Fourth and last in a series (including the infamous "Marquis de la Betty Boop") aimed at replenishing a Renaissance Faire-going wardrobe rendered obsolete by "moderate" middle-age expansion. Now I learned my lesson and I made all my doublets and jerkins with lacing on the sides... Geez! Hopefully I'll be able to tighten the laces in the near future, rather than letting them out. LOL!!! Most lamented was the inability to shoe-horn myself into my blue French Ambassador outfit, the one that's all beaded and embroided, and a true work of art. Although I didn't want to re-invest the hundreds of hours the Ambassador outfit had required, I still wanted something that would look appropriately sumptuous amongst members of the court, should I ever want to mingle with that sort of low-life riff-raff again. Did this on the cheap. The only fabrics I actually purchased for this project were the already-beaded silk for the sleeves; the burgundy Jacquard for the pants and lining of the cape; and the lace for the cuffs and collar. I had everything else on hand. The doublet itself is made of 5-6 large coordinated sample swatches from an upholstery fabric distributor. If you look closely you'll see that the two front panels are different, and so is the back. In a way it's like a patchwork, and methinks that makes it more interesting than if it were all the same pattern. ;-) The fleur de lys fabric for the short cape was purchased for less than nothing years ago on eBay.
