The Velvet Hussar: Empress Elisabeth At The Great Dickens Fair

This is somewhat of a sneak peek of the gown as it made its maiden voyage this past weekend at The Great Dickens Fair for Royals Day. While I still wish to get a few posed photos of the gown showing the full length standing, there are some lovely shots below. These were taken by Laurie Tavan (who is also one of three lovely ladies this year that play Queen Victoria) and her Husband Jeremy.
Much love and thanks to my dear friend, Laura, who assisted me as Countess Carolyn de Lamberg, lady in waiting to Empress Elisabeth. She created an amazing Miesbacher tracht (tradtional Miesbacher ensemble) to wear for the occasion.

At some point I would like to make another fuller, longer velvet skirt for this ensemble, since this one had to be made to maneuver through a crowded Dickens Fair. Larger hoops are not allowed for good reason, but I have a good sized elliptical hoop hanging in my closet that would do well.
I even have the desire to make her velvet dress with the lace jabot someday. It may have actually been what 'Sisi' was wearing underneath the coat for those photographs, which were taken in the same studio.
It might be worth it to just make that entire gown anyway, if I ever choose to work with that much velvet again.

 An audience with HRH Queen Victoria at the Adventurer's club

 

Mackenzie as Empress Eugiene, Laura Erlich as Countess Carolyn de Lamberg (my lady in waiting) and yours truly; Sisi.

 Leaving The Adventurer's Club

 Lovely ladies (left to right): Laura, me, Amy Lambert as Queen Victoria, Mackenzie, Laurie Tavan

We ended the day with a formal toast at the Adventurer's Club.

A few Progress Photos...Almost There.

 

 Placing the templates for the passementerie detail on the sleeves.

Endless pins to attach a seemingly endless amount of mohair braid on the skirt of the coat.

Also; I am going to need to lint brush the hell out of this thing when I'm done.

Sewing ADD Or A Full Plate

'Tis the season.
Dickens Fair is just around the corner, and while I thought I'd bow out of any official presence in character, this year, it looks like I will be after all. At least part-time.
My mind was made up as soon as it was known to me that the character I had suggested presenting, was OK'd.
Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Also affectionately known as Sisi.

I'm ecstatic, yet a bit intimidated.
I have a good chunk of *more* sewing to do, but I can breathe a little easier knowing that Ander's will be doing the lion's share of his own costuming/sewing this year. I just want to finish a tailcoat I had started for him last year.

So, I am Sisi.

Being Bavarian/Austrian myself, I have a lot of source material and was practically raised on stories and images of Sisi. I may need to brush up on details of her travels and those she regularly 'hung out' with, but I have a pretty good head-start.

Hair: I'll need to go a bit darker than my current shade, but her dark blond is very close to my natural color.
I'm considering a temporary color, so I don't kill my tresses with a high lift developer trying to remove it after the the holidays.
I'll be investing in hair pieces too, to get that bountiful braided look she was so famous for. hopefully I can use human hair for the majority of it, since I can't stand the overly shininess of synthetic hair.

The outfit(s?):
Oh lordy. Where do I begin?
I already have an idea of what I want to make, but it has to be seasonally appropriate too. No Worth star gown for me (not that I'd want to tackle that project right now. I have, actually and it's been on the back burner).
Skirt, blouse and Swiss waist?
Or an ocean of midnight velveteen?
Do I make one or both given the time I have?
Additionally; it can get stuffy and downright warm at Dickens. Do I want to be wearing 15 pounds of velvet?
Incorporating the two outfits and making it 'convertible' to the blouse underneath the velvet ensemble, might be a good option when the temperature rises.

Images that are currently inspiring me:

The velveteen options:

Excuse the colorized photo below, but this is the skirt blouse combo in question. The level of actual detail on the blouse in this image is lost, but it gives a general idea: