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Jump Dress from Titanic
Costume Designer Deborah Scott received an academy award for her efforts in costuming the Titanic. This is what she says about the jump dress on the DVD comment track: "The dress that we called the suicide dress was the one that was the most copied out there in public, I think. People really love that. Actually, a funny story about that dress was how it was created. I had found a single piece of beading on net. Black jet beads in this circular pattern on a little strip of net. I fell in love with it and I said: 'Okay, that's the inspiration.' There were lots of things like that about the movie. And I took that little design. Of course, I had to recreate it a couple of times and figure out how to place it on a dress." How many jump dresses were actually made? The filming of the suicide attempt scene was demanding not only for Kate Winslet but to the dress she wore. You can imagine what happens to that delicate beading when it's torn, stretched and rubbed again and again! Several copies were made (which is not unusual, in fact there were multiple copies of many other dresses too, including the boarding and dinner dresses). The scene was filmed in many sequences under a long period of time, which caused continuity problems to the actors and the crew. Rose's costume was probably changed, modified and repaired several times. According to sensibility.com, at least three gowns were made for the film: one prototype not seen, one that was destroyed in the filming process, and one that is currenty owned by two collectors. We have photographic evidence of at least three distinct gowns. 1) The FIDM dress Several Titanic costumes were displayed in the 6th Annual Art of Motion Picture costume design exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. The exhibit ran from February 17, 1998 through April 9, 1998. Three of Rose's costumes were shown: the boarding dress, the jump dress, the flying dress and the white heaven dress. Thanks to Zelda Gilbert of the Costumers' Guild West, we have wonderful photos of this exhibit. Since her site is long gone from the internet, I'm posting the photos here.
The Costume Gallery has got some photos of a similar display - however, the mannequin is missing the purse and is now holding the gloves in its right hand. The necklace looks different too - red instead of emerald? Between 1998 and 1999 many of the costumes were on tour with the Paramount's Titanic exhibit, photos of which can be seen at sensibility.com. There are no records, however, that the jump dress would have been there so I'm not sure where the Costume Gallery has aquired their jump dress photos. In 2002 the jump dress was displayed again in FIDM's 10th Annual Art of motion picture costume design exhibit, in the "winners from the last decade" category. This exhibit ran from February 18th through May 3rd. These small photos are from the official site. The gown appears to be the same that was displayed four years earlier. Note that meanwhile, some beads have gone missing from the bodice fringe.
2) The dress shown in Düsseldorf, Germany Sabine of moviecostumes.com visited a Titanic exhibit in Germany and was able to take photos of Rose's jump dress, dinner dress, breakfast dress and swim dress. The date is unknown, but it was probably not long after the movie was released in Europe - which was in early 1998. Sabine's site is now closed (she did great work in Titanic costuming), so I'm posting the photos here for reference. It is interesting that this obviously isn't the same dress seen at the FIDM. The fringe looks different, so is the material (point d'esprit tulle) used for the overskirt/train. Not even the beading pattern of the bodice is exactly the same. Note that some beads are missing from a beaded circle at the hem.
3) The dress auctioned by J. Peterman company and currently owned by collectors The J. Peterman company purchased several original costumes from the Titanic production, including many of Rose's dresses. They went on to create their own line of Titanic reproductions, which have later become valuable collectibles. The original dresses were also sold in 1998. Collectors who bought the jump dress and the pink coat were kind enough to share photos and information of the garments. Read more at sensibility.com. Though the materials of this dress and the dress shown in Düsseldorf appear to be same, it doesn't look like it's the same dress. If you look at this comparison, the dimensions of the two dresses look different - as if the Düsseldorf dress had larger medallions at the hem than the other.
On the other hand, there's one detail that allures to think that these two dresses are the same. The collectors told that their "copy did need some re-beading, which was done in Los Angeles" before the gown was shipped to them. Maybe the missing beads of the bottom circle were replaced then? 4) The remains of a dress at the Fox studios costume vault The underdress of a jump dress was shown at a tour at Fox studios, photo courtesy of Home Theater Forum. It is not known if the overbodice/train is completely missing of if the person holding it just didn't show the whole costume. Either way, thanks to this photo, we have valuable information of the construction of the dress.
Which of these dresses were used in the production and when? It is nearly impossible to tell. The dress Kate wears when running on the deck seems to have a similar bodice fringe as the FIDM dress. The dress owned by the collectors was said to have been made for the stuntwoman and later modified to fit Kate, who wanted to do her own stunts (now I still don't believe a stuntwoman wouldn't have been used for the scene, there must be a dress worn by her somewhere - unless it was destroyed during the filming?). The collector's dress also has got a long tear, now repaired, in the silk. It is seen in the movie after Jack has helped Rose back to the deck and her leg sticks through the rip in the dress. All this seems to point to the fact that the collector's dress was mainly used in the over the railing scenes. From here, different versions are referred to as dresses 1, 2, 3 etc. Other Reference Images
Screen Captures (including the cut jump dress scene)
More reference images can be found at Materials The underdress is lightweight red silk satin. The underblouse is made of delicate black lace lined with flesh coloured net, probably cotton tulle. The overskirt tiers are made of black net, silk tulle would be period correct. The material of the train varies with different versions. Dress 1 has a layer of black net that has a delicate pattern to it (left) while the train of the dresses 2 and 3 is point d'esprit tulle (right).
Changing blouse material and possible fifth dress? The underblouses of the dresses 1, 2 and 4 are made of the same black lace. There aren't clear enough photos of the bodice of the dress 3, but it could be the same lace. In the movie, the material of Rose's blouse changes when she goes over the railing. After that, the blouse is made of sheer black material that looks remarkably like the pattened tulle they used for the overskirt of the dress 1 (see above left).
Construction and Beading The costume consists of a separate underdress and a beaded bodice with attached train. Skirt The underdress skirt has a layer of red silk underneath with black tulle overskirt in two tiers. The longer upper tier is sewn into the raised waistline, the bottom tier is sewn onto the red silk. Each tier has got eight beaded medallions at the bottom and they're hemmed with beaded fringe. The owners of the dress 3 report that "inside of the bottom of the skirt there are two pleated layers of red chiffon or georgette that help reinforce the bottom of the skirt on the inside. These two "ruffles" of chiffon (one about 4 inches wide, the other about 7 inches wide) support the bottom layer of beaded circles." There appears to be no side seams in the red silk or tulle, just one vertical seam at the centre back. In the silk underskirts there are darts to shape the waistline, in the tulle the extra fulness is eased in the waistline and gathered at the back. The silk dress closes with a non-period zipper at the back.
Blouse The underbodice blouse is made of delicate black lace, probably antique silk lace. It is hard to find anything like it in fabric stores. The bodice is lined with flesh coloured net except for the sleeves. The lining is fitted and the gathered lace bodice is mounted over it. For an unknown reason the lace doesn't cover the armpits. To prevent the flesh netting from showing under the beaded overbodice I decided to cover the armpits with lace in my version. It looks like there's some flesh coloured elastic sewn on the sleeves and probably inside the neckline as well. The blouse closes at the centre back with hooks and eyes. The waistline seam is covered on the right side with red ribbon or bias tape. On the inside, there is a black grosgrain waistline stay about 5 cm wide that according to the owners of the dress 3 is "attached to a heavier reinforced canvas waistband". The waistline stay closes with hooks and eyes. Sensibility.com has a great reference photo of the waistband. Bodice The bodice is almost entirely covered with beads and seems to have been constructed from four panels: two bodice panels and two shoulder panels. There are no side seams. An oval piece is cut out at each shoulder, no shoulder seams are needed. There are six decorative buttons: two at each shoulder and two at front. The buttons are decorated with clear rhinestones, here's a closeup:
The bodice closes with hooks and eyes at the centre back. The bodice is attaches to the lace blouse underneath with at least four snaps. The ones sewn on the upper front corners of the bodice prevent the corners from curling down. Additional snaps may have been sewn onto the shoulders and the back.
The beading is very intricate and the beaded pattern varies in different versions of the dress. The pattern given here is not accurate but a mixture of different versions tipped with imagination. Feel free to use it as a base in your project. [kaaviokuva paneeleista ja kirjonnasta] The beading is done on sheer black material, most likely silk or cotton tulle. The roses and leaves are outlined in small black faceted beads and then red silver lined seed beads are filled in. I'd say the black beads are 3-4 mm in diameter and red seed beads are size 9/0-10/0. In some pictures the seed beads look almost the same size as the black black beads (8/0), in others they look smaller. I used black 3 mm and red size 10/0 beads in my recreation. Note that the owners or the gown number 3 report that "the bodice is made up primarily of red Austrian beads (silver lined to reflect light) and black seed beads." The black beads look faceted to me and to achieve the sparkle and glitter seen in the movie, the black beads *need* to be faceted. However, different beads may have been used in different versions and in lack of clear reference photos my choices of beads are merely assumptions. Clear rhinestones in silver frames are scattered in the centers of the roses. Note that the insides of the leaves and the roses are left empty so there are small uncovered areas in the bodice. Each panel is edged with a line of larger black faceted beads, about 6 mm in diameter, and rhinestones in regular intervals. It looks like smaller (4-5 mm) faceted beads could have been used in connecting seams and edging the cutouts at the shoulders. I used 4 mm beads at the shoulders. The beads are applied using tambour hook technique in which the beads are first threaded and then crocheted onto the fabric. In this photo you can see the main beader Paule Drissi at her beading frame. A finished bodice is placed on the beading frame on the foreground. This technique is faster than the method of sewing every bead individually. On the other hand, if the thread breaks all the beads will come off so remember to tie down every now and then! Couching also requires a sturdy beading frame and some practice. Crocheted beads are tighter attached to the base fabric, which is great especially with larger and heavier beads that tend to wiggle. I also observed that running an extra thread through the beads makes them sit straight and prevents the beads from wiggling. Read more about beading here. I drew the design on clear water soluble stabilizer, basted it onto tulle and did the tambour work through the stabilizer. Medallions There are 16 beaded medallions at the hem of the dress, 8 in each tier. One medallion is c. 12 cm in diameter, about the size of a regular CD. The medallions consist of concentric circles that are made of black faceted glass beads. At the centre of each medallion there are eight clear rhinestones. The faceted beads seem to decrease in size towards the centre. The beads in the centre of the medallion are too small to make out from the photos but most likely they're set in circles or possibly sewn around each rhinestone. On the left is a suggestion what size of beads could be used for each circle. On the right is a photo of my recreation without rhinestones.
Fringe There are two different types of fringe used. The fringe is sewn onto a black ribbon about 1 cm wide. The tape in which the fringe is sewn onto is covered with diagonal rows of small black beads, maybe seed beads or 3 mm faceted beads, that I used.
Train The train is cut one piece with shaped front edges and excess fulness gathered at the centre back. Small pendant clusters of black beads are sewn onto train in diamond pattern. Each pendant has four beads, I used two faceted 4 mm beads, one faceted 5 mm bead with a 10/0 seed bead at the tip. In the first picture, green dots indicate the position of the pendants, the yellow lines indicate grainline.
Because the overbodice closes at the back, the train must either have a slit (hidden by the gathers) at centre back or then it is detachable along the line illustrated in the picture below and attached to the bodice with hooks and eyes and/or snap. The latter would be the period correct way to do it - complicated closures were very much in fashion and to get in or out of your garments without help was almost impossible. Nowadays it may be a good idea to make the train totally detachable if you ever plan to wear your gown in public.
The train is edged with a double row of black sequins, 5-6 mm in diameter. It looks like there is a loop at the other corner of the train so that the wearer can hold it up:
Here are approximates for the amount of beads needed for a size 4 dress. Note that the final amount of beads depends on the techniques and beading patterns used. Also keep in mind that the size of the beads varies between different manufacturers. ('-' means that this type of beads is not used for the part of the costume. 'n/a' means that I haven't gotten to that part yet!)
Accessories Purse The scene where you can see the purse was cut from the original release but you can catch a glimpse of it in the cut scenes on the special edition DVD. The purse was also seen in the FIDM exhibit (see the photos above). It is a hexagonal flat pouch entirely covered with red seed beads. The pointed purse frame is gold and has a chain handle.
Gloves Elbow length black gloves were worn with the dress. You can see the FIDM mannequin holding them in its left hand. In the cut jump dress scene Rose takes the gloves off when she comes into her bedroom. Jewellery Rose wears contrasting green emerald necklace and earrings. In the film the necklace is seen when Rose is shown sitting at the dinner table though in the suicide scene the necklace is already missing - Rose tore it off in the cut scene found on special edition DVD.
Undergarments Under the dress Rose wears a long Edwardian style corset that laces at the back.
Shoes The shoes are the "Anya" style made by Peter Fox. They're covered with red silk and embroidered in black. The embroidery forms the eyelets for a red satin ribbon shoelace and also decorates the back of the heel. Shown on the right is a J. Peterman reproduction shoe with a black ribbon. The inside of the heel is red in the movie. With the shoes Rose wears black silk stockings that reach above the knee.
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The heavily beaded black and red dress Kate Winslet wears in the suicide attempt scene
in Titanic must be one of the most copied costumes in movie history (along with
Scarlett O'Hara's barbecue dress and some Star Wars costumes). When the movie came out
in 1997, Titanic and its costumes were everywhere. Recreations made by
professional seamstresses and amateur costumers, prom dress knockoffs, commercial
patterns, even an official line of reproduction dresses popped out in no time.
