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Methods and Means of Embellishment
Both Lynn McMasters and Drea Leed have written excellent articles on this topic. They are well worth reading.
The Difference is in the Details:
Since so much has already been written on the subject, I thought it might be useful to show an illustration of how much of a difference these details really can make. Below are two pictures of my 1999 noble gown, the first from the beginning of the season and the second from the end of it. I think you can clearly see the difference that the embllishment makes.
There are very few structural differences that have occured on the dress between the first and second picture. There is now a ruff and the hat is different. I also made a major change to the hem treatment of the dress, which is only barely shown in this picture, and tabs at the waist.
The costume has started to look much more 'finished', though. The major changes have been in terms of embellishment and accessories. I have to admit it - I really like bright shiney objects. The pattern in the jacquard of the forepart is now picked out in gold thread, pearls, and little sparkly things (I apologise that this is not as visable as it could be in the picture). The crosses are all surrounded in tiny strung 'pearls' with 4 strands of gold thread covering the string between each. I've placed a gold washer bead with a faceted garnet bead in the middle of each cross - this is a good embellishing trick, because it ends up looking like the stone is actually mounted in a setting. The oval around the cross is embroidered in gold tread using (I think) a closed feather stitch. Between the ovals the pattern of the fabric has been picked out in smaller beads, with jet and green beads "set" in washer beads periodically. Picking out the pattern does a lot towards making the forepart look like something other than a peice of white cloth. I also added little groupings of beads to the trim down the bodice and skirts. The trim has a gold pattern that never did show up well from any distance. The beads are goupings of a hematite and two 'pearls' with either a red rocaille bead, or a gold rocaille bead. The groupings alternate color and side on the trim. A larger detail shot can be seen here.
One of the main advantages of embellishing a peice of fabric is that it makes the pattern in the fabric more dramatic. Remember that, unless you have an excessively large pattern on your fabric, it will not show up well from a distance. My forepart has gone from 'slightly blah" to "able to blind bystanders at 40 paces". It's not terribly subtle, but then again, the Elizabethans were not know for subtlety.
Incidentally, you have to be careful with how much weight you are adding to a garment when you add embellishments to it. This has, historically, been something of a problem. There is a recorded case of a woman in the french court having a gown that was so heavily encrusted in gems and gold that she could not bear the weight to stand up while wearing it. She had to be granted special permission to remain seated in the presense of the king in order to wear it at court! In this case, the problem wasn't quite as dramatic. After I added the new bottom band (of crosses couched in gold beads and black thread, to echo the forepart), the weight of the skirts was suddenly enough to collapse my farthingale. Pity I did not find this out until I put on the farthingale in the parking lot at faire. Needless to say, I did not do much walking that day and went home and added a band of metal lumber strapping to the bottom of the farthingale for extra support post haste.
