I watched the Academy Awards and was thrilled when Helen Mirren won for The Queen. I thought she looked great. Loved the gown.
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My mom is Canadian and whenever we visited my grandparents in Saskatchewan I saw pictures of the Queen. Not the most fashionable of monarchs but I always thought she was beautiful, probably because photos from when she was young remind me of my mom.
Helen Mirren also played Queen Elizabeth I in 2005.  And if you want to talk about gowns fit for a real queen . . .
Check out Marilee Cody’s fascinating site with dozen’s of official portraits of Queen Elizabeth I. 
Scroll down the list and see if you can find the gown that inspired the one Helen Mirren is wearing. (I think it is from the Harwick Portrait.)
I love the beautiful patterns, textures and color combinations in these Tudor paintings. There is enough inspiration here to last me a long, long time. God Save the Queen.
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PS I am working on the next tutorial and hope to post it soon.
