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Chrysalis
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Outline the story …
For my costume, I picked the character Alice from "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carol. I took inspiration from her changing size when she falls down the rabbit hole and the different characters she meets. I wanted to communicate the whole story of Alice’s journey through her costume and how I imagine it developing over the course of the story with the different things she might collect, and knowledge gained, whilst keeping an exaggerated 1860s child’s silhouette. I used the idea of Absolem the Caterpillar’s body to create stripes that cross over at the waist and get wider towards the bottom giving the idea of a chrysalis changing into a butterfly - fusing this together with the typical blue clothing Alice is associated with.
Outline the construction…
The main bodice is made from white cotton and backed with calico along with the taffeta trouser panels to give stability. I hand dyed and made the chiffon and georgette flowers symbolising my view of Wonderland and what it would look like. These are sewn onto the hip gorges. I made an under-structure for the trouser - similar to a cage bustle - to give volume and a more dramatic appearance.
The hem is turned up and hand-sewn to the calico layer to give a flush look. The inspiration behind the sleeves were ‘things you find in the earth’ and the distorted world Alice had entered. I took the colours from blue Anglian flint and the classic Disney version of Alice, hand dyeing the white cotton and batiking to create the texture. I cut panels - twisting and stitching different areas to create the look. I added boning after the first strip to give height and a ribbon cord to gather the sleeve together leaving the bottom open. I used the same method of dyeing on the petals on the front of the bodice. These reminded me of the original novel illustrations by John Tennial. These are starched and top stitched on. The back is fastened by strong sew-on Velcro to give a flat finish along the back without unnecessary pulling. To complete the costume, I created a wire and tissue paper mask of the white rabbit who originally started her journey.
I love all of the textures of this look! Individually they are very fascinating, and together they create a spectacularly whimsical outfit. I especially like the rabbit mask too, it really adds to the Alice in Wonderland theme!
That mask is SUCH a cool thing, wow!!
Such a good idea! And you executed it so well♡
Lovely colours and mask. Pretty rabbit!
Wow! What a lovely end product. The flowers are fantastic and beautifully evocative of Alice! Cheers and well done!
I love the creativity behind this and the interpretation behind all the elements of the outfit! The rabbit mask in particular immediately drew my attention, it looks amazing! I’m also impressed by the variety of techniques you used to create this, well done for all your hard work!