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The Three Musketeers - Milady de Winter

September 2010

Milady de Winter - played by Amy Whiterod

Set in the 17th century, The Three Musketeers was a hilarious, sexy, swashbuckling play based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, and I was asked to dress two of the female leads.

I was graciously trusted to design the look of this dress myself, however due to specifications of the script, I wasn't able to do exactly what I wanted with the costume, but I am very happy with how it turned out nonetheless. I was going to have an off-the-shoulder design as was popular in 1640s Europe, but as the prologue required a branding on the upper arm/shoulder, I had to cover this up. As it was my first go at costuming an actor for a play, I wanted it to stay as simple as possible without of course compromising the look, so I drew from my own experience and loosely based the design on the many Georgian costumes I have made, using a pattern I have altered many times, and worked around that. I raised the upper neckline to help cover the branding scar, as it was unclear at that stage exactly where it would be placed, which in turn made the lower neckline more prominent, appealing to the femme fatale nature of Milady's character. The script also called for lacing down the front, as D'Artagnan has a go at undoing it in one particular scene. For strength and ease of costume changes, I decided against piercing the fabric to make eyelets for the lacing, and instead fashioned fixtures on the outside of the bodice. For this I used curtain railing sliders, covering them up with decorative black satin panels. I also strengthened the opening of the bodice with thick strips of cardboard within the seam (I am yet to find a good dressmaking haberdashery store in my area, it's a shame). Instead of tight sleeves as per my Georgian costumes, I made loose puffed sleeves, as this at least fitted more with the fashion of the 1600s, with a cuff of black satin. The skirt is open at the front, revealing a petticoat of the same black satin underneath.

The actress Amy did a great job and worked the dress very well. I absolutely swelled with pride when I first saw it on stage. The dress has now been donated to Stagecraft's costume collection, and I hope they will get a lot of further use out of it. To make sure I was remembered for it I even sewed my name onto a label on the inside. As my first costume to have public exposure, I think it deserved it.