#all the embroidery
One Dress a Week Challenge
May: Gold & Silver
Shakespeare in Love / Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola de Lesseps
I debated whether to call this dress gold/silver or yellow, but I eventually decided it has enough metallic elements to qualify for this month.
Notice that both the inner and outer sleeves are decorated with embroidery! I really like the delicate standing ruff and how it frames her face. The little silver cap is also very pretty.
One Dress a Week Challenge
April: Black
Shadow and Bone / Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov
For the transition from the month of black into the month of gold and silver, we have this spectacular embroidered long coat, known as a kefta in the setting. (Seriously, if you’re a fan of embroidery porn, this is the show for you.) The coat itself is made of some sort of heavy textured fabric, with what looks to be a plush edging. The embroidered rays of light in gold and silver signify Alina’s unique ability as the Sun Summoner. The belt buckle features the double eagle of Ravka.
It’s hard to get a good look at the whole garment, but it comes down to her ankles and seems to have slits at the sides for ease in walking. I like her hair ornament too.
One Dress a Week Challenge
June: Grey
Shadow and Bone / Daisy Head as Genya Safin
I love Genya’s kefta, but I debated where to put it. It’s sometimes described as white, but it looked too dark to fit in with the other white dresses. I considered silver, but it wasn’t very shiny, so I finally settled on grey.
Genya’s kefta is unique not only because she is a Tailor (a rare ability) but also because she is a member of the palace staff rather than attached to the army like most other grisha. It doesn’t follow the usual color scheme, and it also appears to be shorter and lighter-weight than the ones worn in the field; compare Alina’s black kefta, which is ankle-length. The belt buckle seems to have an image of the Ravkan double eagle, like Alina’s.
One Dress a Week Challenge
May: Gold & Silver
Elizabeth / Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I
Although this movie’s costumes were known for being loose interpretations of historical styles rather than painstakingly accurate, they did do quite a faithful recreation of Elizabeth’s actual coronation gown, right down to the tassels on the closure! The thing that is surprising is that it’s just one of her regular dresses that she wears to a dance earlier in the film. I looked up the date of Elizabeth I’s coronation, and it was two months after the death of Mary, so in real life she had ample time to have a new gown made for the occasion.
The dress looks far less grand without the accompanying ruff, jewelry, and ermine-edged cloak. In fact, I don’t think I even registered that it was the same garment on first viewing.
(EDIT:@theladyelizabeth mentioned on a reblog that IRL, Elizabeth wore Mary’s coronation gown, just altered to fit her. But in that case, she still would be unlikely to be wearing it to dances!)
