Fairy Godmother

This is my "Out of Your Comfort Zone" challenge for the Historical Sew monthly.  
I was getting ready to go to a con with eldest daughter, and I had fallen in love withe the costumes from the new Cinderella movie. I KNEW I just HAD to be the Fairy Godmother (yeah I know that is a bit of a change from my favorite black of the WickedStepmother or Death at cons... Well, there are the times I did Lwaxanna Troi from Star Trek, but I dirgress.  I WANTED that dress- but I am a strictly Victorian girl for the most part.  I'm educated enough in general costume history to recognize a totally different corset shape, and structure- So although my fabrics were going to be ever so "Fairy tale modern"  my shape was going to be pretty 1780's.  SOOO off to search for patterns!

First things first. A fairy godmother has to have a corset, er stays, er... well whatever you call that under garment that boost up the chest area and gives you that nice hourglass- er um cone shaped figure.  I ended up using the Butterick  4254 pattern for that- two layers a light weight twill and a heavier canvas inside.  Remember boys and girls that the "BIG THREE" pattern companies always allow for too much ease. Because I did NOT- nor did I try it on because the measurement was supposedly printed on the pattern right?  And did I check the size on before I started that front boning? No again. A larger seam at side back and back center helped remove enough that we had some shaping going on.  What did I bone it with? Whatever I had handy- you see I started this costume about one week before I needed to be able to wear it.  So it has some steel boning in key places, some large zip ties and some poly boning. All in all it did a decent support job, when I finally got around to trying it on.

Next I knew I needed some petticoats/skirt support. A quick browse of Corsets and Crinolines and a consult of the movie photos I found on the internet (eldest child actually asked me who I sold my soul to, to find those high-res. photos- but HONEST they were just THERE when I searched) 

Pocket hoops and an overpetti were next. Let me say a few kind words about cons and pocket hoops. Every person there who saw me digging things out of my pocket hoops was sure they were the best thing since sliced bread. EVER! At one time I had two phones, a camera, a bottle of water, 52 extra batteries (for daughter's costume) and a program in them. Costumes for cons NEVER have convenient pockets. Well, mine did. Yes, I was lazy- I needed a quick petticoat to go over my pocket hoops (which are probably the most correct thing on my costume especially after a friend scolded me for trying to use plastic boning and I caved and went and searched out some metal the right length.) My petticoat was a length of eyelet fabric I had in my stash forever. I didn't have to bother to hem it- just draped it over the hoops and put a twill tape waistband on there. DONE!

Skirt was next. I fondly called this costume the polyester dress of death, as I was afraid with all the synthetics I would melt at a summer con. Thank goodness it was well air-conditioned. Skirt consisted of 3 draped layers over the petti and pocket hoops. Polyester satin taffeta, crushed iridescent organza, and silver/white lace. 

Bodice was next and shockingly I did use a pattern from Patterns of Fashion (The 1770-85 Snowshill Manor dress) mocked up to my size. This bit had a layer of Kona cotton, then polyester satin taffeta, then flat iridescent organza, then a silver webbed lace fabric. Finding fabrics close to the original gown was a killer for me I ended up going to several stores to aquire what I needed. Thankfully the organza (crushed and flat) was sourced from Wal-Mart for only 4.99 a yard. 

I'm getting low on time at this point, and really who is going to check to see if I have hand done eyelets- so IN go the grommets to lace the front closed. First choice would have been smaller silver ones, but of course I was out of those in the stash. And I still had to construct the wings and the neckpiece/collar/ruff bit. OH yes, and the stomacher....

I was out of time and low on buckram, so what did I do?  Pieced together the buckram and scanned, traced, modified and digitized the embroidery for the bodice front.  I did spent a bit of cash on the big Swarovski star shaped rhinestones. But are they not AWESOME! The only thing I didn't get finished was a new pair of shoes- but hey I wasn't Cinderella to get new glass slippers. ;)  Dear daughter accused me of cheating when I informed her I was pinning this stomacher in place. I told her I was being "historically correct" at which point she laughed and pointed at my sparkly fabric. Yes, that is my child.

So here is the photo of my dear daughter took in the hallway where my ruff/collar bit is standing up like it should.  I had several requests from Cinderellas to have my photo with them. But the best was from a teensy little girl wearing fairy wings who just reached up and took my hand and asked for a photo. "She loves fairies" whispered her mom, "And you are the first one she asked by herself for a photo." *heart smile*  

All in all I'm pretty happy with the results of this costume (you can't really call it a historic dress although it is based on historic patterns)
What the item is (and why it was out of your comfort zone):It is a 1780's based version of the Fairy Godmother dress from the new live action Cinderella movie. I did the undergarments for it as well- and it was my first foray into anything from this time period or this shape. I am a strictly Victorian and Edwardian girl- this was SO far out of my time frame.

The Challenge:out of your comfort zone

Fabric: Polyester satin taffeta, polyester iridescent organza, white and silver lace, silver mesh lace, eyelet for petticoat, kona cotton for pocket hoops, canvas and white cotton twill for stays

Pattern: Butterick 4254 (be wary make the next size down), Patterns of Fashion 1- 1770-85 dress, Corsets and Crinoline- Pocket hoops

Year: 1785 ish

Notions: Boning, lots of sparkly crystal things

How historically accurate is it?Maybe 30% the fabrics are terrible but the patterns are pretty good.

Hours to complete:It was finished in a week

First worn: Dallas Fan Expo Comicon May 30, 2015

Total cost: around $200