Cloth Of Gold

 Brooke was thrilled with her Elsa dress and will be wearing it at the party tonight. Her Mum, however was having problems. It is her 50th birthday party, and has a Golden Theme - so she decided to dress as Queen Ravenna in The Huntsman: Winter's War, in the fabulous golden cloak and black dress [as worn by Charlize Theron] Cosplay dresses online were rather expensive, but she found a less pricey black dress which had the fishnet lacy look and was advertised as 'black and gold' 

Sadly the dress was small, stretchy, and had no lining.  J had bought a slip dress[petticoat? nightie?] to wear underneath. But again, very slimfit. and next to no room to walk. I offered to help [I think this was a mistake, on reflection!]

Online I found the costume designer's sketch for the outfit. J wanted the fishnet sleeves, the lacing detail, and the black vertical lines. The feather collar was not important, and a tiara was on order. I'll need to get a blonde wig, she said. That's OK you can borrow my Meryl Streep Mamma Mia! one, I said. In between looking after Rosie and the Manchester family arriving, I managed to get it together. Definitely not my best costume, done at speed, on minimal budget.  

Many cosplay sites pointed out that CTs cloak is not real, it's done with CGI.  I used more of my roll of gold foil, which is about 15 years old now., and an old sheet for lining the cloak. Cousin Gill's dressing gown [partly used for Auntie Peggy's memory bear] supplied a smaller gold stand-up collar. I found some gold mesh in my stash and put five godet sections round the hem to give some movement and shape.

Here's the final result [I have folded out the fishnet sleeve and pinned it up to show the effect] J is very pleased- I hope she has a great party.