Construction Details:

Oh taffeta - how I loath thee.

The shirt, mary widow, and shirt clip were already created. The stake holster was based off of military designs and made out of belts that were painted and "aged".

Personal Thoughts:

This is an OC that I wanted to create a few years back. The idea was derived off of the shirt and a different skirt that has almost the exact same black and white checked pattern that belonged to my grandmother. In a way, I wanted this to be a tribute to the skills and strength of my family. Granted I don't think my grandmother lived in Victorian England or fought vampires - but I suppose the heart is still there.

The back story of Jennifer is that her husband was brutally slain by vampires for his wealth, home and wife. The Montesque name was highly revered. If a vampire could assume the position of the head of the family - the governmental and economical gain would be enormous. And in order for the ruse to work, his wife would have to be in a thrall and forever be under the vampire's power.

The night of the house massacre, Jennifer found her husband in his library covered in bite marks. The only part of him that hadn't been mauled was the arm that he wore his rosary on. The elegant cross encrusted with black and white stones had been her wedding gift to him only five years ago.

When the vampires came for her, she was weeping over her husband's body, holding his unmarred hand against her face. She knew when the vampire came to her for her death, but she welcomed it - thinking only of joining her beloved Bennett. As it leaned in for the bite that would enslave her forever, she screamed and pushed the rosary towards the vampire's face, grazing his left temple and ear. As the beast reared back and screeched, clutching his face, Jennifer grabbed the letter opener from the desk and stabbed him in the eye.

The vampire retreated, wailing his revenge as he sought the quickly receding dark of the night. In the end, the coming sunrise had been her salvation. But how to explain the murdered maids, the cooks - her husband. No one would believe that demons had slain her family and loved ones. Her only option would be to play dumb, save her fears and knowledge and report the massacre to the authorities.

The reports in the papers told horrible stories of a villainous mob and their vicious dogs that had torn apart the house and all who resided. A freak circumstance that no one could have anticipated or prevented. The press also told of the poor, grieving widow, who was away into town at the time of the incident, who had been the one to find her husband. And since she'd had no children or extended family - the house, its riches, and the family name would be carried by her until, after the appropriate time of mourning, when she would remarry and the title would then transfer to the next lord.

Claiming her need to recoup and mourn the death of her husband, Jennifer closed the Montesque's family house and retreated away to Italy for the warmer climate and the company of some distant cousin. Or that is what she had told the gossip columns. After settling the affairs of the estate, Jennifer did leave England - but not for the sunny seas of the Mediterranean. She traveled East - searching for the only one who would believe her story and be able to help her seek revenge: Professor Abraham Van Helsing.

Two years passed - some thought the poor widow Jennifer died of sadness while in Italy. But on a rainy winter's day - Jennifer returned. Her face a little gaunt, her demeanor more wary than it had been before the incident - but that was to be expected considering the circumstances of her leaving. What her peers did not see were the excursions at night and the bruises and scars hidden by her mourning clothes. But the one thing that was always visible to the world was the black and white rosary which always adorned her neck on a choker.

Jennifer had become a huntress: had vowed to destroy those that had destroyed her life. And the only lead that she had to finding the one who had ended it all was the mark she herself had left.

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