Penthesileia Queen of the Amazons
2nd Goddess from the left

I have always been intrigued by Baroque masque costumes as well as allegorical and "historical" paintings that show either classical myths or semi-historical events. In 2003 the Baroque Lurve Goddesses (the female members of L'Age d'Or) were looking for a group costume idea to be worn at the beer tent at the Detling multi-period event. It was only logical that it should be Baroque masque costumes. Not authentic, since this did not matter for the multi-period dance and drink, but a fun costume that gave the idea of a late 17th century Classical costume.

I haven't got many photos of my Penthesileia, sadly, but it was great fun to wear, even though it functioned more like a deterrent than a conversation piece. It seemed that ti was so Over The Top that folks gawked but stayed away. Shame, really. I think I should stick to costume events like Conventions, when I go for an OTT outfit. Thank goodness I could reuse the sword and swordbelt for the Fairy Tale Prince costume.

I am wearing my 1700 stays on top of the white cotton underdress, for which I used a Simplicity Medieval gown pattern. The gold stays-cover was made by copying the stays pattern by directly drawing the pieces off it and adjusting the shape. Sadly, the plastic coated fabric only survived this one wear. The material deteriorates in no time.

The lace-up sandals are good old Marks & Spencer summer mules in gold, with long ribbons attached, which of course didn't stay up, as evidenced in the second photo. I put two slits into the front of the underdress, which is edged at the hem with a heavy gold furnishing tassel-fringe. The inspiration came from the painting on the top left below.

The over dress was made with cheap and cheerful shot voile, bought on a market stall and edged with lots and lots of gold bias tape. It is sewn onto the underdress at the armholes, so that I could shirr the voile sleeves, stitching the spiralling gold ribbon down onto the white cotton below. The over dress is fastened in the front with ribbons underneath he stays and the skirt is split open.

The helmet is my favourite accessory of the lot. It's a wonderfully tacky children's helmet from a knight set, spray-painted gold (the metallics that are available nowadays are a far cry from the sad and dull ones of my early costuming years and look rather convincing). I put a "holder" onto the top with milliput, into which I super-glued the three bright red (real!) ostrich feathers. I loved the costume, wish I could wear it again, but as mentioned, the gold stays-cover has deteriorated into bits and had to be thrown away, and I lost a couple more dress sizes. Maybe one day I will make another gold cover with the new stays underneath.

The following images are fairly contemporary and used as inspiration for the costume.