My new dress

[Asche]

I've taken to making a lot of my clothes, and a few days ago, I (mostly) finished a dress.  (Still have to hem the skirt and the lining.)

And it's heavenly.  I put it on, and I just want to walk around and feel it on me, or rub my hands over it.  I look at myself in the mirror, and I love how it looks.  Dare I use the word "pretty"?  I almost don't mind seeing myself in the mirror when I'm wearing it.

I made it out of some 45 inch cotton broadcloth I had lying around: about 5-6 yards of bright red and 2 yards of forest green.  There wasn't enough to make it all one color, at least, not the way I wanted, so the "body" and the cuffs are green, and the sleeves, the collar, and the skirt are red.  The sleeves are puffed (maybe a little too much), and the skirt is 5 yards around, gathered at the waist.  The body is lined with green lining material, and the skirt with some sort of red organza which makes a nice swishing sound with some of my synthetic half-slips.

The skirt is a lot lighter than my usual skirts, so it sort of floats as I walk.  I'm hoping it will be cooler, good for hanging out in overheated spaces.  In fact, in my apartment (normally around 70 F (=20 C)), I need a few extra layers underneath.  I had it on all day while I was working from home, and only changed out of it to put on something more suitable for schlepping through the snow to the grocery store.

At some point, I'll feel comfortable with wearing it out and about, like I do with my skirts and jumpers, but for now, I'm just enjoying wearing it around the house.

[Lordes]

A pic perhaps?  It sounds lovely.

[Asche]

A pic perhaps?  It sounds lovely.

I'll take a picture and post it when I've finished the hem.  I spent the last 3 hours fiddling with mirrors and pins to get a halfway level hem.  (Hemming is a lot harder to do by yourself.)  I hope to sew in in tonight, and maybe do the lining tomorrow.  I'm debating whether to add a strip of the same green as elsewhere on the hem as a border.

One thing I'm debating: whether to obscure my face before I post it.  I'm a little reluctant to post an identifiable picture on a site that is visible to everyone in the world (that is, not just members.)  On the other hand, cropping off my head or Photoshopping a cloud over my face might look weird.

[Jamie D]

If you would like, you can post in my blog, Jamie's World.  I have a stickied topic set aside for our non-binary community.

I set my blog so that it can not be seen by the public, is not crawled by bots or spiders, and members need 50 posts to access.

It is more secure than the old Sexuality board.  (It only needed 15 posts to access).

[Space Pirate]

Either way,  I think it'll feel good to post it.

[Asche]

If you would like, you can post in my blog, Jamie's World.  I have a stickied topic set aside for our non-binary community.

I spent most of the day taking pictures and figuring out how to get them from the camera into my computer.

But I've run into a snag.

It looks like you can't actually upload images to susans.org, you can only embed a URL to a picture.  I don't have a website or a place where I could post pictures (besides the fact that they would then be accessible to webcrawlers.)

Any suggestions?

[Jamie D]

You can make a free account on flickr and have privacy settings.  There are others image hosting sites that you can password protect.

[Asche]

Okay, here are two pictures of me in my new dress:



Unfortunately, it looks like flickr.com displays my "real name" rather than my screen name (I used a semi-fake name, but still....)  I obscured my face, since the image has to be public for susans.org readers (members or not) to access it.


I'd assumed I would look at least partly feminine wearing a dress, but instead I think I look more medieval or early renaissance than feminine.

[Space Pirate]

You look...very you.  It's you.  Exactly as I pictured you in my head before I saw it and it belongs on you.

[Kaelin]

"I think I look more medieval or early renaissance than feminine."

You do have a coat-of-arms behind you in the second pic. 

[RainbowGuacamole]

Okay, here are two pictures of me in my new dress:



Unfortunately, it looks like flickr.com displays my "real name" rather than my screen name (I used a semi-fake name, but still....)  I obscured my face, since the image has to be public for susans.org readers (members or not) to access it.


I'd assumed I would look at least partly feminine wearing a dress, but instead I think I look more medieval or early renaissance than feminine.

This is so impressive! You are incredibly talented! I think you do in fact look feminine, especially in the first picture.

[LordKAT]

It looks well made, but I got the Renaissance vibe too. Ever been to one of their events?

[Asche]

It looks well made, but I got the Renaissance vibe too. Ever been to one of their events?

I haven't been to Renaissance events of any kind.  I've seen a few Shakespeare plays (and film versions thereof) -- does that count?

BTW, this isn't my first dress.  I made a white one with taffeta and sparkly organza (and battery-powered LEDs) for a "techno-contra" (contra dance with techno(?) music, UV lights, etc.)  I've got another short one for summer, and a pink one I'm still working on.  I don't think they look renaissance-like, but I'm not sure how feminine they look, either.

[Frigg]

Awesome dress.