Black Silk Robe a la Francaise at Fete Galante, Again

Since the Rubens masquerade gown didn’t work out, I had to pull something from my closet for Fete Galante in 2023 with just two weeks before the event. I couldn’t sew anything new at that late date (though I briefly considered making a new wig). So I wore the same black silk francaise I wore the only other time I went to Fete Galante in 2016. That time, I had retrimmed the original all-black gown (made for Chateau de Pys in 2013) with white bows and roses, and I wore the giant black pouf wig made by Kendra the I modeled in her 18th-century wig book.

The following year, I retrimmed this francaise again for Costume College 2014 when Kendra premiered her book. So that’s three different wearings. Retrimming a gown is period, y’know!

Then in 2019, I was planning to go to an 18th-century dinner and thought I’d wear this gown in a more gothic fashion. I tried it with the skull and bat bedecked black petticoat and stomacher I made (with Mom’s help) for my Vampire Masquerade Ball Gown. I also added black and purple roses to the francaise and replaced the white engageantes (sleeve ruffles) with black lace and purple silk ones. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to this event at the last minute, so these modifications languished in the closet … until this year when I needed a new Fete Galante costume pronto!

I accessorized with my beloved old hedgehog-ish black wig streaked with purple (that I can blend my own purple streaks into), and I put various purple flowers, bat decorations, and giant feathers in it (that day was very windy so the feathers flopped around outside the palace though). To complete the look, I wore purple makeup, bat jewelry, and a pair of silver mitts that Kendra embroidered with flowers and bats as an Xmas gift.