Bodice Day

Thursday was a slow, slow day. I felt as dull as the weather. Costin came to do aquarium work with me in the morning. It was a nice way to start my day; he is seriously charming.

I did detail work on the skirt in the afternoon, securing all the parts into a single piece. I am really pleased with it. Today I’ll start the bodice; it’s going to be a challenge but so have many aspects of the other dresses and I’ve always found my way.

I think I’ll get the whole bodice done today. Paper is not very forgiving for the complex curves of the female breast but I will find a way and once it’s done I’ll coat the whole thing — skirt and bodice — in black tissue. I’m going to experiment with the paper to see what kind of textures I can produce to give a velvet-like depth to the dress surface.

I ordered some fancy doilies online that I’ll use for the detail so I have to wait for them to arrive to complete it. (The ones I got locally are too dull to suit my imagination.) Consequently, I have decided on dress number nine: It will be the gambler’s dress. So when the better weather starts tomorrow, I will be off in search of the raw materials I need for that dress.

It’s amazing to be in the final stages of this project. I have completed a good draft of the script and eight of the twelve dresses I need for the exhibition. I am super pleased to have so constructive a legacy of my winter of discontent, housebound by C-PTSD.