Elizabethan-style gown

This dress was my first attempt to make a historical costume with some degree of accuracy. At this point, I at least had the right idea with the silhouette and was fairly close with the fabric and design. If I had just made the overskirt fabric match the bodice and worn a partlet with it, it probably could have passed for a decent mid-century middle-class gown. Unfortunately, my sewing skills were still really weak at this point, so I used a lot of sloppy construction techniques, including (oh! I'm so embarrassed!) hot glue! I pretty much thought I'd wear it once or twice to faire and that would be it, so I only wanted the thing to hold together for a day or two of walking around and looking pretty. I had no idea it would start such an obsession! Even though it has its faults, I still really enjoyed wearing this dress, and it was pretty decent start considering how little I knew at the time.