HappyHappyJoyJoy!!!!

[rjlona]

This makes me so incredibly excited I almost hyperventilated!

I just put the pieces together and discovered that the woman who owned the Brussels Manuscript (click on "next page a few times to get to the really cool stuff) was also the woman who owned this dress! She was Maria of Hapsburg, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Regent of the Netherlands. She lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

Why does this make me so nearly swoon, you ask?

The Brussels Manuscript is the source for many awesome Basse Danses, a style of dance that I am most keen on learning. They are slow, courtly, stately dances that are very complex and elegant. It's also the source of the image flinx used to create two of my userpics, including this one (but not the part that says "tempus saltandi" - he added that just for me!).

The Mary of Hungary dress is something I have planned to make for myself for quite some time. I even have a gorgeous purple brocade put away for the project (gods I hope I bought enough!). This is an awesome opportunity to combine my two biggest SCA interests: dance and garb. This dress just moved way up on my schedule of future garb projects. First I have to finish a zupan for flinx and a Turkish overcoat for myself for Coronation.

Pardon me while I geek out!

Comments

[pumaviking.livejournal.com]

that is *very* cool!

[rjlona.livejournal.com]

Ain't it, though? I'm still on a bit of a buzz about it (not quite as giddy as you've been, but this isn't as exciting). I'm nowhere near ready to try making the dress yet; I still need lots of different materials for it (lining, interlining, contrasting material for collar & cuffs, good chemise material, etc.) I'm also trying to track down what sort of hat/hairstyle would be appropriate. I'm leaning towards a truncated henin, but I'm not set on it yet. But in the meantime I can work on learning the dances! Wheeeeeee!