★ Best of Show (Anime Expo 2004)
★ Best Expert Costumer (Anime Expo 2004)
♫ Masquerade skit

"Elle maniait si bien son épée
Qu'on n'osait la défier
Et quand on lui cherchait querelle
Elle se battait en duel" *

It took 3 years to talk me into making this costume, and in the end I chose the movie version, as it was closer to a historical outfit of the French Royal Guards... and if we were going to perform "Madame Guillotine", we needed to look the part!

This costume is fully-lined, hand-sewn (even the buttonholes!), with the right seam placement and finishes, and was patterned and sewn on myself. 400+ beads were used to recreate the delicate jewellery, and 600+ more were hand sewn on the epaulettes. Yards of thin strips of lace were aged with tea and sewn together for the jabot and the cuffs. It may not look like much on first inspection, but it was a lot of work.

My biggest disappointment is the dire lack of photos. They were either taken onstage (it's a miracle that I found one with my mouth closed, considering it was a musical and we were bursting in song the whole time) or backstage, with costumes in disarray and day-old makeup.

Cast:
André: Railiens, Jeanne de la Motte: Alaria, Fersen: Lord Masamune, Marie-Antoinette: Kabuki, Oscar: Rosiel

* Excerpt from the French intro song to "Rose of Versailles". "She wielded her sword so well - That no one dared to defy her - And when one would start a quarrel - She would fight a duel."