You probably have read this...

... but it's still worth a share! Elisa of Isis' Wardrobe is participating in the Court Ensembles project by making the Swedish National Costume for herself and has recently written about the pattern and construction of the ladies gala court dress. Needless to say I admire her work very much and I am happy that I'll be a part of a sibling project with our gentleman's ensemble.

As you can see, there's a photo of her husband in the very same gala ensemble we're going to recreate! This is so exciting! And a bit daunting as well, since this outfit has already been beautifully done by another costumer (actually by several other costumers, I think). Let's see how ours will turn out...

But apropos other costumers who have worked on the "nationella dräkten": do you own, have you made or have you seen pictures of a gentleman's gala court ensemble? I'd love to see some photos! And of course, I'm very interested in other versions of the National Dress as well.

The Court Ensembles Challenge by Démodé

Welcome all!

This is a blog about a costuming project. A very special project for that matter... Perhaps I'll just give a little background. I'm Petri and I've always been fascinated by history - art history, history of fashion, historical dance, food... you name it. Wars and shenanigans; not so much.  In recent years I've been very much into the 18th century and its dances and costumes in particular. The other person behind this project is Riikka aka Madamoiselle Sand, a professional entrepreneur, costumer and re-enactor. She doesn't blog, though, so that was left for me to do.

A while ago the awe-inspiring Kendra of Démodé threw a challenge to create an 18th century court ensemble and finish it in time for Costume College 2014. Any court, any country, male or female. Level of historical accuracy to be determined by the participants. I was like "wow". I've always wanted to have a court ensemble for myself! As we know, the formal menswear at the time was quite as over the top and ostentatious as the ladies' couture. The problem is, I couldn't put together a decent peasant outfit.

I was crying my heart out over facebook and all and was ready to bury my dreams and comfort myself with the thought of time and money saved. Enter Riikka, the hard working and slightly mad costumer who cannot resist a challenge when given one... We had a little talk (about which I might have to post more details later) and came up with this:

The "Gala" or formal variation of the Gustavian Swedish National Dress. Nordiska Museet via Wikimedia Commons.

Yes, we're crazy, why do you ask? Now I'll be off to claim the outfit for us and play the game of mad court ensembles!