Today a friend of mine was kind enough to take pictures of me in a dress I made in December 2007, but didn’t have a single good picture of. We went a little outside town, found a proper-looking meadow and took almost 200 pictures, many of whom we deleted though. It´s not easy trying to look as lovely as a Disney princess…
It is closed in the back by hooks and eyes. An apron was also made, pleated to a waistband, and with a tuck at the bottom, for decorative effect. A bow in the same fabric as the dress was sewn onto a hair-clip. Cheating, I know, but it looked good enough. The dress is worn over a couple of petticoats.
The hair was a bit tricky to get right. I have very fine Scandinavian hair, silky and as straight as it could possibly be. It has nothing that even resemble volume, so to make it get the right Disney look require a lot of hairspray, or it will slip down after just a few minutes.
All in all, I am very pleased with how it turned out. The plan is to eventually make the other Belle-dresses as well. Problem is, there’re so many fun projects to work on…
peculiarseamstress.blog 
Holy smokes! This is a beautiful reproduction of Belle's dress. I've always loved that dress of hers and have seen some costumes made like it, but yours is by far the best and the most “real” looking of all of them. It looks beautiful on you and so, so perfect. Lovely photos!
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Thank you, I love this dress too, and I've wanted it since I was a little girl… And yes, I tried to make it look something like real, believable clothes, and not like one of them ghastly, shiny, polyestery Halloween-costumes.
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Gorgeous, it looks just like it! I love both the pink and green dresses Belle wears at the palace, though the green dress is a bit wrong for the period. 🙂 Are you still planning on making the others?
Also, you could look at the pictures of the Broadway costumes for inspiration – they're more elaborate than the animated version (and they're, you know, actually on real people) which might give you some more inspiration. ^_^
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Thanks! Yeah, I know, but when were Disney movies ever true to the period? Yes, I plan to make them sometime, I just have to find the right fabrics. This dress was ment to be a sort of cosplay, and the intention was to copy the dress just as it looked in the movie – I'm working on another version of the blue dress, that will be a little more like the stage-versions, but the way I'd make it if I was the costume designer. I'm not sure yet if the pink and green dresses will be copied from the film or just inspired by the film…. Both are fun to do, in their different ways.
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Well I can't wait to see them, I'll definitely be checking back! BTW, thanks for visiting my blog, I hope to see you there again soon. ^_^
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Hello, my name is Anna Gleason and i live in Omaha Ne. and i am 14 years okd!
I found your blog through Sarah through Bethany Beasley!
and i wanted to say hom much I love your blog i know this is a later post but i just wanted to stop by and say hi! and i just love your hair and outfit its simply beautiful great job on it!!
oh and where do you live?
blessings in Him,
Anna GLeason
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Would you ever consider selling this dress or one like it?
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Not this one, no, I like it too much. I might be persuaded to make another one, but this being such a close-fitting dress I'd have to have the person coming over for fittings…
To make a dress in this style wouldn't be that difficult (provided you know how to sew, of course), any dress pattern with a close fitting bodice could be used as a starting point, just make the neckline square. Yhey will probably not be shaped by just side-, front and back seams though, but most people won't care about those details anyway.
Or, I could write a post on how my dress is constructed, if you'd like to try to make one yourself.
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I would LOVE if you could post a pattern! I was just browsing the net for pictures because I plan on replicating the same dress for Halloween this year. I've already bought the fabric, but am not sure how to go about making it. Also… I had planned on buying a white blouse with puffy sleeves (instead of making it), but am not sure what it's called, and am having some trouble finding it. Do you know?
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There, I've written a post on how this costume is constructed – hope it helps.
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Do you ever sell these dresses? I am looking for a Belle dress for my daughter in a play
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So far I have not sold any dresses like this. I have however made a pretty thorough description on how to make one like it here: http://amostpeculiarmademoiselle.blogspot.com/2010/10/belles-blue-dress-in-detail.html
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You are Amazing!!!
I love beauty and th Beast and your reproduction of her dress is right on. And you look quite a bit like her as well.
I will be keeping an eye on your blog 🙂
Cheers from Canada
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This is amazing work! I'm in charge of my school's musical this year, Beauty and the Beast, and have been looking everywhere for a good pattern for Belle's dress. This is perfect! What pattern did you use? If possible, could you post the pattern for others to use? It would be a real lifesaver!
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