Degas V1.0

My prototype Degas costume was all white with a dark green underskirt. Bogie decided to change the underskirt and sash to blue in production because she already had a lot of green in the ballet line. Here is the picture that served as my inspiration:

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Mustardseed

As a child I was greatly influenced by Noel Streatfeild's book, Ballet Shoes. My favorite part came when the girls were cast in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as the fairies that accompany Oberon and Titania. When I met Clea, creating that moment became one of my aspirations...

I used an iridescent quilting cotton for the bodice and fusible web to attach the ribbons to the bodice. I sewed a tiny gold seed bead to the center of each flower. The tutu is made of yellow and green tulle.

I'm not going to lie, the process of attaching the ribbon to the bodice was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated. This is the type of thing that is actually easier on large scale costumes because you can just sew it on, but on this scale, sewing it down would have ruined the quality of the ribbon. I try this again later on velveteen (see my Swanhilda costume once I post it) and it is much easier the second time around!

Nutcracker: Waltz of the Flowers

This early costume was inspired by the tiered romantic tutu worn by the New York City Ballet's Corps de Ballet during the Waltz of the Flowers.I loved how well the bodice fit Clea.

I made a second one and sold it on eBay. I didn't sell much on eBay, although I originally intended to. I am something of a perfectionist- I remember making quite a few of those bodices to get one that fit perfectly so I would feel confident standing behind it.

A fun thing about this costume is that I designed it so the top layer of tutu was attached to the bodice, and the two bottom layers were attached to the skirt. So without the bottom skirt, the whole outfit had more of a classical tutu look. I also applied rhinestones to the flowers and leaves that make up the accents and headdress on this costume- an homage to the 'Rose Petal' dolls my sisters and I played with as kids!

Nutcracker: Spanish Dancer

This costume is one I did as a tribute to the studio I danced with as an adolescent; The Goleta Civic Ballet. They had the most wonderful Nutcracker! As aspiring dancers, all of us younger students would learn the principal parts in hope that someday we would get to play those roles. I moved on to jazz and modern dance before I had the opportunity, but part of me always wishes I could have danced those parts.

My absolute favorite was the Spanish Dancer. She danced an energetic, brisk allegro that ended with marvelous fouette turns. And it seemed like all the older dancers that I idolized danced this role at some point.

The bodice of this costume is very close to my inspiration, but I made it a tutu (the one that inspired it was a knee length, circle skirt). I am very happy with how it turned out- very impactful and a nice feeling of scale.

Swan Lake: Odile

My absolute favorite role in all of classical ballet is the firey, fiesty and fierce Odile from Act 2 of Swan Lake.

My costume featured real black feathers on the tutu, bodice and headpiece. Tiny, black, iridescent seed pearls decorate both sides of the decolletage. The bodice is made from silk shantung.

Odile was designed to be a sleeker version of Odette with a daring neckline.

My favorite Clea, the Basic Redhead, makes a great Odile!

Swan Lake: Odette

Of course, I had to make an Odette costume.

It's 0nly the quintessential role for a Ballerina.

The top layer of the tutu took an insane amount of tulle to make- each 'ring' was gathered and applied to the previous one to give it a feathery, ruched quality. I glued real feathers onto the bodice and headpiece.

At first, I really didn't care for the Raven-haired Basic Clea Bella doll (I thought she looked rather wan), but she really grew on me- her coloring is so subtle and perfect for these lighter costumes.

These shots were taken off my porch from our home in Santa Barbara. I live in the absolute desert now, so seeing these pictures makes me homesick! Sigh.

Autumn

A friend of mine who was a costume design student attended a costume party where everyone has to go as something that starts with "A". She went as "Autumn". She had made the most wonderful costume with silk leaves and all sorts of russet, orange and gold chiffon. I had always wanted to translate that into a ballet costume and this was my opportunity.

I made the bodice from a gold silk shantung and layered iridescent organza over it that had this wonderful ombre design in gold and orange- I found it on a spool of wired ribbon!

The redhead basic Clea was my first Clea and definitely my muse for many of these early costumes.

In case you are wondering, musically my inspiration was not Vivaldi's Four Seasons, but Adolphe Adam's. I loved to listen to his 'Autumn' as a young ballet student and dance wildly around the living room to all the musical changes.

Clea Bella- Nocturne

This early design for Clea Bella I titled 'Nocturne' after the works by Chopin that are, traditionally performed as a 'Ballet Blanc' (Les Sylphides).

I was still experimenting with length and fullness. I was/am privileged to have TONS of fine, white tulle left over from my wedding decor. The weight has the perfect drape for this scale.