Ill-Met by Moonlight

I don't care what anyone says, Shakespeare is and always will be one of my favorite writers. I have not once in my life enjoyed drama as literature as much as I enjoy Shakespeare. My fellow literature-buffs may be shaking their heads right now; much of the controversy over Shakespeare is that his plots are recycled over from his and other playwrights' popular works at the time, and that they're the Elizabethan version of today's soap operas. Well.... yes. I can't argue that- the latter is their charm, why they still resonate with people today, and the former... I guess everyone needs to draw their inspiration somewhere?

I have no excuse for that one, really. But the point is, the Bard's my bro. I haven't read anything by him that I didn't like (Well, Henry IV part 1 was borderline, but...), and one of my first readings is still to this day my favorite: Midsummer Night's Dream. When I accepted a slot in the Ballet Fairytale Photoshoot (details and photos coming soon!) and saw that Titania, Shakespeare's queen of the faeries, was one of the available characters to portray, I must admit I jumped out of my skin a little with excitement. Not necessarily the most dynamic or feminist-minded roles the Bard has ever written, I consider Titania to be, if nothing else, one of Shakespeare's best-spoken female roles, and obsessing as I do over words, this builds a strong affinity to her in my heart. I did spend a few days waffling over which role to choose, because there were some excellent ones, but in my soul I knew that I would end up selecting Titania. And I did.

As far as my actual dress goes, I'm not giving any details, except that I've been, as Victoria Suzanne says, fervently texting my atelier for the past week or so. You'll have to wait and see for that one! But here's a preview of the headpiece I made to match it:

From the front:

Side/back:

Detail:

It was easy, once I figured out what I wanted to do, too - I just went to the craft store and bought a bough of fake hydrangeas and a blue rose (my favorite! If only they really existed), then used their flowers and leaves as well as some heart-shaped blue rhinestones I already had, and attached together. I fretted about how to attach it for a few hours, then had a stroke of genius and used a vintage circlet I'd never worn as a base and made a "crown." What do you think - befitting of a Faerie Queen?