My husband found him on one of his forums, the Family, Friends and Firearms which is a great place to meet and chat with firearms aficionados (I hope I spelled that right!). Anyway, I saw this cute little fellow and had to have him for my Rogue's Gallery. Hubby got permission from whoever had posted him and here he is. Isn't he just DARLING????

This first one is a gentleman in California who, along with some friends, decided that for Halloween one year that they would re-create the Wizard of Oz.  He wanted to be the Wicked Witch of the West.  My job was to transform him into that venerable old gal (on the outside, at least, as he was quite content otherwise).  Here is our combined effort.  Not a bad job, if I do say so myself!!  Stephen is wearing a front lacing tabbed renaissance bodice (stiffly boned) minus the shoulder tabs in black satin over a Victorian leg-o-mutton blouse in black broadcloth.  The skirt was a very full, 4 gore black taffeta 3/4 circle over a black netting and ruffled petticoat.  Topping it all, he was wearing an extra long, extra full black satin cape sans collar/hood (which is what makes it a cape, not a cloak - no hood!!).  He capped the entire affair off with a traditional (in some circles) witch's hat and broom, striped hose and witches shoes.  The scarecrow appears in guest cameo as himself.

This last picture is the outfit before I sent it to Stephen. Pardon the picture quality, but I couldn't find my camera, and took the picture with my cell phone [grin].

Now I have a couple of photos I thought LONG lost, and unfortunately, they are b&w, not color.  However, you will get the drift.  It shows a couple I made matching outfits for (you can find the outfits under Renaissance, and I think the best photos are in Mens) when they wanted to make a splash at a RenFaire they were going to visit.  They did well enough that the Faire royalty got their noses bent out of shape, as everyone thought 'my' people were the King and Queen!!  Hey, hey!!  Not bad!

Next we have myself and my darling, long suffering sweetheart.  I have done more to this poor man that any good man should have to bear.  But, love him, he still puts up with me!!  Although, I do have to admit, he ASKED for the first outfit!!  I made one outfit that he really liked, and he actually said that if I made one similar for him, that he'd wear it!!  You could have knocked me over with a feather, as I didn't think I would ever be able to get him into a Renaissance outfit and go to Faire with me!

Next, we have a 'Theme' wedding gown I did for a woman who works at the same facility as my darling Lord Husband. She had a couple of special requests which made her gown a truly 'special' gown. First was that she brought me a dress she had worn to a high school prom, which also happened to be the last thing her mother had ever seen her wear. Her mother died the following day! She wanted me to use fabric from this prom dress in her wedding gown. Next, she brought me her mother's wedding dress from the 1970's, and asked me to incorporate some part of her mother's dress into her gown. We considered her mother's dress carefully, and decided to take the full, gathered sleeves. I then added a lot of 'Moonlight' satin and put it all into Renaissance styling, and, 'voila'! We had her Special Wedding Dress. Take a look:

The split, sheer sleeves are from her mother's wedding dress. I removed the sleeves from the original dress, the cuffs from the bottom of the sleeves, opened the sleeves and attached to the half sleeves of satin attached to the bodice of the new gown. The chapel train is on an overskirt that can be removed for dancing, which will also show off the panels of the old prom dress fabric concealed underneath, similar to the front panel. There is also a loop, so she can carry the train if she doesn't wish to remove the overskirt.

I also lent her a very old gold and pearl crown I had for her headpiece, since she had a habit of referring to herself as the 'Princess', and I thought she should be crowned.

Next, we have the following year for Faire, and I made new outfits for both of us. His Highness got a new doublet in gold with black trim, and I made a bodice and skirt in Black brocade with gold.

Next is a Civil War dress I made for the fun of it. It was made of a lovely country blue with a small, fine check out of white lines. I used a lovely white silk gimp trim, and white shantung lining. It has a Zoave jacket, a full skirt with a wide, set-in waist band and matching reversible reticule with re-enforced bottom. It turned out quite well (I thought), and the lovely lady that bought it was kind enough to send me a picture of herself wearing the outfit after a day spent re-enacting. Thanks Trish!!

  My final (for today!) set of photos for you are of a Civil War evening tea gown I made for a wonderful young lady in Texas. She had an idea in mind from a gown she had seen, but from the wrong era. I looked at the photos of the gown, and saw some possibilities for the Antebellum Era. We talked back and forth, and came up with the following:

Yes, she IS wearing a chemise under the bodice, but that is my fault. I didn't understand quite HOW modest this young lady really is, and I didn't make the neckline quite high enough! Sorry Brandy!! The dark ivory and gold brocade is set off by cafe-au-lait and chocolate lace ruffles at the side neckline and at the sleeve bottoms, and with faux pearl bead drops at the front neckline, on the epaulettes and at the sleeve bottoms. The bodice laces up the back, and the skirt has a 1" set-in waist band and is bias cut and extremely full. I lightly boned the bodice in about 6 or 8 places for structure and body, and the bodice and upper sleeves are lined with ivory polished cotton. I included, but I don't think Brandy needed, a 6" modesty panel for under the back lacing. Doesn't she look absolutely GORGEOUS????

 

Next is my latest - it is from one of the commercially available (although historically accurate)  patterns, and I followed it almost as it was published.  I made only a few changes.  I honestly think I am incapable of producing an outfit from a pattern exactly as it is published.  I am not really sure why, but I have to put my own little touches, or changes in there - somewhere!!  Anyway - I only have the one picture so far, but I have been promised additional ones - as soon as they are developed.  This one came to me in 'period' black and white, but I 'colorized' it, and using photos of the gown before I sent it to Tara, I think I got it pretty close.  She seems to think so, at any rate.

I made it for her fiancé's fraternity's annual spring 'do' in Louisiana, which has a Southern theme.  In fact, the biggest complaint for the past few years has been that some of the ladies did not even try, they would just throw on a prom dress, and that is antebellum enough, thank you!  They finally told the gentlemen to make it clear to their ladies that the Theme is antebellum south, and proper attire is expected of everyone, and 'prom dresses' aren't proper attire!  The nearby town has a costume shop and a shop that specializes in period clothing for hire, and the dresses there get a real workout!  Tara wanted something original, and fresh, and that hadn't been passed around every year for the past - oh, hundred or so!!  One of the shops in town tried to buy her dress from her after the ball!  I was amused.  It's hard to tell from the photo, but the gown is an ivory brocade, with peach organza and coral lace trim.  Period correct styling, modern construction and materials.  Boned bodice w/laced back (with modesty panel), corset, hoopskirt, petticoat and matching reticule.  If you click on the picture, you can see it a bit larger...  And, hopefully soon, I'll have more photos of the lovely Tara in her gown to add to this page.

 

I sold hubby's gold medallion doublet and breeches to the same lady who bought my aqua satin and brocade ensemble that I've had for sale on line for quite some time...  I also made her a pale aqua partlet out of fine lawn to go with the outfit and a black lawn shirt for her hubby.  She was wonderful and sent me some photos as soon as she came home from the Maryland Renaissance Faire (2007)!   I might be prejudiced, but I think they look GREAT!

Take a look:

 

I did not make the tunic for their lovely little 'page', although I do take the credit for the idea.  I explained that they didn't need much for one that age, just a long tunic to cover his bum, and some hose, and presto, a 'page' to carry for 'milady'!  They were lucky enough to find fabric in a color to match daddy's doublet and the little one was a perfect complement to his parents.  I am told they received many compliments on their outfits (I'm about to dislocate my shoulder, patting myself on the back, here!), and I just wish I had sent them some of my business cards!  The photos are very artistic, as well!  The background and location are beautiful.  I wish I could use it for all of my 'shoots'.

 

Next are a couple of outfits I made for RavenCon '08.  I have a couple of friends who own a bookstore on the downtown mall in Charlottesville, VA.  It is Oakley's Gently Used Books.  Chris Oakley (and her husband Jim) are great people.  Chris told me she planned on 'doing' RavenCon, and was I interested in going?  Then she mentioned slyly that they had a costume contest (hint, hint).  I asked if she would be interested in wearing one of my creations in the contest???  Chris just grinned and said "yep!"  So, I checked her over carefully, and decided that with her slender build and delicate looks, she would make a great elf.  While we were discussing her outfit, Jim sat in the corner and made disgusted noises.  We loftily ignored him.  A few days later, Chris and Jim had a literary party at their house, and while there, I really took a hard look at Jim, and told him that with his build and silver hair, he would make an excellent elven lord.  "Really?"  "Yep!"  And that was that.  I now had an elven couple instead of an elven lady.  I already had a gown in mind for Chris, but absolutely NO idea for Jim's outfit.  I did an internet search for LOTR elves, and found some pictures.  Then I just copied one of the elves.  Below is the result.  By the way - they took Best in Show!

 

 

Here is what I based Jim's outfit on:

 

Since I was going to help them dress for the Masquerade, I figured I might as well enter, too.  So I whipped up an outfit for myself as well.  I had them entered in the Sci-fi/Fantasy category, but I entered myself in the Historical category.  Needless to say, I did not win - other than a 'feel good' award for "Most Majestic".  My ego is NOT that delicate, and I don't get my feelings hurt that easily.  But everyone who entered got an award of some sort...  PC gone crazy, I guess.  Anyway, here is my personal entry:

Love that fabric!!  Beautiful blue and silver silk brocade!  Paired up with a silver satin...  I even made the hat (my first hat).  I think I made the workmanship judge a bit nervous, though.  She kept commenting on how much bosom I was displaying.  I don't think she's ever been to a RenFaire!  That dress is quite modest by 'Faire standards!!  She seemed to be worried I was going to fall out of my bodice if I bent over [grin].  I tried to explain to her that there was a lot more of me IN the bodice than there was hanging out, and that there was NO danger of me falling out.  She didn't seem convinced, however.  I even used the 'iceberg' adage - how there is 7/10ths more below the surface.  She really, really, needs to go to a 'Faire and see what some of the bodices display...  Maybe she would get over her fear...