Maid Marian Paper Doll

Talk about waiting until the last minute! Here is my contribution to the Maid Marian obsession...I mean Wardrobe! I don't know how it is at your house but here it's "That is SO Maid Marian!" or "Marian would definitely wear that!" or "Wait, wait...should I pose like this?" or "Would Maid Marian approve this?" :) Good times! Thanks so much to AmandaBeth for putting this on. We have had so much fun this weekend.

This is my Maid Marian Paper Doll. I chose to dress her in mid 16th century couture since her character did not appear in the tales of Robin Hood until that time. This is my version of her.

She is a brave and beautiful girl who lives in a little village on the outskirts of Nottingham. This is her work dress. She loves vibrant colors that fit perfectly with her personality. She is full of fun and spunk. As you can see she usually has a bit of red about her to brighten up her world whether it's the lacing on her bodice, the lining of her dress or the feathers adorning her arrows.

She is a light of hope in her little village and everyone loves her. Because of her beauty and vivacity she has attracted the attention of a Lady from Nottingham who has decided to hire Marian to be a companion for her daughter, Madelena , a rich, spoiled and conniving girl who is vying for the attention of the Sheriff of Nottingham. Maid Marian is not excited about her position and would willingly do almost anything else but decides that she can be of more help to her family and friends who all count on her.

Madelena will not have any frumpy or uncouth people around her and insists that Marian be well dressed and shod in her presence. This dress is made of a rich green velvet with a black silk inset at the neckline. The sleeves are a soft light brown leather with under sleeves of white linen. Her hat is made in the latest style out of woven straw and dyed red (of course) with golden medallions, black velvet and pearls around the brim. The red heart necklace with little gold wings and strung on a velvet cord was given to her by a secret admirer a few weeks ago. Who could it be from?

This is the dress that she will wear to the Sheriff's annual Harvest Ball. Every year the Sheriff puts on a glamorous (i.e. expensive) extravaganza to celebrate the harvest. It is just an excuse to show off his fancy clothes and eat the food that the farmers have worked so hard to bring in. And, of course, so he can tax the people even more. Maid Marian's dress is made of a bright orange silk brocade overdress and a taffeta underskirt embroidered in a beautiful geometric pattern with gold thread. She is wearing a pearl and emerald necklace that matches her hat. She wears a bright red silk petticoat to give her extra courage. She is holding a note from the famous (or shall we say infamous?) Robin Hood who hopes to sneak into the castle to rob from the rich (the Sheriff) and give to the poor (not the Sheriff) during the festivities. She has met the dashing Robin Hood and his brave Merry Men and wants to help them any way she can. She helps them in this case by looking quite beautiful and distracting the Sheriff and Sir Guy of Gisbourne from what is going on in their treasury.

Being the companion of a selfish and manipulative girl and playing a part to fool the Sheriff of Nottingham and Sir Guy of Gisbourne is not an easy task and even the resourseful Marian gets tired of it once in a while and has to get out and do something invigorating. So, what does she do? She disgiuses herself as a boy of the forest and joins Robin and his gang of Merry Men and fights alongside them to help the poor and oppressed. She is a crack shot with her bow and uses her signature arrows with the red feathers. Maybe Robin should take some lessons? Her felt hat is perhaps her favorite part of her boyish ensemble with it's lovely green hue and the jaunty red feather.

Thank you so much for visiting our blog and I hope you have a good time looking at all the other Maid Marian posts at Amanda Beth.

P.S. I've decided to do a little giveaway over at our other blog Pretty Wit. The prize will be a Maid Marian paper doll! Click here to read the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway!

Love,
Maid Genevieve