Reaction to last week’s be-bowed pink and black confection was quite divided: you either loved pink and black and ruffles, or found it revoltingly saccharine.  There were also two camps of thought on what it represented.  Most of you thought commedia dell’arte.  Like Isabella though, my first thought was definitely 17th century, and I do think that even if she was meant to be a  commedia dell’arte figure, all the details of her dress were taken from 17th century costume – the match is just too spot-on. Personally, in many ways I liked the outfit, but like Hana, the overall look left me a teeny bit cold.  It was just too perfectly matched and meticulous.  I think it would look amazing in real life though, on someone who wasn’t exactly the same colours as her dress and whose hair got a teeny but frizzy and windblown as she danced!  I’d probably rate it 7 10ths of a point lower  the 7.7 out of 10 that it actually rated. This week let’s look at an actual …

Last week I presented a 1920s frock with lace and geometry, and you didn’t like it much.  In fact, what you really didn’t like was the only part I found interesting: the lattice.  But I can’t tell you exactly how much you didn’t like it because I used my weekly maths adding quota up on marking student papers, ‘kay? This week, I present a masquerade themed Rate the Dress.  We can tell it’s a masquerade costume because she has a mask.  Also, she’s at the masquerade, and it’s called Venetian Lady at the Masqued Ball. In addition to a mask, our pretty Venetian is very fond of matching: she’s got a profusion of picot-edged pink bows which perfectly match her pink skirt, and the delicate pink piping of her bodice. Even her black mitts are trimmed with matching pink ruffles. The only things that aren’t pink and black are her white undersleeves, and her mad feather-bedecked hat. So, dear readers, there are two important questions to answer here.  First, what do you think she is …