**UPDATED
11/29/09**
Oh, how I love this gown.
Seriously. It's slightly frightening.
This gown was first started as my senior prom gown, oh so many years
ago. (Ok, not quite so many, but still). It has gone through so many
different planning episodes and re-designs that I finally just caved.
I'm making two versions of this gown.
Insane? Me? Basically.
For
Version 2, click here.
~ Version 1 ~
The first edition of this gown is out of all that great butter-yellow
satin I got for prom and then never used (it transformed into a
periwinkle
gown instead. I'm magic :0P) This design is my
'musical-esque' gown, because I think what the poor chick has to wear
in the Broadway show is just ridiculous.
Seriously. 'Let's just take some gold brocade, layer some draped panne
over it, plop some organza over that, stick some bows on top and call
it good.' Yeah, or not. Who the hell can dance in that thing? Argh.
If they'd just loose the bows and that stupid overlay, it would be sooo much better... sorry.
Here's
what I've got so far.
(click for a bigger view, sorry for the quality, my scanner's
crap)
My design is veeeeeery loosely based on the gowns worn in the
Disneyland Christmas Parade and the Cinderellabration show in Walt
Disney World. More the WDW than anything, but still...
(Thank you Britt and Disneyland Cast Member
Magic for the Disneyland photos, and to Drew for snappin' the WDW
ones!!!)
The basic design of the
gown is pretty simple: It's two pieces, the
bodice and the skirt. The bodice is attached to the overskirt, so
there's no chance of the not-quite-so-Belle teenie-bopper tummy gap.
The bottom nearly-full-circle skirt is three layers-
the lining, the base satin skirt, and the chiffon overlay. Over this
goes the draped satin overskirt. The skirts attaches to the
bodice with snaps so your skirt doesn't keep spinning when you
stop. And there's three snaps on the skirt so the overskirt stays down
in the front. Simple, no?
~ Version 2 ~
The second version is going to be as close to a carbon copy as I can
get it of the gown in Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams, which was part of
Disneyland's 50th Anniversary celebration, and was then instated as the
regular parade. All photographs of this gown
are from Disneyland
Cast Member Magic, with huge HUGE thanks to Britt for his amazing
photos!
These all give a pretty good idea of the gown (click for a larger
view). 2nd shot is the best one of the overall gown. In the fourth
shot, you can see those fantastic
yellow character shoes (I will figure out how to get those or die
trying). The third one shows a little of the lining slipping down from
under the over skirt. And you can see the bottom of the hoop in the
fourth one. Notice too that images one and three have a different
bodice flower than two and four. I'll be doing the flowers from two and
four (you know, actual roses :0P Sorry, I think I'm crabby today.)
I've been debating the make up of this costume, at least structurally.
Obviously, it's worn over a hoop, and the hoop, from what we can
glimpse
of it, it looks to be a full one made of yellow fabric. I believe, just
because of how awful hoop bones normally look through fabric and there
are no such lines on the gown, that there's at
least one layer of lining between the hoop and the actual fabric of the
skirt. Through much research (otherwise known as literal hours spent
staring at pictures and raiding YouTube for usable video), I'm thinking
that the gown is not a nearly-full circle skirt, which is was my
thought had been originally (the WDW Cinderellabration Belle costume
uses this approach). Instead, I think it's princess seamed paneling.
Observe this first image below (click for a larger view). If you look
above each rosette on the skirt, you can see ruching (helpfully
circled. Thank me later). If you look carefully at what looks
to be folds of fabric above each spot of ruching (image two), they look
an awful lot like seams. Especially in the front. I'm positive that
it's a seam. So new theory: the skirt is pieced together from several
panels.
God, I'm good. And slightly OCD.
Side note: do you know how much f-ing fabric Disney has to use to match
the pattern up on the seams PERFECTLY? It's nuts. Good lord, I wish I
had their budget.
Recently, Disney revamped (read: hacked to bits) this costume. The hoop
is smaller, as is the draping. It now starts half-way down the skirt in
the front and nearly 3/4th down the back. I hate it. Hate is too gentle
a word. I loath it with the fire of a thousand suns. It took the
costume from a really pretty gown to a dress that looks like they ran
out of fabric and makes the actress look even shorter than she already
is. Argh. Sorry. Needless to say, I will be making the original
version, with the draping
that doesn't look like crap original draping.
Here are some close ups of the fabrics used.
The pale yellow brocade has a slightly darker floral print, with
rhinestones placed on each flower. The darker yellow (ok, I'll say it-
the really really
bright yellow) organza overlay either has metallic discs glued on, or,
as I believe, sewn on (Several of the costumes use this
technique; i.e. Snow
White's costume). This is what I love about this costume (and this
parade). No matter which way you turn, you sparkle like none other. It's
awesome.
Oh, I love sparkles :0P
I'm still debating whether or not to use one of the hoops I have, try
to find a different one, or actually attempt making one myself (I know,
I'm laughing as I type this). Chances are I'm going to use one of the
ones I already have because 1) I'm lazy 2) I'm broke and 3) who
actually
needs more than four hoop skirts?) Regardless, this is going to use a
LOT of fabric.
UPDATE 11/22/06:
Ok. This Friday (11/24/06),
I'm hitting the JoAnn's doorbuster sale (at 5:30 in the
morning: I'm not insane, just dedicated *snort* Yeah, dedicated) to see
what I can find. I've had issues trying to find the right brocade,
though. Even something suggestive doesn't want to turn up. Never fear,
I'll find something. Or beg for it for Christmas, you know, either/or.
:0P
UPDATE 11/25/06:
Absolutely nothing at the doorbusters. Damn it. But I did find
some great stuff for my Glinda costume. But I digress. I've been
cruising some sites online, trying to find the right brocade, but am
having very little luck. I'm picky. It's a curse. Everything I've found
is fecking expensive. And I need at least 8 yards.
Yeah, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
Never fear, I'll figure it out.
UPDATE 3/15/07:
Oh my God. OH MY GOD.
I found the brocade.
The EXACT
brocade!
I'm so excited. Downside, I can't afford to get it right now. Which
sucks. But I FOUND it!! :0P Happy dance!
UPDATE 10/24/07:
Brocade hates me. Seriously. I've been looking for a year and have only
found the right brocade at one place!
Picky? Me? Nooooooo...
Anyway. Gearing up again for the doorbuster sales (Nov. 23. Sooooo
ready to go :0P Let's just hope that this year we don't repeat the 13
inches of snow.)
UPDATE 12/4/07:
Nothing for this costume at the doorbusters, although I got some
AWESOME red bridal satin for my masquerade ballgown (story of my life.
Can't find what I want, but found something else instead :0P
Oh, and no snow on Doorbuster weekend, but we did get a foot this
weekend. And they didn't cancel our HSM performances. Which meant half
our
cast got stranded at the theater. It did make for an awesome game of
Twister, though :0). Random, yes, but felt the need to share.
UPDATE 1/10/08:
Happy New Year!
Well, I finally caved. I can not find the right brocade for the parade
gown at affordable price anywhere. So I settled for some very close
(well, no where near but I'd like to actually start this gown) brocade
from JoAnns. I love Christmas gift cards.
I also got 10 yards of their yellow silk essence to go under whatever I
end up using for the drape. I'd love to use JoAnn's sparkle organza
(which is closer to what they use in the park), but I like how chiffon
drapes more, especially as this costume won't have to go through 2
parades a
day. And since I now have 4 cans
of spray on gold glitter, I may settle for yellow chiffon and just
spray the hell out of it. Tacky? A little. But I'm not a multi-billion
dollar cooperation who can afford to custom make their own fabrics. And
there's no way in HELL that I'm hand-sewing or gluing sequins every 2
inches square onto ten yards of chiffon. You'd have to kill me first.
:0)
Oh, and I ordered another hoop. Yes, this will make hoop number 5. And
yet they're all different. What can I say. I'm nuts and have an E-bay
addiction. (Also found some $25 2" Capezio character shoes, which
normally retail for $45 or higher. Quite stoked, especially as my old
ones lost the left sole entirely last year. Cheers.)
Trying to start at least parade gown skirt this weekend. Unfortunately,
have the flu right now. We'll see what happens.
UPDATE 1/14/08:
I hardly finished my homework this weekend, let alone started this
gown. Oi.
Currently freaking out a bit, as went back to JoAnns to try to get
another yard and a half of the brocade so I can actually panel the
skirt. Had minor heart attack when looked at brocade shelf and my
brocade wasn't there anymore. I know I left at least 3 yards on it...
So now have to special order it. Which bites majorly. But at least this
way, I'll have more than enough for the skirt (which was my main
concern anyway).
UPDATE 1/22/08:
Apparently, when fabric goes on clearance at JoAnn's, the sku # is no
longer in their system. Which means no special order. Which means
I'm
slightly screwed. Not sure if I'll be able to panel skirt and still
have enough fabric for the bodice. Obviously, I'm going to cut the
bodice first and make sure I have enough, so I may still be able to
panel the skirt.
On the bright side, finally decided on which hoop to use. With the new
petticoat, it looks really good. :0)
UPDATE 11/24/08:
Wow. It's been almost a full year since I looked at this page. That's
just sad.
I've been slowly accumulating different yellow linings/poof to use for
the drape. I think I've figured out officially how they do it in the
park. If you'll observe:
If you look closely at the top part of the drape (which I've helpfully
circled for you :0P), you can see a serged edge. What does this mean?
It means Disney cheated!!
...well, kindof.
It means my original thought about how they accomplished the draping so
evenly is probably correct- the bottom part of the 'drape' (the big
part
from the hem up) is just a big long rectangle of fabric, gathered onto
the 'drape points' (each spot marked with a flower) every six inches or
so. The 'drape' itself is a separate piece, attached to the top of the
bottom drape and left to hang over, so it appears as if the bottom
drape and the top drape are one pretty piece of fabric Disney magically
got to stay in place.
If that made no sense, join the club. It's really something that needs
to be illustrated, so when I actually get around to making the drape,
I'll illustrate.
Even if this isn't the method Disney used, it's the method I'm using,
because it's relatively simple and it'll be easy to attach to the
underskirt. WAY easy to attach to the underskirt.
So yeah. JoAnn's doorbusters again on Friday (has it really been a year
already? Oi.), I'll give a full report afterwards.
UPDATE 1/7/09:
Happy (belated) New Year, and I hope your holidays were great,
no matter what you celebrate!
Well, as the Pacific Northwest is currently on flood warnings and half
of my town is under water, why not update while I'm stuck at work? :0)
Final Report from the '08 JoAnns Doorbusters: I finally picked which
sparkly overlay I'm going to use for the drape. It's the JoAnn's Casa
Collection yellow sparkle organza. Ultimately, it looked the best and
draped the best out of my other options. It will be lined with yellow
Silk Essence.
Winter quarter started this week, so I'm not sure how much time I'll
have to sew (College. Who needs it?), but I think I may actually have
everything I need to make this costume now (eee!!). It's a weird
feeling.
Next step- bodice mock up. I'll keep you posted.
UPDATE
3/3/09:
Yeah. Sooooooo haven't had time to start yet :0( Stupid school. And I'm
auditioning for a show next week, since I currently do
have time to sleep, and that just feels wrong. Ugh. Anyway. The bodice
mock-up fabric is pinned to my dressmakers dummy, where it's been for a
month.
BUT-
I *did* have time to research the shoes! I <3 shoes.
Basically, they're character shoes (hence the name :0P). To the best of
my knowledge, the Disney parks utilize Capezio for their dance shoes
(which I find funny, because they use La Duca for their Broadway shows.
But anyway). The shoes Belle wears actually vary in this parade,
according to the height of the actress play- I mean, the actress who is
'friends' with Belle.
Disney political correctness. Got to love it. Sorry, I'm reeeeeeeeally
distracted today.
Anywho. As I said, the shoes vary depending on the actress. Usually
(and the ones I'll be making), they're fairly standard 2" yellow
character shoes, not unlike the ones the atmosphere Belle wears. Which
I've seen. You should have seen the look the poor girl gave me when I
asked to see her shoes. Her character host was like 'You know this
isn't Cinderella, right?' :0P. Anyway. Like the atmosphere
character shoes, I'm fairly sure the parade ones have a re-enforced
sole too, because the standard Capezio one would be pretty flimsy for
all the walking that Disney characters do.
Since I don't have all that walking to do, I'm just going to be using
basic character shoes. I have been to Mordor and back (again, sorry.
Lord of the Rings was on TNT all Sunday, and I'll admit to being a
Tolkien-ite. :0P) looking for yellow character shoes, and have come to
the conclusion that they are only available custom made. Which, knowing
Disney's budget, is probably what they did. Buttmunches. Anywho. A very
helpful little birdie (thanks Gina!) told me that she uses basic
sponge-on shoe dye for her daughter's dance shoes. I found some
suitable
yellow at my local shoe repair shop. So that's my plan.
Depending on how they look, I may use the glittery floral spray on
these, too. Or if I'm feeling really ambitious, I may attempt to cover
them in the same sparkly organza as the skirt drape. :0P We'll see.
UPDATE
11/29/09:
I have now been working on this costume for three years. Even for me,
that's a long time.
But fun developments:
Trashed my first bodice mockup, as it doesn't fit anymore. Started
cutting a new one, but I'm not really liking the pattern. I did the
seaming weird, and, well- here:
As you can see, I cut the center section way too narrow, and from
the front it makes the bodice look really wide. As we speak, I'm
re-cutting the muslin, and we'll see if that makes a difference.
Also trying the over-sleeves:
Really liking them so far. They'll be cut in the same brocade as the
bodice, with short puffed sleeves in the organza under them.
Also, cut the bertha:
Finally starting to come together! I'm excited! :0)
Will be back soon with a re-cut bodice...
11/29/09 Once more:
Re-cut bodice- fit is MUCH better. Next up- cutting and constructing
inner layers! :0)
Photos and more write-up to come!
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