A really good fitting!

Today I met the lady I have been advising about her self written play about Mary Blandy. (Murdered her father in 1752 with a potion given to her by her lover, who then vanished!) She is very - erm - excitable, but stood very still while I cut the toile on her. Shift, petticoat and stays (an old pair by Jean Hunnisett) fitted well, and she was comfortable in them. The complication is that she has to get the dress on, during the play with no help, and no time to add hoops or similar, so I suggested a gathered frill of crin inside the dress to hold it out, and it looks like it will work. It will fasten with velcro strips inside the stomacher, but as she has her back to the audience at that point, it won't show. (I'm ashamed of that idea, but if it works, it is the simplest solution. This is so much fun - takes me back to my theatre roots - I hadn't realised how much I missed theatre.