I was thinking about a new costume, and honestly, I would really like one almost identical to the one I am wearing now, only in a different color.  Blue black and gold is great.  But then, blue, black and silver are the colors of the Bullen family crest and it might make more sense to do that.  That is to say, if I play Mary Boleyn again this year.  But, on the other hand, my underskirt has held up really well and why pay for something and have it made if its not needed?  Maybe blue, black and silver would be better.  I'm sure I can find fabric in black and silver similar to what I've got in my gold and black skirt.  This might come as a surprise to some, but the dress I am wearing now was made using ONLY three yards of the maroon velvet.  The Fabric Store only had that much, but was expecting more after we bought it, which never came in.  Nina, in her infinite genius, improvised and fashioned the rest of what was needed out of other pieces of fabric, namely the gold and black brocade.  The result is a dress without any cartridge pleating, but incredibly lightweight.  I think the whole costume weighs as much as the underskirt from my first dress (thank you Brent Thale for your wonderful photography!).  I tend to really like my dresses in that they are simple and clean.  They are actually very period as they have been cut from period patterns and they are not covered in all kinds of trim and decoration on the front of the bodice.  Yes, dresses of the period had those things, but for the most part, they were pretty simple, leaving embellishment for the sleeves and the jewelry.  In all, its the clean, simple look that I find most elegant.  The famous portrait of Jayne Seymour as Queen is a perfect example of a Tudor period dress without alot of crap on it to make it look too busy, with clean simple lines, and the embellishment being in the jewelry.  The fabric in the sleeve foldbacks, false sleeves and underskirt is pretty elaborate, and there looks to be some beading on the false sleeves, but again, there is nothing down the front to spoil the smooth look of the bodice.

I would also like to do a gabled hood, but, they are hot, cover the ears, and would make my face look big.  And I believe there are not really any period patterns out there for one.  From what I understand, no one today knows how they were really constructed, but Holbein did have the presence of mind to do a drawing of a woman wearing a hood, sketched both front and back.  They look great, but are not practical.  The tried and true French hood works best.  And although I wear it incorrectly with the sides of it behind my ears, it still looks good. 

Song Virus du Jour:  "Mambo Italiano" ~ Rosemary Clooney

Useless Trivia du Jour: A popular color during the Tudor era was a sage or olive green color that was known as "Goose Dropping Green."  I read that somewhere, and its always stuck in my head for some reason.