Legally Blonde 2023 Costumes Part 3

Legally Blonde 2023 

Costumes Part 3

Quick Change dresses

Simplicity 2580

Misses pull on lined stretch dress in floor or knee length. 

5 different necklines withflutter sleeves option. 

I made size 18 view B in stretch

Size 22 view B in satin

Stretch - holo Printed Tartan Check, Shine Dance Knit Fabric in Neon Pink from Spotlight.

Woven - delustered satin from D K Fabrics 
grosgrain ribbon from Spotlight
Magnets from Bunnings. Everhang 10mm North And South Adhesive Rare Earth Magnet

Stretch Dress

I made this dress first. I cut, slashed and spread the skirt to give it more fullness and twirlability. 
I cut the view B bodice and changed it to a square neckline which is not part of the patterns neckline options. The actress chose the final depth of the neckline to suit the character of Elle Woods. I also shortened the hem to her specifications.
Originally it had a zip in the back but that wasn't needed as it went over the head easily so I removed it. 

We added a long belt and pinched the shoulders in to show more skin. I added small bands of the same fabric around the gathering point on the shoulders. 

I did a lot of pattern matching with the check and the colour variegation of this fabric. The repeat design of the flow of colours was farther apart than I first realised so it took a bit of manipulation. 

I actually made two stretch dresses. The one the actor wears has a seam down the centre back which is exposed on the inside so the sizing can be altered easily. The second dress only had to hang on a hanger and be presented by a friend to Elle as a dress option for her to wear to her perceived wedding proposal. 

pattern matching and coverstitch hem

With this dress I made the bodice so no seams were visible by lining the bodice using the burrito method. Because this dress was on a hanger, the inside of the back bodice was visible to the audience and I wanted it to be neat. I also pattern matched the fabric but not so much the colouring with this one.

wrong side of hanger dress with visible back lining

Elle and her girls

Satin Over Dress

In the scene this dress is worn, Elle is shopping at a boutique for "The Proposal Dress", she wears a light pink satin dress that is ill fitting and a bit prim for her exuberant personality. 

After some tragic suggestions by the sale assistant, a friend of Elle suggests the sparkly hot pink dress, Elle accepts the stretch dress on the hanger and flits behind the racks of dresses to try it on. 30 seconds later, she comes out wearing that same stretch dress. 

To facilitate this quick change I made the pink satin dress using the same pattern but two sizes bigger and with magnets down the back.

The magnets needed to be stronger because the first,
more fitted dress I made would open up down the back when the moved. 
I had to make it again in a bigger size but loosing the fit.  

You can see the join down the back here

I overlapped the centre back seam and added as strip of south magnets to one side and north magnets to the other. 

I made two seperate strips of magnets using a light pink lining fabric. I stuck the magnets to the fabric using the self adhesive they came with then stitched around each one so they wouldn't move.

The dress can easily be pulled from the actor by another member of cast. The actor does a pirouette while the other person holds onto the top layer of the back seam and the actor revolves out of it. 

In my demonstration photos I pull the dress off from the front, this doesn't work well with actual arms in the dress so we came up with an alternative removal method. 

The magnets do make a click sound when they close but this wasn't a problem in this situation as they only open. 

Coming in Part 4 of Legally blonde Costumes

dress rehearsal photos by photographer Jason McCullough