The POTO wedding dress

THE PHANTOM WEDDING DRESS

LATEST: I'm working on the bodice. So far it's cut, boned and sewn together. Button holes has been sewn and buttons covered with white satin. The bodice even fits...

HISTORY:
This was a project I was sure I would avoid..... Do I need it? Definitely not. Have other people made smashing replicas? You bet. But I just couldn't resist it anymore... The more I looked at pictures of the stage costumes, the more I began planning how and why and where I would accomplish certain details. And I just couldn't resist it anymore!

Even at this stage I can say that it's been (or will become) one of my most expensive costumes as of yet. There's something about "plain" offwhite dresses - if the materials looks cheap or the details are off, it ruins the whole outfit. One cannot "razzle-dazzle" them with gold and trims, as I've done with certain other costumes....

HISTORICAL DRESSES

POTO DRESSES

1. Maria Bjørnson's design for Christine Daaé in wedding dress, 1986
2. Maria Bjørnson's design for the Mirror Bride, echoing Christine, 1986
3. Sarah Brightman in West End, 1986/1987
4. Susanne Elmark in Denmark (originally a Belgian costume?), ca. 2001
5. Anne Görner in Essen, 2006
6. Belinda Evans as Mirror Bride in West End, ca. 2007
7. Close-up of skirt from Canada, as worn by Rebecca Caine ca. 1989

A nice print of the wedding dress design is currently for sale through Really Useful Group's website

MY REPLICA

THE PLAN:

SKIRT: Champagne duchesse satin, long train, two rows of lace doing down in spiral, cream satin ruffles on each row of lace, off-white rosettes on the ruffle
DRAPES: Tiny, pleated side drapings ("paniers") ending in a waterfall drape in the back. Not quite sure what fabrics and trims to use yet. I want to repeat elements of the bodice and skirt. We'll see.

SO FAR:
I bought a quality cream satin for the skirt. It has an almost champagne tone in it, but much lighter. Very nice fabric indeed. So of course I had to screw up by not mirroring the panels when constructing the skirt... yeah. By patching the pieces together I managed to get two full backpanels without scrapping the skirt, and I think the seams will be covered by the backdrapes and the laces. I am pleased with the skirt as it is now, anyway! The train is a bit exaggerated, but I've always dreamed about a dramatically trained skirt and is quite happy with the current look...

I looked for a suitable lace for several months, but they all turned out to be 1. too expensive, 2. affordable, but cheap-looking or 3. too narrow. But I suddenly remembered the gorgeous lace I used for Selenity's dressing gown, and when I went back to that store they had app. 22 metres again. I bargained a bit and got the whole lot for $60. The lace was gathered and pinned on in two downward-going spirals (easier to get the angle right with two rows rather than one). At first I had the lace too full, but when I decided that "less is more" and used only half the amount, the look improved greatly.

The lace was stitched on and the top covered with a gathered satin ribbon. The ribbon was supposed to be cream, but it was still too white towards the skirt and lace. So I dyed it in hot (and really strong) tea to achieve a certain antique look. It's a trick I've learned from my dad, and it worked like a dream. This is how far I've come as of yet.

BODICE: Metallic fabric, front closed with buttons, pleated basque (ending in a bow in the back) made from the champagne duchesse fabric used in the skirt
SLEEVES: Metallic fabric, two-layered lace cuffs being longer in the back than in front

SO FAR:
I started making a cotton toile to get to adjust the seams (something I did a LOT). The back is based on the Hamburg Wishing dress bodice, while the front is different. It was hard to decide whether to put the boice closing in the front or the back. The original West End costumes had front closing (small hooks and eyes), but it was soon replaced with back closing (big hooks and eyes). As far as I can tell, all later versions has had the closing in the back (alternating between hooks and eyes or zippers), and it's probably very practical for theatrical use. However, I would feel it a tad more historical correct if the closing was in front. And last, but not least, that means I would be able to put the costume on myself.... That aspect of front closing cannot be ignored - it's so darn practical! So eventually I went with front closing, and I will have real button closing since my dress isn't a stage costume.

Another feature I'll try to incorporate is to make the basque a sort of continuation of the bow in the back. I'm inclined to think that the costume sketch shows fabric being pleated over the hips, ending in a bow in the back, and I want to try out that idea. While this is not seen in most European costumes (apart from some German ones), it's partly what the American, Canadian and Australian costumes has done (except the pleated basque and the bow are separate pieces).

Anyway, the bodice is made of a gorgeous silk/cotton fabric with metallish threads. It's hard to say exactly what colour the fabric is - fabric is warm cream, while the metal shine is cooler silver. It gives the bodice a surface adapting to the light, and I like it very much. It was a lucky find on the top shelf at my local fabric store, and since I already had the cotton toile I could cut the panels right away.

INSPIRATION:
I am mostly an anti-fan of the costumes from the 2004 POTO movie. I think they did little for the story telling, and I think they were too old-fashioned for 1870's Paris. But Christine's wedding dress is one darn fine item. I got to see it up close when displayed in London, and I found it inspirative. I also got to see three different wedding dresses from the Copenhagen production; one which came from Sweden, one which came from Belgium and one brand new dress (identical in materials to the one Rachel Barrell wore in West End, as it was made by the same workshop). They were all a tad different and VERY beautiful. I'm also drooling over Sarah Brightman's original West End costume, plus a few items used in Canada. Last but not least, I've glanced towards historical items, some of which are displayed in the gallery above.

My "Phantom of the Opera" costume replicas

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