This was the first Renaissance ensemble I built (on the right), and I still had a lot to learn!
I made every part of it, including hand-embroidering the veil on the french hood, and the twelve-hour ruff that featured a trim of gold lace that I HAND-THREADED green ribbon through. God, I was crazy.
The bodice and partlet were based on the Jean Hunisett pattern that was after this portrait of the real Helena, aged 21.
Here, you can see the sketch versus the finished dress. The oversleeves were removable, as oversleeves generally were of that period. I almost never wore them, in practice; they were tight and warm in the often-90-degree heat of the summer! Without the oversleeves, the dress resembled the portrait more anyway . . .
Here I am with my mother and sister (in the borrowed dress she wore her first season). As you can see, I had some problems with fit this early in my career; the bodice has wrinkles down the front!
All in all, it was not my best attempt; I learned a lot in my two years wearing this, as was evidenced in my later work in the period!