Costume Notes: Belle’s Ballgown

Completed: March 2015

Hours Spent: About 40 hours spread out over a month

Debuted: All-Con 2015

Why This Costume: Belle is one of my favorite Disney princesses. I made her village dress back in 2013, but her yellow dress has been one of my wish list costumes for a while. I ultimately decided to tackle this costume to practice making a corset prior to Lulu.

How I Made It: So obviously, this isn’t an exact replica of the animated dress. I like the silhouette of the film version, but I looked to the Broadway version, her recent promotion art, and the park versions for inspiration. When I started this project, I knew right away that I wanted a mix of fabrics to give it some vibrancy and depth. I used the matte side of poly satin, rose print brocade, glitter tulle, and organdy.

I talked a bit about constructing the corset in my last post. It’s a 3 layer corset made using TV110. The fashion layer is interfaced poly satin with brocade on the center panels. I found some lovely gold venice lace on eBay and used it to trim the seams on the bust and at the back by the eyelets. The center panel is made from duck cloth, and the lining layer is made with Disney princess cotton. I trimmed the edges with bias tape made from scrap brocade.

The skirt is self-drafted 6-panel skirt. To figure out the measurements, I took my hip measurement (since I was using an elastic waistband) and the circumference of the hoop skirt and divided them by six, adding in 1/2 on each side for seam allowance. I measured over the hoop skirt to the floor to figure out the length I needed. I multiplied that by 1.5 to get the length I needed for the top skirt.

Speaking of hoop skirts, you absolutely need on to make this skirt work. I opted for a 4-hoop skirt that I snagged off of eBay. I also used a petticoat, since the hoops show through the base skirt when I just use a hoop skirt.

The base skirt is made from the matte side of my poly satin and hemmed with a blind hem by machine. The top skirt is made from organdy underlined with glitter tulle. Like its cousin organza, organdy frays like a bitch, so as soon as I cut my pieces and basted them together, I ran all the edges through my serger. From there, I ran gather lines over each panel, stopping just above the bottom, then basted the top edge to my underskirt. I did a 3-thread rolled hem on the bottom of the organza, then gathered up each panel by hand, securing the basting with a zig-zag stitch. After playing with a few options, I opted for a cascading drape, with the highest gather line being in the front center.

I wanted to bling up the skirt a bit, so I found some lovely pale yellow faux roses at Hobby Lobby and used a spray glitter to give them a little gleam and added some gold glitter on top for some extra shine.

The sleeves are made from the same combination of glitter tulle and organdy. They’re just rectangles that I finished with a French seam. I gathered them at slight angles at the center front and back of the corset. They attach with velcro, which is fused to the lining of the corset.

My wig is a Matilda from Arda in Spanish brown. It’s actually the same wig I used for my first Belle! I used this tutorial to get the bangs in order, then I used pre-styled bun from Arda. I covered the bun in a matching hair net to keep the fly aways in check. I also re-styled the curls. The yellow hair piece is a folded over rectangle made from scrap brocade. It connects with velcro.

The shoes are dyeable bridal shoes I picked up from eBay. I dyed them a yellow-gold using iDye Poly in yellow (this tutorial is a great reference). To finish them off, I picked up some faux rose clips.

I picked up a few extra accessories for this costume off of Etsy, including a lovely faux pearl broach and some beautiful rose earrings. The gloves are from We Love Colors. I also made a quickie clutch from leftover fabric. The gorgeous mirror was made by Callula Cosplay.

Thoughts on this costume: I AM A PRETTY, PRETTY PRINCESS! But seriously, this costume was so much fun to wear. It was a blast getting to run around all day as a Disney princess. The kids especially loved it!

I’d like to tweak this costume a bit (mostly blinging it up a bit more with some crystals and rhinestones), but overall I’m pretty happy with it. Now to re-make her village dress! You know, once I get through Lulu. 😛

Who’s your favorite Disney princess?