My outfit

I've been thinking about what to do for my own gown since I first heard about the challenge. I am nursing my five month old son, so I'm limited to front opening gowns with relatively easy to undo closures. I've decided to use this portrait as inspiration. I've loved this dress for a long time. There's something so elegant in it's simplicity. The pearl buttons, the soft-ish lines...I just can't resist.


I am thinking about doing a partlet to fancy my gown up a bit. These two styles have really caught my eye. A fabulous friend of mine recently showed me how to do pulled work and I think that a pulled work partlet would be a lovely addition to my gown. I think the first style would look beautiful as pulled work.


Here is my sketch for the gown, it doesn't include the partlet because I haven't decided which style to do, yet. The other decision I need to make is which sleeve style to do. I think I'll go with the one on the left because it fits in with the very subtle, simple lines of the rest of the gown. I really like the one on the right, too, but I have a bit of time before I HAVE to decide on that. The camacia will have white work and possibly a little bit of beading around the neckline.


I will also be making a loose gown, these two portraits call out "make me!" There are things I love about both of them, and they're at direct odds with each other. I love that with the first one you would be able to see the sleeves from the dress, but I LOOOOVE the sleeves on the second one. The second one would be a much better "keep me warm" coat-type gown, which I have been desperately needing anyway. So...I'll leave this decision for a bit, too. I'm going to start with the white and blackwork for the underclothes anyway.