home :: costume :: livejournal

Costume Wish List

This is by no means a to-do list but a list of film costumes I would love to make if given unlimited time and resources. Most of the dresses here have caught my eye years ago, hence the absence of many recent films. The costumes are not in any particular order.

Barbeque Dress
from Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind was the film that got me hooked on movie costumes. I love many costumes from this film but the barbecue dress is probably my favourite. I find it interesting that GWTW costumes were copied by fans and retailers long before Star Wars or Titanic - and still are. I also love the fact that a replica fabric for the BBQ dress is available, not in silk unfortunately, but anyway. Having this dress would be a childhood dream come true.

Engagement Ball Gown
from Sissi

I secretly have a thing for hoop skirts - I blame for too much Gone with the Wind in early teens. Sissi movies may not be most accurately costumed but the dresses are so pretty you have to love them. Layers of organza frills, sequined flowers and a huge hairpiece - I know this dress may divide opinions, but modern day Cinderellas can dream can they? Besides, I had to have at least one non-Hollywood film on this list.

Dinner Dress
from Titanic

My favourite costume from this film. I'm definitely going to make this some day, right after someone drops 6000 Swarovski bicone crystals on my lap. I've gotten lots of beading practice with the jump dress, which I decided to make first because I thought it easier to make (you may laugh now). The construction of the dinner dress is more complex and the beading - well, I'm going to miss beadwork if I don't start another project after the jump dress. Unlike the jump dress, I think this gown really requires a corseted form, so a 1912 style corset should come first on the list.

Flying Dress
from Titanic

What, a Titanic costume with no beading? At least there's some embroidery. This dress is all about the materials and getting the colours right: royal blue silk velvet, purple satin and cream lace. The construction is also more complicated than it seems, as with many Edwardian dresses. The flying dress is said to be a replica of an authentic teens dress - I can believe that, it's very stylish, too!

Pink Coat
from Titanic

Can you guess my favourite costume movie yet? This would definitely be the piece to complete a Titanic wardrobe, and a nice coat to wear in real life, too. No titanic garment would be complete without elaborate detailing, here it concentrates on the collar and the cuffs. If I made a version of this, it wouldn't necessarily have to be pink - also because finding the right shade of wool has proved difficult.

Wedding Outfit
from Out of Africa

I'm not sure which one I love more, the film or the dress. As Karen Blixen herself puts it in the movie, the dress is meant to be stunning. And it is. It's again from my favourite era and even if I'm not usually into hats, here exception proves the rule. I absolutely love the hat because all the yummy details are there. The embroidery! The veil! I also like the standing collar that seems to have boning in it.

Ascot Dress
from My Fair Lady

This movie is a great example of how to mix fantasy with perioid fashions. Eliza's Ascot dress has been voted the best movie costume ever, and is probably one of the most recognisable dresses on this list. I just love it, the oversized hat, the striped bows, the parasol, everything. And how it both blends in and stands out from the crowd at Ascot.

Holly Golightly's wardrobe
from Breakfast at Tiffany's

Miss Holiday Golightly shows what a lady needs in her wardrobe to be properly dressed for every occasion:
1. A little black dress in wool or other material suitable for daytime. Acessorise with care. Shoes: black, alligator.
2. A long black evening dress in silk. Acessorise with lots of fake jewellery.
3. A perfectly tailored wool coat. Acessorise with a pretty date.
4. Something pink and dazzling to pull out of your sleeve just when everyone is expecting you to show up in that black dress for the umpteenth time.
All, of course, Givenchy haute couture.