Beauty and the Beast Costumes
You might think, given my love of fairy tales and historical fashion, that I would be stoked about Disney's latest live-action movie. I adore Beauty and the Beast. I adore 18th-century fashion. Perfect. Except that without any supportive garments, 18th century clothes just don't look right to me, and the whole wearing-the-skirt-kilted-up-to-show-bloomers thing? ughghghghghh. I wanted so much to love this movie and instead I cannot quite bring myself to go see it.
Anyway, I decided to doodle what I would have done had I wanted to make an 18th-century-fashioned film based on the animated movie's costume design. I'm no expert, and many of my terms may be wrong...but I'm fairly confident in my silhouettes and fabric choices.
Belle's blue dress lends itself really well to middle-class 18th century. I imagine:
• a plain blue petticoat
• a dark blue flowered chintz jacket with narrow box pleated self trim at the neck and wider box pleating at the cuffs, along with narrow lace ruffles
• a plain or whiteworked fichu (to give the effect of her white underdress from the animated design)
• an embroidered gauze apron
Smart, practical, but pretty—and embellished enough to suit a woman with leisure to read and go on pleasure rides.
The pink dress Belle wears in the snowball fight and later reading by the fire scene I modified pretty heavily. This is an interesting combination of styles—the castle is providing these clothes, so I went with details that place them further into the upper class.
• a quilted petticoat, suited for winter, with a deep floral border
• a polonaised and hooded gown with ruched serpentine self trim along the front edges/hem and hood edge, and with bigger self sleeve flounces and plain white inner flounces (maybe edged with narrow lace)
• a finer white fichu than her earlier one, tucked into the stomacher of her gown
Definitely a finer outfit than her blue village dress, but still with practical elements.
This drawing is suffering a bit from era confusion—18th century hips should be lower, about the level of the bottom point of the stomacher here. However, on with the details! In the animated movie, Belle's green (library revelation) dress is a bit Victorian-looking. I kept the colors, but not much else, and swapped the plain greens of the animated version for a stripe-and-vine patterned silk that lends some complexity to an otherwise simple gown design.
• a matching petticoat with the pattern on the ruched panel running perpendicular to the skirt pattern
• a gown with en fourreau back, graduated gauze puffs down the robings and skirt fronts, and a double row of gauze puffs on the sleeve cuffs
• graduated dark green bows down the stomacher
No fichu; I might put a little lace ruffle at the neckline, but this is getting closer to the first climax of the movie, and Belle is growing comfortable with the castle and her new upper-class existence.
The ballgown. Do I ever have feelings about this gown, and the new movie did absolutely zero justice to it, in my opinion. Frippery and floof is what the 18th century does best, and this dress is a fabulous opportunity to showcase all of that.
• a petticoat with gathered self trim at the top, a middle band matching the skirt front trim, and a lower gathered panel with gauze puffs stitched over the gathering lines
• robe a la française with box pleated ribbon trim at the very edges of the robings and skirt fronts, then gauze puffs, also on robings and skirt fronts; wider panels of trim on the skirt fronts with loosely gathered gauze and opposite serpentine lines of box pleated trim and smaller gauze puffs; large double self sleeve flounces with three layers of lace flounces inside
• an embroidered and box-pleated ribbon trimmed stomacher
Honestly, there could be miles more foofaraw on this gown, but the drawing is very tiny and my pen nib is wide.
And this isn't even getting into the stockings and shoes and hats and jewelry. Sigh. Someday when I'm rich I'll make these, and they'll be magnificent.
Anyway, I decided to doodle what I would have done had I wanted to make an 18th-century-fashioned film based on the animated movie's costume design. I'm no expert, and many of my terms may be wrong...but I'm fairly confident in my silhouettes and fabric choices.
 |
| Pardon the scribbly detail. The whole thing is about as tall as two quarters. |
• a plain blue petticoat
• a dark blue flowered chintz jacket with narrow box pleated self trim at the neck and wider box pleating at the cuffs, along with narrow lace ruffles
• a plain or whiteworked fichu (to give the effect of her white underdress from the animated design)
• an embroidered gauze apron
Smart, practical, but pretty—and embellished enough to suit a woman with leisure to read and go on pleasure rides.
 |
| This dress just has so many opportunities for clever details. |
• a quilted petticoat, suited for winter, with a deep floral border
• a polonaised and hooded gown with ruched serpentine self trim along the front edges/hem and hood edge, and with bigger self sleeve flounces and plain white inner flounces (maybe edged with narrow lace)
• a finer white fichu than her earlier one, tucked into the stomacher of her gown
Definitely a finer outfit than her blue village dress, but still with practical elements.
 |
| Imagine the skirt starting much lower; this has more of the silhouette of an Elizabethan farthingale. |
• a matching petticoat with the pattern on the ruched panel running perpendicular to the skirt pattern
• a gown with en fourreau back, graduated gauze puffs down the robings and skirt fronts, and a double row of gauze puffs on the sleeve cuffs
• graduated dark green bows down the stomacher
No fichu; I might put a little lace ruffle at the neckline, but this is getting closer to the first climax of the movie, and Belle is growing comfortable with the castle and her new upper-class existence.
 |
| Slight silhouette fail here, too; the skirt should fall a bit more vertically—but you get the idea. |
• a petticoat with gathered self trim at the top, a middle band matching the skirt front trim, and a lower gathered panel with gauze puffs stitched over the gathering lines
• robe a la française with box pleated ribbon trim at the very edges of the robings and skirt fronts, then gauze puffs, also on robings and skirt fronts; wider panels of trim on the skirt fronts with loosely gathered gauze and opposite serpentine lines of box pleated trim and smaller gauze puffs; large double self sleeve flounces with three layers of lace flounces inside
• an embroidered and box-pleated ribbon trimmed stomacher
Honestly, there could be miles more foofaraw on this gown, but the drawing is very tiny and my pen nib is wide.
And this isn't even getting into the stockings and shoes and hats and jewelry. Sigh. Someday when I'm rich I'll make these, and they'll be magnificent.
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