Masquerade Garb

Originally, for the Masque challenge, I wanted to do something Pre-Raphaelite. I ended up picking the dress from Miranda, the Tempest:

Based on comments and suggestions, I agreed a wool for the underdress and a linen for the overdress would work. Which was perfect, I thought, since I have 5 yards of red wool and 3 1/2 of the blue linen. I've been holding the blue linen forever to make a medieval dress out of. I bought 20 yards of the stuff on ebay years upon years ago, holding on to the last little bit....which turned out to be only 2 yards. Although I could make the underdress, it's the overdress that is recognizable. Oh, and I found out yesterday...so.

I could suck it up and just make a mask. I could attempt something steampunk - which is allowed this challenge- or, I realized, I could finish an old UFO project.

The Fairy Queen gown is an old UFO project. It was originally two of my bridesmaids gowns. And I've since added more fabric to them. In the back, the zipper will be hidden with a dark purple cover and train. The sleeves - one shown in the picture- will be out of a dark purple organza. The wings are ones I bought, again - years ago- on ebay. The lady that made them stopped making them maybe a month after I bought mine. Hopefully, I can figure out the skirt front (I won't tell you what I thought when I had it pleated/draped. It would break the internet.) and get this thing done by tomorrow.

The nice thing is, even though fantasy is allowed for this challenge, the Fairy Queen is a well known historical "fairy tale" - dating back to the late 16th C. So, this is what I think she might wear around the 19th or early 20th Centuries. :-)