Polyhymnia Concepts

[Serenity]

Hello All!

Hope this is the right place for my question.  I was wondering if anyone had ordered anything from this website (www.polyhymniaconcepts.com).  Their gowns are gorgeous, but I wanted to hear from someone who has experience with them before placing an order.  If you'd rather let me know privately, please feel free to PM me.  Thank you.

[Genievea Brookstone]

Wow those are beautiful.

[Celtic_Fae]

Please let me know what you find out! 

[Lady Kett]

Ooo Pretty! Never ordered from them either but my oh my, those are lovely.

[gem]

For the prices they're charging, I would expect much better (larger and more detailed) photographs.

(This is kind of like Lady Renee's question: why wouldn't they want to display their wares better?)

[Tygrkat]

For the prices they're charging, I would expect much better (larger and more detailed) photographs.

(This is kind of like Lady Renee's question: why wouldn't they want to display their wares better?)

I found that frustrating as well ~ I kept wanting to click on the images, hoping they would enlarge...*sigh*...still, they seem like quite lovely gowns. I'd really love to see one in person.

[Serenity]

Thank you ladies very much.  I had some of these same concerns myself, but wanted to hear from others.  I haven't heard from a single person that has dealt with them, which concerns me.  Most Renaissance shops are known to at least someone in the Rennie community. 

Well, maybe I'll see if someone on the boards will work with me.  I know I can trust you guys!   

Thanks again for all your help.

[serenamoonsilver]

If you're truly interested in them, e-mail them and ask if they have any refrences--ie former clients you could talk to.  Maybe if your lucky enough, there would be one close by who could show one of their gowns up close.

[Kate XXXXXX]

Is it just me being snarky, or...  I'm wondering how they can sell things with such horribly puckered seams and trims as the burgundy chintz gown or the green cloak.  I certainly couldn't.  No customer would accept that low level of workmanship.  And they were the first things I noticed about the gowns.

Maybe I'm just super-sensitive to this as a person who makes custom garments.  I'd either hand sew it or use a different trim if the problem was machine sewing that particular trim and fabric combination.

[Marietta Graziella]

I don't think you're being snakry, Kate.  For those prices, the garment should be museum *i.e. up close examination* perfect.  You can only account for price, to a certain extent, for fabric content.  After that it's hype.   Not saying that the gowns aren't absolutely stunning.   But for $3000, I want better than the "10 foot rule".

[Kate XXXXXX]

I work on the 10' 3" rule...  From 10 feet away is the hem even, are the embellishments symmetrical (if they are meant to be!) or properly placed, and does it hang properly?  From 3" away, if I can see the stitching that is supposed to be hidden, it comes out and gets re-sewn! 

[Aelwyn]

Any person selling their wares would IRON the freaking table runner before displaying it!


And a COTTON hooded cloak for $250?  My friend is a seamstress (she does garb, and is one of those perfectionist types) and her WOOL cloaks are less than that! Oy.

I'd suggest not buying from there.  I'm a bit leery of the photos, as it seems someone just went around to fests (minus the dummy in the forest ones) and took photos of the nicest dresses they saw.

[Kate XXXXXX]

Making stuff, garb or other, is a funny business...  Some fabrics are dead easy to sew and get right: straight woven wools and cottons, linens and silk, for example, especially the more expensive higher grade ones are usually easier to handle than cheaply woven stuff and artificial fibres.  Not always (poly chiffon is a lot easier to sew than silk chiffon, for example, and so is poly organza!  But give me a wool knit or a silk satin over a poly version any day!).  Any time you are using a shiny fabric, from the luster of silk taffeta through to satin or cotton chintz, special care needs to be taken to ensure a total lack of puckering, and something that would hardly show or could be steam pressed out of wool or linen is going to shine like a beacon in shiny stuff...

I would hazard a guess that someone lacking real experience with the combination used here has shoved them through an industrial machine at speed using budget poly thread, rather than using good quality cotton or silk thread on cottons and silks, and that part of the problem is the thread itself has stretched like elastic on the path through the machine, and snapped back once through to the other side.  In addition, with the wrong foot pressure, it is all to easy to stretch trims out and get the same effect.  Voi La!  Puckered seams!  A little time experimenting with tension and foot pressure, using the correct thread and sewing machine foot, and the job's a good 'un.

And yes - it's amazing what a bit of pressing and some decent presentation can do for a garment!  Or table cloth...

[Lady Anna]

Hello! I am so glad that you found Michele's website. She has made a couple of gowns for me in the past and is wonderful to deal with. She does impecable, historical  work and you would be most happy with any garmet you get from her. I understand that she has been working more on victorian garmets lately but i am sure she is still doing the renaissance stuff as well. Please feel free to email me with any detailed questions you have about her, i've knwn her for years and just love her and her work.   Lady Anna (Jessica)

[Lady Anna]

by the way here's the link to my photobucket account..
the elizabethian grey/blk/red dress and the tudor brn/blk dress were both made by her and stood up to much wear and tear.
http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a33/renisancegirl/?sc=3