Sarah's Ballgown from The Labyrinth
Inspiration
I was going to a costumed New Year's party and didn't want to wear any of my nice cosplays, because of drunk people and beer and stuff. I remembered that my Mom had given me an old wedding dress "that I could for sure make something with" some years back. I pulled it out, and sure enough, with some modifying the bodice would be a good fit for Sarah's ballgown. Because it was an old wedding dress, the bottom had stains, but I didn't care - because drunk people and beer.
Production
I already owned two crinolines and the gown, so it was just a matter of altering the bodice. I was doing this on a serious budget, so I put a call out to find out if any friends had any silver fabric or white organza that they wouldn't mind parting with. Sure enough, I have just as lovely friends as I thought I did.
Peekaboo Cosplay supplied the white organza on the sleeves, and GeeTeeDee Cosplay supplied the silver used in the bodice. I got some more silver from my friend Colleen.
I used the base bodice as a guide and drafted a pattern using the silver. The bodice was covered in UGLY lace and pearls, so I ripped all of those off. I sewed the new silver bodice on top of the base that was there, to cover where I'd removed the embellishment. After pulling off the pearls, I realized that the lace was actually kind of nice, so I sewed some of it back on before adding all the yellow beads, which I had lying around after inheriting my sister's beading collection.
The sleeves have some synthetic horsehair in them to help them hold their shape, then two layers of the organza fabric, cinched to make her double-pouf sleeve. They are sewn directly onto the sleeves that the dress already had.
A bit of ribbon, some hot glue, and some silver Christmas florals and the hair pieces were complete.
Application
This one has easy makeup, and quick teasing of a couple of brown wigs makes a beautiful 80's pouf. The hairpieces were pinned in with bobby pins.
Overall, this dress looks really good but not up close! It was a really quick cheap build (Total cost in purchased items was under $10 for the Christmas florals, some dollar store gems and the ribbon) and it is fun to wear but certainly not up to my normal production level.
