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Titania’s Bower
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Outline the story …
My outfit is called “Titania’s Bower” and is based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This dress represents the fairyland-dwelling of Titania, Queen of the Fairies in the bright and colorful midsummer. The dress is based on English fashion in 1595, when the play was published, but with a fantastical twist, covered in multi-dimensional lush flowers, dark oak leaves, green ivy, and dewdrops on spiderwebs. The bodice contains references to Titania’s four fairy attendants – Cobweb and Moth as the ruff, Mustardseed as the yellow beads at the cuffs, and Peaseblossom as the smaller pink flowers on the sleeves. The skirt is covered in leaves falling to the hem, as if on a forest floor. Ivy grows up at the back and winds its way to the skirt flounce atop the farthingale. On the skirt atop the farthingale sits a faded turf maze, as referenced by Titania: “And the quaint mazes in the wanton green / for lack of tread are undistinguishable” (2.1). The English turf maze was the subject of my Master’s dissertation and its inclusion in this play was of great interest. The turf maze is a single-path maze cut into grass that loses its definition if it goes untrod. Like the turf maze, the path to Titania’s bower is a treacherous and confusing one, but the center represents a place of safety – for those who are welcomed to the fairy realms! I hope this dress evokes various aspects of nature, bright summers, and dim fairy-forests.
Outline the construction…
This outfit was created with the Tudor Tailor’s “Pattern for Late Elizabethan Gown”, with some modifications to the closures and boning placement. I used green satin lined with unbleached muslin, and synthetic whalebone boning for the bodice. The large flowers and leaves are fabric, the smallest flowers are appliques, the yellow beads on the cuff are glass. The spiderweb on the front of the bodice is a silvery cotton thread with clear glass beads. The ruff is polyester tulle lace with a cobweb pattern, the moths are appliques. The skirt is green satin, while the “turf maze” on top of the skirt is green flannel, and the leaves are plastic leaves. Linen thread was used throughout the gown, except where there was beading, gathers, lace, or appliques, where polyester thread was used. Metal bar and hook closures were used. Everything was handsewn, no machine-sewing was used.
The construction of began with the creation of three undergarments: the Effigy Bodies, farthingale pad, and a French/Drum farthingale (all Tudor Tailor patterns). My first challenge came with the farthingale, which I found was not as strong at holding up the skirt as I needed, despite adding in more reed boning than the pattern called for. The other issue came with the skirt flounces; not every flounce reached the edge of the farthingale as it should, I think this would have worked better if I had had a mannequin. Though this was challenging and new to me, it was a joy to put together!
I love how you incorporate the flowers into the shoulders of the gown and sleeves perfectly emulating the fashions and the magical design