The finished outfit...

Here it is:

The French hood is from a current Simplicity pattern, made almost according to the pattern instructions, but I did make a built in hair bag out of handkercheif linen and attached it to the veil before I sewed them both into the hood. You can probably see the bottom hoops out of place on the one side of the skirt, probably because the poor things have been hung up for so long and are a little out of shape. A little spray with some water and some time on the floor overnight should clear that up. The neck ruff looks best in the top and bottom pictures; after a few pictures I took the ruff off to see if I could help Geoff with the camera and put it back on wonkey. Overall I am pleased with it; wearing it even for a few minutes did make me feel a bit more like I could step back into that time. And yes, the ruff and hood is what does it. You look down at the skirt and see the perfect starched sets of this archaic bit of clothing in your field of vision and feel like you could be in court. Just a little.

A side note, this is a picture that Geoff took of me while I was still squirming to get into the bodice. It shows how I quickly put up my hair, winding it in two ropes around the back of my head. This was quick and easy to put in with some bobby pins. A more period accurate and probably a more solid way of doing it is outlined in The Tudor Tailor.

I don't know how many hours I spent on this dress. It's probably somewhere in the range of 150-200 hours, with all the beading and hand sewing I did. I don't even know what I'm going to do with this thing now that it's all together. I have contemplated selling it on etsy, but would anyone buy such a thing? Especially given the price tag I'd have to put on it to get a decent wage from it. I shall have to ponder this some more.