Everyone at Costa Rice is excited about the Masquerade Ball for Halloween this weekend. Beautiful women and handsome gentlemen will crowd the floor, skirts swishing, high intrigue taking place in the corners, glances darted across the room, tittering going on behind fans.

I was thrilled to be invited and even more thrilled when I found out Raven Pennyfeather of RFyre was making ball gowns that would be coming out just the weekend before. She has opened a store at La Fortuna 1 in time for your ball gown shopping where she is selling these gowns in their Deluxe version, lady’s suits and gentlemen’s suits with the same lushly brocaded motif.

Raven’s dresses are sumptuous, made of the most beautiful brocades, shaded subtly with the turns of the skirts, festooned with lace cravats and lace decorating the décolletage. The bodice is drawn with an elaborate lacing and curves around the torso with a pleasurable cinch. Available in Black Rose, Black Seas or Black Baroque, the gowns provide a multiplicity of luxury for the most refined lady or Viscountess.

As with most of Raven’s pieces, she gives you a choice of variations. For the Deluxe set, you can choose between three jackets—closed, open with long sleeves or a vest with prim cuffs. You also get a shirt layer with vest or white top, two pairs of pants–patterned with brocade or plain, two collars—with and without the lace cravat, and a hoop skirt over a translucent underskirt. And if you have ever worn a gown from Raven, the prims float beautifully as you are dancing. No ballgowns compare.

She also offers a Basic set which has a more contemporary silhouette. With the same tops, she has paired a short jacket skirt worn over pants tied with a silken sash. I can see this suiting the female partner of a lady, providing a contrast between the large ballgown and the tailored jacket without taking away femininity from either.

Both versions are available at the new store in Costa Rica with the addition of men’s suits to match. And all of Raven’s items are transferable—buy your date the matching ensemble and surprise him or her.

I styled this outfit with a luxurious hair from Kavar Cleanslate. With its full updone hair and perfectly placed curls cascading down to frame the face, it’s an ideal choice for such a ball—romantic but easily undone after the ball, when it needs to be. Lorac Farella’s delicately pale Victoriana skin suited the dress and the season with its hauntingly drawn eyes and lips.

“Society is a masked ball, where every one hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hair: Exile Emmanuelle Black by Kavar Cleanslate for Exile

Skin: Pulse Skin-Valeries T: Victoriana/Twist by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins*

Gowns: ! RFyre Viscountess Black Baroque Deluxe by Raven Pennyfeather for RFyre at Costa Rica or House of RFyre*

! RFyre Viscountess Black Rose by Raven Pennyfeather for RFyre at Costa Rica or House of RFyre*

! RFyre Viscountess Black Seas  Deluxe by Raven Pennyfeather for RFyre at Costa Rica or House of RFyre*

Suit: ! RFyre Viscountess Black Baroque Basic (also available in Black Rose and Black Seas) by Raven Pennyfeather for RFyre at Costa Rica or House of RFyre*

Boots: Bax Prestige Boots by Bax Coen for Bax Coen Designs*