The Red and White Queens

At long last the two Queens are finished and have been delivered to Allesley School of Dance to appear in their award winning number Alice's Nightmare which is going to be part of their show taking place at Bluecoat School Coventry on 14th December. I have made all of the characters in this number, photos of which are on my Facebook Page - Chris Davoile Costumes Coventry. If you are interested in future projects, I would be grateful if you would LIKE my page, it is nice to know that there are people out there who appreciate what I do.

The Red Queen has got to be the most elaborate and eye-catching costume I have ever made, again I was reluctant to let it go, but I have decided to make one for hire in a size 12/14, which can be hired as a pair with The Mad Hatter, which fits a S/M man or M/L lady. The skirt is made of red taffeta with an overskirt of beautiful sequinned fabric that I bought from a stall in the Rag Market. The front bodice is made of black taffeta and the back bodice is black lycra to allow for stretch, as the dress will be worn by other dancers in the future. I cut out velvet and gold hearts and applied them to the skirt with bondaweb and fabric glue. I made a false bodice panel out of gold fabric stuffed with a layer of wadding and then sewed a brown cord down the front in carefully measured lines. I attached some black and gold ribbon and gold beads off a discarded bracelet of my daughter's because they really stand out. the ribbon on the puff sleeves, I made out of taffeta strips and drew on black hearts with a permanent marker pen. the collar is made out of very stiff fabric also bought in Birmingham.

The Red Queen
chrisdavoilecostumes.org.uk

 

 

 

 

The White Queen was made in a similar way with a beautiful sparkly net over a satin under skirt. both Queens have net underskirts to make them stick out. The bodice is made of lycra covered with stretch lace and the front panel made with silver and with silver and white fabric and trimmed with mock strip sequins and edged with lace and a stretch silver trim. I attached some crystal trimming all along the top of the bodice. The sleeves are made with the star net edged with silver trim at the wrists and with a puff sleeve insert at bicep level. I bought a long white wig to finish her off.

 

 

The White Queen
chrisdavoilecostumes.org.uk

I hope to have some photos of the dancers in their costumes in a future blog, as the costumes look much better when worn.

 

I attended the Dress Rehearsal for Frozen on Saturday and I was really happy with how the costumes looked. I had my photo taken with some of them and hope to include it later. I just have some skirts to make for a lyrical dance to 'Silent Night' which I have made with net that has shiny silver spots on it so that it looks like falling snow. I can't wait to see what they look like under the stage lights.

 

I have nearly finished a troupe of 12 Black dresses for a tap number for Elite Dance Academy who also have their show on 14th December at the Albany Theatre. I will include a photo in my next blog along with a Beyoncé style black lace dress that I have designed and created for a friend with the figure to carry it off.  All will be revealed later, hopefully not literally ha ha! I think my stitching is secure enough!