Princess Kraehe
Everything for my Kraehe Odile costume was made from scratch, save for the pointe shoes.
TUTU
The tutu was made up of 9 layers of diamond net, all of which were double-hand-pleated and also dagged in order to get the “feathery” effect, which is common on most Odile and Odette tutus. There was a hoop slid into a hidden casing on the seventh layer that I spray-painted black so that it blended in. The lower basque (the panties, essentially) also had a few layers of “butt ruffles”; they were pleated by hand and then zigzag-stitched to the powernet. All in all I used approximately 118 yards of black netting, plus another 3 yards of golden sparkle tulle on the plate.
To clarify, it was 14 purchased yards, but when every frill is cut out, the total yardage covered was 118 yards. Each layer was composed of 6-7 frills, each of which took around 2 yards of fabric to make. Multiply that by 6 for the bottom 4 layers, and then 7 for the top 5 layers. So ((2*6)*4)+((2*7)*5)=118 yards.
PLATE/BASQUE
The plate and bodice were both made using black bridal satin; the plate was essentially a circle skirt sewn to the upper basque. The upper basque for this costume required a little bit of modification from the standard tutu basque, because the bodice went so low in the back. So I made the upper basque a bit thinner than it would be in a professional costume. The plate itself was a doozy, though! The designs were cut out of gold satin, and then I stitched the center bead designs onto them before attaching them to the plate. Then each design was outlined with sequins that were secured with more seed beads. The little circles are made of gold sequins surrounded by black sequins, and more seed beads. Finally, the outer edge of the plate has two rows of two different trims hand-sewn to it, accented with – you guessed it – more seed beads!
FUN FACT: In total, there are 2,730 seed beads, 1,659 sequins, and 41 miscellaneous beads.
BODICE
The beading on the bodice was a lot simpler, and for the most part it used the same beading methods as the plate. The bodice itself was constructed using a custom pattern I made from scratch; it was lined with a bottom-weight linen, and then both the top and bottom edges were finished with piping. I used steel boning to give it more stability, but the majority of the stability came from it being adhered to my torso with spirit gum! The feathers were a blend of duck and ostrich, along with a few swan feathers thrown in for good measure.
TIARA
The tiara was constructed with three different types of gold wire, and used three different golden beads, including Swarovski rose montees, and ruby teardrop beads.
WIG
This was a Jeannie ponytail wig by Arda Wigs. For the cowlick, I moved the ponytail up higher, then hung the wig upside-down and sprayed the heck out of it with got2b Freezing Blast Spray. I also used a blowdryer to set it with heat, and there was floral wire in it for stability, too. The feathers in the cowlick were a mixture of duck and ostrich feathers, and the ostrich feathers were styled lightly with hairspray so they weren’t as fluffy.
Last but not least: fake nails, circle lenses, light pink dance tights, and Capezio Infinita pointes completed the look! I can’t say for sure how many hours this took to make because I lost track somewhere around the “35 hours” mark, but I’d say at least 150 hours went into this costume, if not twice that much.
(Featured photo by LJinto.)