We were confident that the pattern we had made was now right, so it was just a matter of double checking that it worked and that the Mayor was happy with it.
We initially went into the Mayoress' parlour where there was a robe on display, which was interesting to see. It was first worn by John Elmes Beale when he was Mayor from 1903-1905 and was the first local Freeman of the borough and was continued to be used until the early 1990s. If I am correct, this is a Lord Mayors robe and is made of black damask silk and decorated with gold trim; on our visits previously it was mentioned that this was the wrong robe to be worn and so it is surprising that they continued to use it for so long.
We made it aware to the Mayor prior to the fitting what the garment would be like, so he didn't think we were behind. We had left our seam allowances unfinished and there was a 5cm seam allowance on the hem and the CF. We made the gown to the full length before it had been turned up on the original. We tacked teh fur into place down the CF but left it around the neck as we need to sort out gathering it around the curve and we didnt want this to pull on the yoke in fitting. We also decided to only tack on one sleeve for the fitting.
We did all this in case any adaptations had to be made to the garment. The next stages are finishing the garment with trimmings (fur and velvet) and finishing the edges with linings and adaptations would have to take place before these.
The Mayor was pleased with the gown, which was relieving. He thought it was much lighter than the original and was pleased with how the fabric looked. We felt we didn't have to make any alterations to the gown as it hung well and looked right proportionally.
We decided on a length to finish the gown to, which is 10cm above the original hem line. He is quite a tall gentleman and so felt that if we made it to finish a bit under his knee then it would be suitable for any future Mayors/Mayoresses who may be smaller as it wouldn't have to be turned up too drastically. This is good for us with regards to our length of fur as it means we will not have to attach more somewhere, which might have looked clumsy.
The change over of the Mayor is in a few weeks and so the Mayor needs it by next week. I am going to email Hazel, the Mayor's secretary and organise when would be a good time to bring in the finished robe and then Abi and I will work to that deadline.
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