Disney’s Belle of the Ball!

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of Disney’s live action version of Beauty and the Beast, which premiered in UK cinemas on 16th March. Not only did we thrill once again to this tale as old as time, and joined with those classic songs (all together now… ‘Be our guest, be our guest…), but we also swooned at the sight of Emma Watson dancing with Dan Stevens’ Beast while wearing that yellow dress. This is the gown that has defined Belle’s look as a Disney princess since the 1990s and we couldn’t wait to see how the real-life version would compare with the animated original.

Happily, we weren’t disappointed, thanks to the efforts of top costumier Jacqueline Durran who dressed all the characters in the film, including Belle. The ballgown was the most challenging outfit, as it is so well-known and loved, and she spent a great deal of time on the design process. Emma Watson, who was keen to make Belle more feminist and feisty, also collaborated with Jacqueline on the look and the final result is simply gorgeous!

From the beginning, it was decided that the dress would still be yellow. Afterwards, it was a case of creating a real-life version of the animated original that looked beautiful, but would be easy for Emma Watson to dance in. This meant doing away with a corset in favour of a shaped bodice and using layers of light organza for the skirt to create the flowing sense of fullness without weighing the actress down. The top two layers were also embellished with a gold leaf filigree Rococo pattern that matched the ballroom floor.

What went into Belle’s dress…
* Over 12,000 hours to make multiple copies
* 2,160 Swarovski crystals
* 180 feet of satin organza dyed yellow
* 3,000 feet of thread

If you’d like to sew your own version of this lovely gown, then renowned pattern house Simplicity will be granting your wish later this year. “We’ve developed two patterns based on Belle’s reinvented yellow dress for the live-action film,” reveals Laura Corbett from Simplicity’s US office. “Simplicity 8404 in sizes 6-22 features a dress with a boned bodice for a smooth shape, and is worn over a purchased hoop skirt to achieve the right skirt shape with less weight, giving more manoeuvrability when it’s worn.”

“Simplicity 8405 covers little girls’ sizes 3-8 and is slightly different from the respective adult costume in that it features a built-in petticoat for ease of wear and a shorter length to avoid tripping hazards. However, both patterns have been given the same attention to detail in the fabrication, embellishment and trimming. For instance, the over-skirts on the original dress feature a Florentine border that we had to incorporate as part of the pattern, as currently there is no fabric available that would match the look. Our solution was to come up with a stencil that will allow stitchers to add the border to the skirts easily with glitter or fabric paint.”

Simplicity’s Beauty and the Beast patterns will be available in early June 2017 – watch this space! For details of the company’s other Disney patterns, visit www.simplicitynewlook.com

All images copyright of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures