How to Make Eowyn's Medallion Belt from Recycling: Analysis and Ideas

 I'll update this post with links to the finished belts as I make them.

I've been trying to figure out how to make Eowyn's Medallion belts for a while. Here is my write up and analysis of how to make Eowyn's belt. There's a full analysis on the alleyscratch website, which all these pictures are from.

Medallion Belt worn with her Green Gown

Medallion belt  on her White Wool Dress (really just a silver version of the Green Gown one, sewn onto a gold trimmed fabric belt)

Alleyscratch has a very good analysis, with diagrams and breakdowns of the medallions' constructions.

link to full page here.

The medallion belts are made of 2 medallions, a bigger central one, and a smaller side one.

front of belt.

Here are some nice fan-made examples that I have analyzed.

Yvette's Costume Site Example---clay and wire
Yvette (check out her amazing Arwen dresses, especially this one, scroll to the bottom of the page...) made them from metal clay and silver wire (scroll down to the bottom of the page to see them).
Like so.

close-up of Yvette's finished medallion, LINK HERE

Yvette's finished belt. LINK HERE

I don't think its necessary to make them from metal clay or silver wire, since baking the clay seems to tarnish the wire. Also, if you are going to paint it anyway, there isn't a need to use metallic clay.

 In my past obsession with wire-work, I've found steel utility wire is a lot cheaper than craft wire, and can be bent well with 2 pairs of pliers.
But if you want something that is really easy to bend with your fingers, skip the copper and get aluminum wire (which is still cheaper copper).

Yvette's version is lovely, and I like how she spaces the medallions nicely, it really gives it a medallion feel. Things I would do differently, is I like the medallions to be bigger, giving a visually thicker belt (which I think is slenderizing on fuller figures). I also would use a gauge 16 wire at least, as I think gauge 18 and above are a little thin for my taste, I like the wire flower loops to have more "pop."

Kairi G Design's version---3D printed plastic
LINK AND PICTURE FROM HERE. I really like the size of her medallions, they're a lot larger than Yvette's belt (perhaps even larger than in the film?). They were 3D printed from plastic, so its not an option for me

 Print my Props version---3D printed plastic.
You can hire people to do it for you....picture below

link to etsy shop here.

Mia's costume Site Violyns.tripod.com---metal rings and wire.
LINK HERE. This captures so much of the feel of Eowyn's belt, using instead of medallions, metal rings which the wire then is strung into, and spray painted.

Quite well done. LINK HERE. I like especially how she translated the medallion shapes to wires. I also like how nice and plump she made the "petals" of wire.

The finished look is quite good. I think the openness of the rings works especially well in the white belt version, since it works more on a lace-like feel.

From HERE on Mia's Costume site, more pictures and a write up

You could also do it with plastic rings for cheaper...

Cation designs ----Eowyn Inspired Belt from filigrees and jump rings
LINK HERE. I think this captures the most of the spirit of Eowyn's belt without having absolute screen accuracy. She simply strung together filigrees with jump rings (and also painted it a bit).

Pictures of her dress are here, her write up of the making of here.

It's real metal, so feels more authentic, and looks awesome. Filigrees are very thin stamped metal, that looks kinda like lace. Etsy is full of various filigrees, Hobby Lobby also has a fair amount.
I think this one especially looks reminiscient of Eowyn's belt. I wish it were just a tad larger though.

Antique gold scalloped round filigrees

I am going to make one using these filigrees. You can either string them together with jump rings and a lobster clasp (like her Green Gown belt) or sew them onto a fabric belt with trim/beading (like Eowyn's white wool gown belt) which gives you the option of more visually thickening the belt, if you would like.


Ideas for making Eowyn's medallion belt from Plastic and aluminum wire.
If you are going to go the plastic route at home, I would think a good start is to look at the alleyscratch break down of the medallion, and cut out the base metal part from plastic sheeting with a utility knife (on a glass cutting mat!). You could use yogurt lids, or pretty much any rigid plastic in the recyclying bin. Or craft foam. I would like to do it with something a little more rigid than yogurt lid plastic, maybe the bottom of those big plastic icecream tubs??? If you have an idea, please let me know in the comments!

Then you'd sand the plastic pieces with sandpaper, to make them more textured (and hold paint).
The wire parts I'd make from gauge 16 or 14 aluminum wire (since the plastic is soft anyway), lightly hammered. I want to use thicker gauge wire, because to me, a lot of the beauty of the belt comes from the wire loops not looking spindly.
 
Then you'd stack the pieces together with rivets through the centers. (preferably the big sewology push on kinds? Or furniture tacks with the ends sanded off, and bent with pliers?)

Lastly, spray paint with a darker color, and rub progressively brighter layers of metallic gold acrylic paint on it ($2 for those little 4 oz bottles from Walmart or Hobby Lobby) to make it look like metal (you want to go from the most "antique" colors of gold, to the brightest color of gold last, to give it depth.)

Ideas for making Eowyn's medallion belt from metal...recycling & steel utility wire! Cold forging!!
If you want to go the all-metal route, I would use can lids (6 oz. tomato paste, and frozen juice concentrate lids) opened with a NO SHARP EDGES CAN OPENER. (I don't know the correct name, except that there are sharp edges, just on the can, and not the lid, it cuts from the side, like this one). You don't want the lid part to have sharp edges, it will snag on your dress and cut your fingers)

You would punch the hole through the center with a hammer and nail (scrap wood underneath). This hole will be for the rivet, to hold it all together.

Because this is a sturdier version than the plastic, I am going to use real steel utility wire gauge 16 (so cheap at Lowes! BlueHawk brand at Lowes 100 ft for 8 bucks)
I've found with thicker gauge steel wire, the best shaping I get is with careful measuring, and using 2 sturdy pairs of pliers. I'd hammer it (carefully) lightly afterward, to help it keep its shape. The "seam" where the wire ends meet, will be at the center, where they will be covered up with the rivet.

I'd use real sturdy Tandy type of rivets for this, since I'm not as afraid to bang it with a hammer since its all metal.

Painting it, I'd spray paint it with Rustoleum matte dark colored spray paint, then build up brighter layers of gold with acrylic metallic paints and a rag.

Lastly, I'd string it together with jump rings.

This belt will not be screen authentic as it won't have large decorative holes in the medallions (if you had a punch and die set, you could do this easily), but the trade off is worth it to me to have something all metal, versus metal and plastic.

Ideas for making Eowyn's medallion belt from filigrees and fabric trim.
This is inspired by the belt on her white wool gown. You can get a lot more "bang" visually, with fewer filigrees. I really like these versions from redrose-online.de,

Check out their galleries, they're beautiful.

Gorgeous dress MORE PICTURES HERE.

From redrose-online.de HERE,. This is under this gallery. I love how visually thick it is. The neckband is amazing too.

And the belt on this is just...wow.

From redrose-online.de HERE (this is under the historic gallery) I just love how they used the square medallions, matching the color perfectly with the trim on the dark red. I think I am going to try something like this, on a brown or black velveteen fabric. We'll see.

These ones from Fashionsintime are pretty good too. Although I think those are more medallions and not filigrees.

from HERE from fashions in time

So here are a few of my ideas. You would use trim or braid, sewn with thread onto the fabric (a techinque called "couching"). You would sew the filigrees on, and could even do rivets or beading if you were feeling up to it. One of the advantages of this method is you could control the visual "thickness" of the belt, even if your filigrees were small, by how you placed your trim or braid.

I'm even considering using my stencils and fabric paint for the central fabric part of the belt, with the filigrees sewn on in strategic places as accents. I'd border the whole thing with trim or braid.

I'll update this post with links to the finished belts as I make them.

Family Medieval Outfits: In the Gardens of Ithilien...

So, about that medieval family costume idea....

I think it looks like Faramir and Eowyn's family in Ithilien. Early Medieval clothing, which I think is what Tolkien probably envisioned. (although I do love the movie's costume design)

Josh and Isaiah Link Tunic. (Whoever designed Faramir's Ranger Outfit must have subconsciously been copying Link...)

Simple, Army to Olive Green, self-fabic facing with some decorative stitching. Slim cut but able to pull on over their heads. (I think I'm going to forgo Link's side lacing at least on the first round)

Ofcourse, Josh should wear them with his bracers, and his boots or boot gaiters on his modern boots, depending on what I've finished by then.

All of the outfits can be worn with close-fitting long sleeved shirts underneath, it looks nice and period appropriate.

Hannah and the girls in Tunic-dresses, slightly Saxon-y, Early Medievalish, Eowyn...

Basic Tunic shape, though I'll forgo the period-appropriate godets (hey, Eowyn is a princess, she can afford wide-loomed fabric), and just flare the panels on the sides, slightly below the bust. I'll have a center seam to aid with the nursing acess, and put a little bit of shaping in it just under the bust. But this will not be anywhere near as fitted as a kirtle. It will be pull over the head type.

The  Sleeves will be bliaut style with embroidered bands just above the elbow. Haven't figured out how long to make them. Living in dear old Arizona, I'll probably settle fro the middle length...

I'll sew a cloth bliaut style belt. Hopefully I'll flare it enough under the bust that it could accommodate a baby belly up to 6/7 months. Be Prepared, as the boyscouts say :D

On Marriage, Love, and the Lord of the Rings: Thoughts after 4 years of Marriage

My husband always made me feel loved. Even when we had fights, even when I cried & ranted & knew he was putting up with me. Even when I felt like he didn’t like me. Even when I was so mad at him my vision was shaking. Even when he was sinking into depression and absolutely nothing I did seemed to make an atom’s worth of difference. Through all our hard times, through all our fights, I always never doubted, that he really truly loved me.

Even when first fell in love and were in la-la land, he never raved to me about my wonderful qualities that made him love me. Which, in the long run, was kind of comforting. Since my qualities can change. (I still remember trying to pry for compliments, when we were dating, asking him why he thought dating me was a good idea. "Well....you like camping and rice and beans. I’m never going to be rich…”)

In love, in la la land...

He never spoke of his love for me like this great fortress that would comfort me (like my favorite love song in High School “All I ask of You”). He didn’t really speak of his love for me at all.

He just loved me.

Just listened when I rambled about my fears and worries till 2 am, just listening. Told me when he thought I was wrong. When I asked him “Why do you love me?” He thought about it for a bit, and came back with “A combination of me wanting to, and feeling like God wanted me to.” God wanted him to love me (and he didn’t mind). That was reason enough. And as un-romantic as it was against “you are the most beautiful woman I ever met” “your soul is so beautiful” etc etc, it was rock solid.

Because no matter how many fights I pick and doors I slam and meltdowns I have, no matter how I nag him and worry about finances and act shabby in petty fights with other girls or get fat, that doesn’t change, that God wants him to love me. And that he would love me, with God’s help.

So why did he love me? Because God told him to. And it wasn’t a “my great love I have because I’m obeying God.” He loved me. It just was. In the thousand little things, his confident order of 2 beefy-5-layer burritos at Taco Bell, the 2 player games of 7 wonders, his grin when I solved the programming question, the berry-peanut butter sandwiches he fixed for our picnic, him talking to my tummy, explaining to our breech in utero baby the reasons why he should flip over….

It was a sort of un-self-conscious kind of love. It was just there---like the sun coming up. “Why does the sun come up?” the 3 yr old asks. “Because God wants it to” you say, thinking about something else. But it’s true. And it does come up.

 And when I came to him, distraught, wanting him to soak up all my fear/worry, be my rock, tell me that the world was going to be ok, etc---he told me, in a choked up voice, that he couldn’t do it. That he couldn’t really comfort me. And then he said “But the one who can perfectly comfort you is God, and He will take care of both of us.”

He was never my savior, my rescuer, my rock. He pointed me to the One who was. Early in marriage, at first I was a little deflated by this. 
I wanted him to be strong, to be there, to hold me and say “let me be your shelter…”--- not to get depressed by my emotional dump and tell me that he was weak as I was, and then point a finger at God and remind me “He’s gonna save us.” 
I was disappointed that my husband wasn’t going to be the knight on the white horse, wasn’t going to be my shelter, wasn’t going to be Jesus. I mean, in all the romantic stories, the guy kinda is. The shoulder to cry on. The strong one. The one that makes it all better. But early in our relationship, he told me flat out told me he couldn’t make it better. But he believed God would. “He will take care of both of us.”

And now, at the ripe age of 26, 4 yrs down this road, I see how right it was. I had been dissapointed that he would not fill that place in me, that craved for something, something I daydreamed would be filled in marriage. But he intentionally wouldn't, leaving me with an empty place for…Jesus. (Not for romance novels about Jesus-like guys, not for daydreaming and listening to ‘All I ask of You’.)  
He wouldn’t usurp Jesus’ place in my heart.

Because he was right. No human can comfort as we crave comfort. No human can really be your rock. No human can really be the Bridegroom of your Soul. It might work for a bit, for a few months, perhaps even a few years at most. But it will crumble, the idol will crash down, the asphalt will break under the load that was meant only for unbreakable Rock.

I had always found the “Let me be your shelter, let me be your light” motif from All I ask of You to be so romantic. The girl, full of fear, falling apart, the guy, strong and full of love, making it better. But then, viewing The Two Towers movie, I saw the same motif, but gender inverted. 

The war seems to be teetering on the edge of destruction, evil seems to be winning. Aragorn has been fighting this for 60 years, and now, he is struggling with giving into despair, doubt. In this dream sequence he sees his beloved Arwen, and tells her “My path is hidden from me.” To which she says “It is already laid before your feet. You cannot falter now.” He looks upset, is trying to say something, she silences him and says “If you trust nothing else, trust this (pointing to the necklace she gave him, the symbol of their love) Trust us” and then they kiss.

I was dumbstruck with the depression of it all. He’s struggling with doubt, struggling with despair, not even knowing if he’s doing the right thing. She tries to tell him that he is, and he still isn’t buying it. So her trump card is, if you believe in nothing else, believe in us.

And now I realize it reminded me of this poem.

…Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

                      ~ excerpt from Mathew Arnold’s “Dover Beach”

The funny thing was, when the girl’s love had to be the light, the shelter, it struck me as so insufficient, such a pathetic human attempt to hold our frail love against the darkness closing in. Admirable, but so incredibly sad, weak, and doomed to failure, like a toddler trying to move the piano on willpower.

Then, from the (extended) Return of the King movie, is this scene 

Eowyn is where Aragorn was. She’s despairing that the darkness will win. That the light will never come again “there is no warmth left in the sun, it grows so cold.” And Faramir’s response? “It’s the damp of the first spring rain. I do not believe this darkness will endure.” And he says it, so full of faith. And then, she puts her head on his shoulder, his arm around her, while he looks out toward the light.

In the Aragorn/Arwen scene, LOVE what was gonna get them through it. “Believe in us.” The scene ended with them, face to face, desperately trying to get their strength from each other. 

In the Faramir/Eowyn scene, “I do not believe this darkness will endure”. Believe that the sun will come again. The scene ended with him looking out toward the light. Faith. Faith in something bigger than yourselves.

Both scenes are about people comforting each other. In the first, Arwen’s love is the final answer. In the second, believing that the light will come, is.

If a human tries to be another's light, shelter, savior…its going to fail. He might really really mean it. He might really really try. But he’s going to fail. 

Because humans aren’t God. There’s a God-craving in us, an intense missing something we’ve never really known, desiring the Perfect Father, desiring the Bridegroom of our Souls. 

And we try to fill it, fill it with fellow humans, or daydreams. And it doesn’t work. Because that vacuum was designed for only one Man. For the Real Bridegroom of our souls. 

And He’s the rescuer for both of you, you and your husband, as you journey together, selected for each other because God wanted you 2 on a team, together traveling on that road to the New Jerusalem, where the Bridegroom of your souls waits, where the deepest desires of our hearts are filled. Because they weren’t meant to be filled here. 
They were meant to be filled in the New Jerusalem.

And they will be. As sure as the sun rising in the morning. 

Arwen's dresses for everyday: Some more 'Everyday Lord of the Rings Clothing' designs and ideas

Because I actually haven't made any of them yet, here are some sketches....

 I've always loved Arwen's Bloodred dress (really, a jumper). Maybe its the colors....or something....

Anyway, I've always loved gold and red together, and that dark blue-black is so beautiful with it. I would love to make something inspired by this for everyday....not in velvet, with small tippetted sleeves that will not get into things. But I'll go crazy with the embroidery. It's cheap (embroidery floss 30 cents a skein at Walmart), and classy.

I like to add a belt. Not having Liv Tyler's figure, I would like some sort of waist definition, either make the whole thing princess seamed (with a removable medieval-style belt), or an empire bodice with a long drapey ankle length skirt. 

Some takes on her bridge dress, altered to my taste.

Her's was very drapey.

I like my necklines somewhat secure so I know I can bend down and pick small children without bad things happening. I do like the cowl neck look though.
I also like there to be some sort of fittedness under the bust. Hence, darted empire bodice, plus long A-line skirt, which I think captures the loose drapey feel of the dress more than snug princess seams.

Aaaand lastly, a family costume idea.
I think it would look great all the time, actually.

Everyday Lord of the Rings inspired Wear: Eowyn Refugee Jumper Type 1

This is what I wear on a normal day. Its comfy, and practical, and I feel awesome.

My version. Don't worry, it doesn't make you look pregnant. I am pregnant. Almost 20 weeks.

It's loosely inspired by Eowyn's Jumper ensembles ("Refugee Outfit").

I really like Jumper outfits with shirts rolled up to the elbow. It just looks so....awesome. Like your life is full of action and adventure. Of imminent battle and defense, or chasing small children and keeping them alive.

Mine is based on the "Gothic Fitted Dress/Cotehardie/14th century women's dress", made by 4 panel construction, self lined from the shoulder to the hip. Laces up the front (yayy nursing!), and is *very* supportive which is very nice. (Here is a picture of one, Here are instructions to making your own) It is a very economical way of cutting, with gores inserted which makes for almost no waste. This dress was made from 4 yards of 33" wide fabric, which translates to about 2-2.5 yards of 60". There was literally a handful of scraps left.


Authentic ones have sleeves, and are made out of wool, linen, or silk.
Mine is made from cotton twill (medium weight) canvas I got for $1/yard on clearance at Jomar in Philly. I dyed it myself with RIT dark brown dye and salt (in a bucket, alas, hence the blotchiness). The lacing cord is a 4 strand braid of the cheapest yarn at walmart. The eyelets were poked through the fabric with an awl (or a chopstick) and hand-sewn with DMC floss from walmart. I stiffened the hem with a braid of scratchy twine from Lowes. (alot cheaper than horse-hair braid...).
All in all, I think the dress cost around $7.

The circlet is gauge 20 steel wire from lowes (110 ft for 5 bucks), around my head twice, wrapped in cotton thread. Worn like this.[insert link] I think it looks good with a braid.

I wear this outfit surprisingly a lot. I love how supportive it is, it lifts the bustline giving the illusion of a waist to this 20 week pregnant woman.  And the gores mean it fits at 20 weeks although it was made from an unpregnant me. And the front lacing means I can nurse in it.
I guess medieval styles were meant to take pregnancy/nursing in stride...
.....almost like its normal or something :)

Baby and me at 19.5 weeks

Somehow, in self timer pictures I always manage to look deranged. Josh took all the other pictures, which explains why they're so much better.

Arwen Angel Dress Planning (Part 1): Debut of "Everyday Lord of the Rings Clothes: Epic and Wearable"

This post is about my dress plans inspired from this dress that Arwen wears in Frodo's half-vision of her, when she finds them after he's been wounded.

 I know it should be Glorfindel. But the dress is still pretty.

 It has been dubbed "Arwen's Angel Dress" by fans. I love the dresses in the Lord of the Rings movies.

In the "making of" extras, and the "Art of Lord of the Rings" books, as well as interviews etc, you see how much craft went into the outfits. They emblazoned emblems of the 7 tiers of Minas Tirith on Faramir's buckle straps, even though you never see it, because, as a son of the steward of Gondor, its the kind of thing he would have.
Aragorn's leather jerkin is torn, gouged, etc in many places, with crude repair jobs that suggest he fixed it on his own by a campfire. His shirt has fine embroidery on it, like it was a gift from the elves, though then it was so faded and worn that you can barely tell.
Denethor is wearing AN ENTIRE SUIT OF CHAIN MAILLE underneath his robes, because he's a warrior underneath, even though you never see it.

Alas and totally squandered by whoever wrote the script, and the cherry-tomato-eating-while-your-son-is-dying bit. Really. They made Denethor a cartoon, with none of the manliness, the heart, the regret, that made him so human, that made watching him be eaten out by pride and despair so horrific. (Instead, we're practically cheering as that mean ol' cartoon falls to his death. So sad.)

It was seeing the jerkins and the clothes, and how they were planned and weathered that gave me new respect for costume (or "outfit") makers. It was another way of telling a story. But with tears and sun-fading and sword cuts patched up with crude stitches instead of words.
But the pictures were there all the same...Strider, slightly wounded, patching up his gear by a solitary campfire under a cold starry sky....

Anyways.

Onto dresses.

See the beautiful embroidery/beading around the neck.

Ironically (given the real topic of this post) the elves clothing is my least favorite of all the costume design. I just cant' see Tolkien's elves, especially his men elves, like Elrond, trailing around their courtyards in huge velvet bathrobes whose sleeves drag down on the ground.
The elves climbed trees. And sang silly songs at the dwarves. They were also sad, and grave, and deep. I get that. But I think they would wear clothes that they could move in, climb trees in, swing between branches stringing lanterns in.

But some of Arwen's Gowns are quite beautiful.
I always liked this one, for the brief 4 seconds you see it, before she changes back into her Elvish Business Suit (Chase Dress). But I thought it looked too much like a maternity dress.

Full Length Shot of Arwen's Angel Dress, note the split overskirt

Then I got pregnant, and now I'm "It looks like a maternity dress!"

I want to combine it with her "Rose Dress" (cut from the movie), which also has a split overskirt, but a (removable?) waistband as well. I think the waistband gives much better lines.

Rose Dress Concept

Angel Dress (note when the same dress is worn by a curvier model with less wide shoulders, it cries out for a waistband)

 Here are more shots of the Rose Dress

I love the lines with the waistband

still with wb

no wb?

So, onto my plans.

This is my first installment of "Everyday Lord of the Rings Wardrobe" in other words, stuff I can actually wear to more places than Ring/Costume/Dragon/etc Con. 

Because it seems like such a rum pity to spend so much time making something beautiful, and only get to wear it 4x in your life (not counting photoshoots), and have it hang in your closet while you have to wear jeans and t shirts and modern stylish clothes you don't really love.

I want to make things, inspired enough by LOTR dresses that I feel epic, but without sleeves trailing into the stove or the toilet while I'm swishing diapers. And out of something that I can wash the baby spit up out of (and the mud and blood from arrow-wounds and adventures...)

Yeah. So. Epic and Wearable.

Onto Arwen's Angel Dress. I drew sketches until I had down the elements that I really liked from this dress.

 I really like the deep scooping beaded neckline, the empire waistband (Rose Dress), the split overskirt, and the angel-like sleeves.
From a practical perspective, I can think of 2 ways of making the skirt. Either, I can make an underskirt with a split overskirt over it, like the original. OR I can put a bit inverse-box pleat in middle of a single skirt, and top stitch the edges of the pleat (perhaps with embroidery) to hold it into that shape.
Either way, the skirts will be A line, cut with a rather large top to bottom ratio to give a lot of fullness in the hem. And I'm going to hem-stiffen it, to make the skirt stand out a little without the need for petticoats.
The bodice will be a simple empire design, fitted with darts, with a deep scoopy yoke at the top, which I will bead and embroider to my liking.


I played around with some variations, and I think I like the neck shape being a little more like the tip of an egg vs a rounded square. (compare the sketch above, with the sketch below)
Also, I tried out different sleeve looks, and while I love all 3 (angel, petal, and banded mini-tippetted sleeves), I think I like the banded mini-tippetted ones best. Kind of mini version of elf sleeves.

Practical Construction Notes

For practical (and financial) reasons, I shall make it out of cotton. Also, I  have no experience with knits. So while the original was some kind of knit, this one will be made from regular woven cotton. If I do the angel sleeves, I think I'll make them out of polyester (non shiny!) chiffon, attached to a removable underbodice, so I can wear the dress without sleeves, and handwash the chiffon separately.

The Back: zipper closure. I don't have to put a lot of fullness in the back, because the front box pleat (or under/overskirt) will accomodate my growing belly just fine.

Nursing Access.

I'll either split the front yoke (Option B), and have a seam going down the front bodice, closed with either hook n eyes, or an invisible zipper. I think an invisible zipper would be more practical, as screamingly hungry babies don't want to wait 2 minutes while you get all the hooks...we'll see.

OR I could keep the front yoke unbroken (Option A), and have the dress only sewn to it at the shoulders, and snapping underneath it when shut. 

We'll see.

Dress is coming...