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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Padme Amidala Rainbow dress

Discussion in 'Costuming and Props' started by Princess1, Dec 5, 2001.

  1. Orliaan-Nabberie

    Orliaan-Nabberie Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2005
    Excellent job, Lady_Skywalker! Your dress is beautiful! =D=
     
  2. luminousbeing78

    luminousbeing78 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 9, 2005
    Both of your dresses look beautiful, Lady Elu & Tally! Oh, I wish I could have gotten pics of everyone in their lake gowns!
     
  3. Lady_Skywalker13

    Lady_Skywalker13 Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 27, 2006
    Oh man you're right! It's such a special gown I think that we should have gotten a group photo, even if it was only a few of us. Maybe at the next big con!
     
  4. Lady_Elu

    Lady_Elu Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2007
    Thank you very much, you two! :D I wish I could have gotten better pictures of my costume while I was at CIV, but the thought never really came up. :(

    And I'm definitely going to have to get some of those shells for the neck piece on my fifth version. :p Maybe I can get my boyfriend to do a few pictures of my costume... [face_devil] :p

    Oh, I wish I could have gotten pics of everyone in their lake gowns!

    *shrugs* Not many were interested in my costume anyway.

    ~Spacelady
     
  5. luminousbeing78

    luminousbeing78 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 9, 2005
    You should totally post some pics, Spacelady! I did not get that many of mine, either...honestly, I didn't do a lot of walking around because I was so paranoid that the train would get stepped on and rrrrrrrip :eek: ! Although I do love wearing it, it does get difficult in crowded areas.
     
  6. Orliaan-Nabberie

    Orliaan-Nabberie Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2005
    Gah...ran out of time to edit my post. I love both of your dresses, Lady_Skywalker and Lady_Elu. :) Now I wish even more that I had gone to CIV...
     
  7. Lady_Skywalker13

    Lady_Skywalker13 Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 27, 2006
  8. Lady_Elu

    Lady_Elu Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2007
    I didn't do a lot of walking around because I was so paranoid that the train would get stepped on and rrrrrrrip

    Yeah, the back of my gown was stepped on a lot...by my boyfriend. No one else. Just him. Oh yeah, and I had four strips of costume tape across my arms, chest and back, and every time he'd stepped on it on accident, the fabric would rip off my skin and tape and hurt. But, it was all apart of the experience, right? :D :p

    In Benae's words at CIV, "Costume tape. Sticks to your skin but not the fabric." (well, it's not exact, but you get the general idea. :p )

    And thank you, very much, Orliaan-Nabberie! :D

    Btw...you gals can just call me "spacelady" as that was my older user name. lol

    ~Spacelady
     
  9. luminousbeing78

    luminousbeing78 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 9, 2005
    Apparel tape!!! Aaarrgg! Yes, there's no wearin' the Lake Gown without tape! I had to re-apply before the contest (actually, my husband re-applied) and I swear the bottom of my back looked sunburned when we pulled the tape off that evening! One of the conversational highlights of C4 for me was discussing with Benae Quee the strategic placing of tape [face_laugh] ! All in good fun, though...as uncomfortable as it can be, I wouldn't trade a minute of it!
     
  10. Benae_Quee

    Benae_Quee Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 15, 2002
    My tape scars finally disappeared around last week LOL. My roommates were laughing their butts off in the hotel room while I was in the bathroom ripping the tape off screaming in pain :eek:. This new tape I've been using is stickier to the skin, but not so much the garment [face_blush]. My one nightmare with that dress was that I was on stage and the whole bodice just explodes off my chest leaving with nothing more than the tape and the body paint [face_worried] [face_laugh]. Thankfully that didn't happen :D I wouldn't trade it either, it was a ton of fun and I can't wait to wear that Twilek again.

    Again, you both had lovely gowns, and now I want to try my hand at making this one myself (eventually) :)
     
  11. Orliaan-Nabberie

    Orliaan-Nabberie Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2005
    You're welcome, L_S and spacelady! [:D]

    I wouldn't know the first thing about using tape with this dress, but it's probably best. :p Sew-in bra cups or semi-stiff interfacing might be a challenge, but...I dunno if they would work.

    (I still haven't made the Lake dress, but I'd like to get to it eventually. :) )
     
  12. Lady_Skywalker13

    Lady_Skywalker13 Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 27, 2006
    You girls want to talk tape? I didn't make most of my dress, I only modefied it (not saying I didn't put hours upon hours of painstaking labor into it though!) but it wsa made for a size B cup...I'm a DD! So I bascially have to craft myself an entire bra out of tape and it hurts like crazy ripping it off!!

    But I had a question, where do you guys get fashion tape? I couldn't find any and ended up using clear duct tape which ended up leaving really ugle residue in my skin!
     
  13. Benae_Quee

    Benae_Quee Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 15, 2002
    Do you have a Rickie's near you? Some fabric stores might carry it too if they carry a lot of notions as well.
     
  14. Lady_Elu

    Lady_Elu Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2007
    I found my costume tape at my work: JoAnns. It was in the Notions section. ;)

    My roommates were laughing their butts off in the hotel room while I was in the bathroom ripping the tape off screaming in pain

    You should've seen some poor guy who worked at CIV. He was in that shopping area. My boyfriend was standing in front of me while I was ripping off the tape, and because he was blocking the guy's view, poor man must've thought he was beating me or something. :p

    ~Spacelady
     
  15. JainaMSolo

    JainaMSolo Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    My newest tape, which I really quite like (hurts much less coming off!) I found in the lingerie department at Macy's. Pricey, but worth it.
     
  16. Lady_Skywalker13

    Lady_Skywalker13 Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 27, 2006
    I don't have a rickies, but I have to go to the mall monday so I'll look in Macy's. If that doesn't work, I'll go to Jo Anne's. Thanks for the tips guys!
     
  17. Lady_Elu

    Lady_Elu Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2007
    Thought I'd post one more picture of my gown. A friend of mine finally found it on Rebel Scum. :D Yay. :D

    Here it is

    Too bad my boyfriend's computer won't let me do the images instead of the links. :p

    ~Spacelady
     
  18. Orliaan-Nabberie

    Orliaan-Nabberie Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2005
    Beautiful, Spacelady! I love how the colors just blend so perfectly. :)
     
  19. Sister_Sola

    Sister_Sola Manager Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 19, 2002
    This sounds like a much better idea than double-sided carpet tape, although I have to say that only irritated the skin for about a day afterwards, and no scars, not a month like poor Benae-Quee! (whoa)

    JainaM, what is the name of it? And is it called "lingerie tape" or?

    (I haven't done this costume, I used tape for another costume)
     
  20. JainaMSolo

    JainaMSolo Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    I don't know the name offhand, and I'm actually in Europe right now on business so I can't check. :) I get home in a week, so I can tell you then. I'm pretty sure it came in a flat rectangular package that was pink, and it came in shaped pieces-- some were short rectangles, and I think there are also some curved pieces as well.
     
  21. luminousbeing78

    luminousbeing78 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 9, 2005
    Jaina, was it 'Hollywood' tape? That's what I get from Joanne's. I usually just buy the little strips, but the variety pack (which is really cool) has curved strips and really wide pieces that hold a long time. They seem to work well!
     
  22. Lady_Skywalker13

    Lady_Skywalker13 Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 27, 2006
    I got mine at Macy's like you suggested. I forgot the name but I found it on the racks in front of the cash register.
     
  23. JainaMSolo

    JainaMSolo Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    Okay, I'm home, and I was wrong about the packaging being pink. It's white, and the brand name is Fashion Forms: Dress & Lingerie Tapes. There are 3 pair each of straight and curved tapes and it retailed for $6.
     
  24. JainaMSolo

    JainaMSolo Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    I had some time on my hands recently, so I started doing a more detailed analysis of Kristen's pictures of the rainbow dress from the NYC runway show back in 2005. I hope I'm not duplicating effort here; I checked every relevant thread I could think of, plus Padawan's Guide. Anyway, here are my observations, mostly pertaining to the underdress, and I welcome comments, corrections, or thoughts. I would especially love to hear from people with good draping/construction knowledge-- the fabric is definitely hanging in some interesting ways near the seams, and I know it's saying something about the grain and angle, but I don't know enough to decipher it.

    (Just a warning- these linked pictures are cropped, but still full-res, so they're quite large.)

    According to DAG, the dress is made of bias-cut silk chiffon and sanded charmeuse, or something to that effect. Whether the overdress is on the bias is a subject for another day, but I'm quite certain that these pictures confirm that the underdress is on the bias. At any rate, have a look-- you can clearly see that there are two triangular extensions on the bottom of the front panel, one on the left and one on the right. Green arrows indicate the regular vertical seam, red arrows indicate the angled extension seams:

    [image=http://queenc.com/rainbow/rainbow_seams_1_arrows.jpg]
    [image=http://queenc.com/rainbow/rainbow_seams_2_arrows.jpg]
    [image=http://queenc.com/rainbow/rainbow_seams_3_arrows.jpg]
    [image=http://queenc.com/rainbow/rainbow_seams_4_arrows.jpg]

    I'm pretty sure those angled seams are what you get when you can't fit the whole bias panel on your width of fabric. Well, you'd get it on one side, anyway; I'm guessing they just mirrored it on the other side so it would look even. This also makes me think that the front panel of the dress is all one piece-- ie, there's no waist or empire seam. If there were, they should've been able to fit the whole panel on one width, and they wouldn't have needed extension pieces. However, there really are no good pictures of the bodice of the dress, because it's always covered by the overdress, so I can't say for sure.

    I also think there's a gore/godet/thingie inserted at each of the side seams, probably starting at the waist, which could account for the extreme fullness of the skirt. Check this seam out-- it's not the front panel seam seen above (you can see that seam on the right of the picture). It could also possibly be the CB seam, although I think that's less likely; but the dress is rather swishy, and even just in these pictures, the seams move all over the place. The new seam is arrowed in blue; the other seams are green and red as before:

    [image=http://queenc.com/rainbow/rainbow_seams_5_arrows.jpg]

    Assuming I'm correct and that is a gore, it looks to be quite large. In the next picture you can see a bit of the right front panel/gore seam, but nothing else:

    [image=http://queenc.com/rainbow/rainbow_seams_2_arrows.jpg]

    Sadly, we can't really tell anything about the top of the dress, as it's always covered by the overdress. We *can* see that the model was a bit bigger than Natalie-- the dress rides higher in the back, and she's, er, kind of busting out of the top, so the bust and/or waist of the dress must be quite small and fitted:

    [image=http://queenc.com/rainbow/rainbow_size_1.jpg]

    There's also this still from one of the makings-of, which gives a little overall shape information:

    [image=http://queenc.com/rainbow/rainbowmaking1.jpg]

    I've actually never made a bias-cut dress before, so I don't really know how the top could be shaped to the bust/waist-- any thoughts?

    That's pretty much all I've got for the underdress. So, my best guess for now is that it's a bias-cut dress with a front panel, a back panel (possibly split in two up the CB, I don't know), two side gores, and two front extensions.

    Other random observations from the pictures-- you can see that the overdress doesn't actually close around the upper arm, and the outer edge of the binding doesn't close around t
     
  25. Lady_Elu

    Lady_Elu Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2007
    Very good analysis. :)

    However, I was thinking back to what I did for CIV when I wore this gown, and I know, my versions have been far from the real thing, but we don't really know if the "sleeve" closes around the wrist, and maybe there is something in the gathering to give it structure. But, would it be at all possible that they used Costume Tape to hold it in place, along with the structure of the sleeve?

    ~Spacelady