My empire dress

I thought I'd add some pictures of projects already finished, and I'll start with my empire dress. I made it for a ball hosted by Folkungagillet, they hadn't set a precise year, but called their ball Empirbal (so a regency ball). We danced the dances, we ate the food, and most of the attendants wore clothes from this era. I suppose they drew the line around the 1830's, so it was a wide time span. I'm not much for dancing, I was mostly there for the clothes and the food (which was... interesting, very well made, but maybe not my new favourite food).

Without further ado, here it is.

 I chose a green fabric, because I really didn't feel comfortable in white.  I used a drawstring both in the cleavage and under the bust, and to cover up the drawstring underneath the bosom I used the gold ribbon. Underneath I do have a chemise and stays. I tried wearing the gloves, but it drove me crazy, so for most of the time I was bare-hand. The atrocity! One must not artens a ball without! (They weren't too stiff about that rule though.) And time ran out, so I didn't have time to fix a ridicule, which I'd preferred.

I also put up a picture of the dance cards handed out to us.