It was the combination of two things really:
1. The gift of a breath-taking peacock textile from
2. Getting to not only see but also try on

The minute I felt the weight of the fully beaded vest on my shoulders I was in love - I knew I had to have one of my own! Then I thought instead of making a faithful recreation of the Jump Dress it would be much more fun to make not a peacock-themed version, using
After going through my files and Google searches I found a few extant garments that were similar in design to the Jump Dress, with varying combinations of beaded "vests" and bodices. I was particularly drawn to the pale peach creation above though, with it's simple skirt, train and longer sleeves. So my Peacock will be a combination of the two gowns, the beaded vest of the Jump with the underdress and skirt of the peach.
I knew I didn't want to go with the floral motif on the Jump vest and coming up with my own design was a challenge. I didn't want it to be too literal or too complicated and I only wanted to use two colors of beads. Nothing like making it hard on myself! Luckily I had some awesome friends over on Sunday for a crafty day and with their help we were about to come up with a paisley sort of design that resembled a very stylized peacock feather. Thanks Victoria and Ellie!
I am so excited about this project! It’s a completely mad thing to do – a fully beaded bodice in 5 months – but like I said before what is the point of costuming if you don't lose your mind and make something insane every so often? Besides I haven't done a beading project in a while... it's time. *wicked grin*
Invaluable resources so far:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/my_titanic.html
http://www.costumersguide.com/jump.shtml
http://www.kartanonrouva.net/couture/restitanicjump.shtml
Tags: z:archive:20th:peacock