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1863 Ball Gown in Yellow with Green Ribbons over White Lace Skirt with Harvest Trimmings for Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are celebrating it today! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and I’m really happy to be celebrating it with my family this year, now that we’re all in the same state again. Most of my extended family is in the Pacific Northwest, but when I was young my mom, dad, brother and I moved around the country on account of my dad’s job, and so for me Thanksgiving dinners remind me of a very small group around the table, stuffing in the crock-pot and Alice’s Restaurant on the radio. This year, as I understand it, there’ll be a bit of a crowd, but that’s fine too — it means more people to admire my baklava, for one thing. (A friend of mine from Turkey taught me to make exquisite baklava, but my baklava-related self-esteem has taken a bit of a hit since my husband took pictures of it after it came out of the oven. Somehow, the pictures turned out rather alien due to the way the phyllo dough crinkles up and his penchant for close-ups — and then he adjusted them to look vaguely green and called it “Night of the Living Baklava.” I am not so sure I will let him have any.)

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, so for today’s dress I have an 1860s-style ball gown with harvest motifs. I hope you like it, even if you’re not celebrating Thanksgiving today!

Why not — silly poll time!

poll by twiigs.com

Hallowen ’10 Day 4: White Ballerina Outfit with Pink Roses

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Olly-olly-oxen-free! You can come out now, I’m not going to be creepy today. I need a dose of pretty after drawing the Twisted Queen’s gown, especially the little red tendril bits. (My husband still can’t quite look at that one — and he’s the one who kills the spiders and watches the scary movies in our household. He asked me while I was drawing this one, “What are you going to do to it today? Make snakes come out of it?” No — just roses. And they don’t even have thorns, much less poisoned ones. No worries.)

Now, mind you, my foray into ballet was long ago and of extremely short duration (I think I made it through one class?) and in any case, in my costumes I don’t strive for accuracy (I actually have a “no research” rule for Octobers, although I keep breaking it), so please forgive me if, as I suspect, the shoes and so on are all wrong.

A commenter asked recently for me to redraw the Good Queen’s blue and white gown without all of that pesky blood. That is a particularly good dress, I think, and I know it’s one of my mom’s favorites so perhaps I really should, but I don’t like redoing old things somehow. I’m certainly not averse to revisiting the Good Queen, though; given the choice I’d rather draw her a new outfit, but I could make an exception to the no-wallowing-in-the-past rule just this once. If I did, should I keep the colors as they are or draw the dress in the colors it was when she was alive? (For it wasn’t blue and white originally: the colors represent her ghostly nature.)

poll by twiigs.com

Prismacolors used: French Grey 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, Blush Pink, Tuscan Red, Dark Umber, Olive Green, Pale Sage, colorless blender, Verithin Tuscan Red and Olive Green.

Halloween ’10 Day 2: Evil Sorceress’ Black Gown with Full Skirt and Black Ribbon

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Someone once told me they liked my darker dresses more than the conventionally pretty ones; the truth is, I do too, but conventionally pretty is easier to knock out when it’s 7:30 PM, I haven’t even started to think about what to draw (always much harder than the actual drawing) and I still have to make dinner too. But I resolved to do some darker dresses this Halloween, so we shall see how I do.

I’m not the only one who has a hard time breaking free of conventionally pretty clothes. The owner of this dress — sorceress? evil queen? both, actually, as she had an unconventional career trajectory — has deeply buried attachments to such dresses from her days as a beautiful princess, as good and uninteresting as the day was long, and she never quite lost her taste for some of the elements: the tight bodices, the poofy skirts, the splashes of color and lace. Now, a dress like this she couldn’t wear in front of fellow evildoers and retain her self-respect, as there’s just a touch too much fragility in the bow at the waist, too much domestic modesty in the long sleeves, too much girlishness in the full skirt and not even a creepy pattern in the fabric of the underskirt. It could be saved by a dramatic collar that jutted out inches past her shoulders and soared to her ears, but she just can’t bring herself to put it on and ruin the neckline. So she wears it in the privacy of her own chambers, although I cannot say she does anything so sentimental as reflect on her past life — I cannot say if she can still remember her princess days, to be precise — and if she suspects a henchman of giggling at her, she guts him like a fish.

You will hear more about her later in the month, if all goes well, and see some of the clothes in her wardrobe that better fit her twisted crown. But practice your poker face in the meantime, so she doesn’t think we’re making fun of her.

Prismacolors used: Warm Grey 20%, 50%, 70% and 90%, Black, Scarlet Lake, Tuscan Red, Greyed Lavender, Imperial Violet and Black Grape

1950s Tea Length Wedding Dress with Scalloped Lace and Apple Blossoms

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I do love 1950s dresses, and wedding dresses are no exception! This is just a white, tea length one with lots of lace. I’m not too thrilled with the way the flowers turned out, but unfortunately I’ve run out of time for tonight and I need to post what I have. So, I reserve the right to redo them at some point.

Emily guessed the answer to the contest in the comments for this post, so the contest is closed! Last week (from the 8th to the 14th), I had visitors from 115 different countries. Let me know what dress you’d like me to color and how, Emily!

poll by twiigs.com