end of reign: Abran & Anya I

These outfits are a surprising example of the rule that sometimes, you can do everything right and something still doesn’t quite work.

Her Majesty’s gown is a dark red linen with black linen faux sleeves. It’s cut in the same 14th century style she prefers, with enough ease to eliminate lacing or button closures. Because she doesn’t like to fuss with her garments and because mid-Atlantic Aprils can be warm, we decided to make faux undersleeves rather than an entire second garment, and finished the sleeves off with a pair of pinnable tippets made out of a wide olive green silk trim backed with more black linen. Anya has worn this gown frequently since they stepped down, and says it’s one of her favorite dresses.

Unfortunately, His Majesty’s tunic, while beautiful, turned out to be not right for him. The fabric was an absolutely gorgeous brushed tropical weight wool with an incredible drape that was just begging to be something fine but simple. We thought that, given how light the fabric was, it wouldn’t contribute to any significant overheating, especially since he would only likely wear it a couple of hours and then change.

We cut the wool using the same pattern set we used throughout the reign. It was a challenge - there was exactly 2.5 yards of the wool and not a scrap more to be had. It was a donation, and the donor couldn’t remember where they purchased it, so we had to work with what we had. The tunic is unlined, fully finished, and fastens with large bronze buttons that close with decorative cord button loops. The overall fit was almost perfect, but the arms turned out slightly too snug given the small amount of fabric. When they tried on their clothes, he loved the tunic.

And then April did what April does. The day was oppressively humid and warm, and eventually developed into a massive windstorm during the evening feast. Abran definitely overheated, and was desperate enough to get out of the tunic after court that we ended up slicing through the sleeves, which had started to felt from the combination of humidity, sweat, and heat. I took the garment home with me and tried to recover enough fabric from the hem to widen the arms, but that left the garment shorter than he is comfortable in. The pieces are currently in the Naughty Corner of my sewing room, waiting for me to decide what to do with them.