This dress has a fun story to tell. What started as an elegant, courtly garb project, turned into a wholly new character who I love to play. Meet Thana – Demon in Court Garb.
Inspiration
The initial inspiration for this project was the fabrics. I fell in love with the blood red and fleur de lis elements. After bringing together these soft elements, I started looking for trims and beads to compliment. The beaded trim on the front of the overskirt was found at an estate sale, it is vintage beaded trim and really gorgeous.
While I never need a reason to start a new gown, this one began with an event in mind. I was going to preview it at the 2020 Feast of St. Voloc which is was sponsored by the Willowden Foundation, Inc. and supported the Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Unfortunately, I found out mid-way through creation that this event would be no more. There would be no 2020 Feast of St. Voloc.
Now What?
There was no hiding my disappointment, but that did not make the gown any less amazing. Each step of its creation provided for a more exciting end product. I fell in love with what I called Blood Red and Fleur anew each day. The first time I tried it on, I just new it would be special.
It is the little details that make this gown so fun. I took many weeks to hand bead the overskirt. On each intersection on the fabric, I put an individual black seed bead.
This was not the only custom beading done on this gown. The entire under skirt panel and bodice (front and back) hold custom bead combos. I took the elements below and created each set, then hand-sewed them to the gown. I may do the sleeves in the future, but have not decided for sure yet.
TRF 2019 – Thana is born
So now I had a dress that I loved, but not sure where to wear it. Then it dawned on me, I had nothing special set aside to wear for Halloween at Texas Renaissance Festival. Now that I had a plan, it was time to accessorize. To do this, I cut swatches of fabric and began searching the vendors at TRF. The first accessory was a red/black wig.
I also looked in on some leather wings and while they were beautiful, I was not sold on them… yet.
Just in time for her debut, I was able to get all the custom pearl bead sets attached to the bodice and front of the underskirt..
But wait.. There’s More!
Before the Texas Renaissance Festival was over, I added a beautiful goblet, amazing scepter and gorgeous Kastle K’zar crown and, yes, that set of wings!
Meet Thana – Demon in Court Garb! Is she complete, um I think so but never say never.
I also have been working on custom-designed teeth that I learned to create (you will learn more about that process on another post).
What next?
What started as a gown, turned into a Halloween costume and finally ended up as a new character that is so fun to play. You can expect to see her make an appearance at Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, TX this spring too!
Also, not to be outdone – Hubby wanted to have garb to compliment Thana, so in a future post, I will showcase his custom doublet. Here is a sneak peak
Check out these other garb and festival-related posts:
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