I did this dress for a friend of mine who needed something nice to wear that was really fancy. Looking at her figure and given she was 3 month pregnant we opted for a late 15th/ early 16th century Italian dress typical of places like Padua, Rome, Mantua, and Florence. I built this gown around a piece of trim that I wanted to bead for the dress. You can see it under the bust. We bought a silk dupioni and a gorgeous gold vine worked brocade for the dress. I then went through my fabric staches and found a blue embroidered silk satin for the sleeves. The artifice and ornamentation make this gown so pretty. The gown is beaded with Lapis, glass pearls, and real pearls. I set the blue stones in their settings and then stitched them down. The gold on the bodice is couching and the sleeves are cut-work. This was not an entry piece as it was me playing around and designing based on research and knowledge of period practice.