rectangles knife pleated into the bodice. This was the first pleating I had done, so it was mostly done intuitively (and was upside down the first time I did it). I hemmed the dress by measuring up from the bottom of the fabric, so it’s slightly longer at the front than the back. The shoulder straps are done hideously, as I didn’t know how to make lined bodices properly then.

I had planned to wear this outfit without a corset as the bodice is boned, but after trying it on I discovered that it really needed the sturdy layer underneath. As I needed to wear it the next day I wore it over my Victorian corset (which made the front V rather the wrong shape), but I have since made a version of the effigy corset to wear with it.

My effigy corset was made using a pattern generator which I can no longer find. It was also made in a rush and so is bound very messily by machine and has metal eyelets rather than hand-sewn ones. We were on holidays at the time, and I had to use the sewing machines of three relatives to get it done. It was my first experience of flat-felled seams. I found the straps uncomfortable and unnecessary so I have since removed them.

Front-lacing corsets are so much easier to put on...

Since making this dress I have compiled a list of things that could be added or changed, but I’ve never done any of them.  It has served me very well as is, being worn on numerous occasions - to parties and medieval festivals and by others to whom I have lent it.

Mother and daughter, going to the tournament

When I wear this dress I do my hair in a braided up-style interwoven with string pearls. Often with a veil, should someone insist that I cover my head in the sun.

Tutorial under the cut…

Separate your hair into two even sections

Plait each section

 Try to have both plaits starting close together

This can be painful, I recommend having a lady-in-waiting on hand

Between the strands at the start of each plait thread your string pearls

 Wrap the pearls around the plait and tie into the fastening of the plait

 Wind one plait around the other plait

 And then circle the inner plait around the outer plait

Continue winding, and pinning in place, until you finish

This is a very portable hairstyle once you are practiced in it. It can be done in front of the TV, during a school lunchtime and in the back of a moving car on the way to the event.