Giselle
Source: Enchanted
Made for: Adventurecon 2008
Journal Entries: Read more at my Giselle tag
Related Costumes: Live Action Cinderella Peasant Dress
Patterns Used:
McCalls 2692 (possibly)
Dress:
I hunted for fabric for several months before settling on what you see – couldn’t find EXACTLY what I wanted to I used a satin that was slightly the wrong colour (too light/saturated), overlayed with a darker chiffon that made it closer to the right colour. I was happy with it in the end – it would have been easier if I could have just found a fabric the right colour to start with, but I liked the added texture of having an overlay!
I used a pattern for it the dress, pretty straightforward (not 100% sure what the pattern was but possibly the one above – it looks about right. I got married & moved in the middle of making this costume so the fact I can remember anything about making it is a miracle!) I was nearly done with the costume as of Friday morning of the con – except for the white shoulder wrap and the ribbon. I had the materials for both, so I quickly added them temporarily so I could wear it that weekend. I attached the ribbon permanently afterwards, and made a new shoulder wrap and attached it. Also fixed a few fit issues for Dragoncon later that year. The shoulder wrap is 2 layers of undyed silk chiffon, and it’s sewn on at the center front, and the ribbon was just some basic satin ribbon.
Wig:
The wig was fun – I bought it on cosplay.com’s marketplace, added some extensions, and added flowers I bought at Hobby Lobby by sewing them into the wig.
Shoes:
I wore my Belle village dress flats with it.
History:
I love this dress. Very simple and comfy 🙂 Unfortunately I have not been able to wear this since about 2009 because it has been too small for me ever since! So I was never been able to do a white backdrop shoot or wear it to another con. It gnawed at me for a decade that I never got white backdrop shots of it.
So in 2025 I finally got it and gave it a look over, tried it on, made a gameplan. It was in ROUGH shape – it has some stains on the skirt I guess from dragoncon, since that’s the last time I wore it out anywhere. Some of the seams had frayed open. It was a wrinkled mess. There was some weird sewing at the top with some strange darts and a facing that wouldn’t stay down. I cleaned it all up and pressed as best I could, and I sewed some ribbons on the back along the edge of the zipper so I could just tie it on for the photoshoot – it was really only like the last 3-4 inches of zipper I couldn’t get zipped. I did also have to cut the shoulder drape open at the center back so it would sit correctly, because I’m wider than I used to be!
I got it cobbled back together enough to take these new photos and I’m SO happy with them and SO happy to finally have this catalogued with white backdrop shots!
Please note that none of these costumes are for sale! This is my personal portfolio.