Thursday, February 4, 2016

This and That....

Well here it is Thursday and dh has been back to work for 4 days and I'm beginning to get back to my old self and schedule.  Today was suppose to be laundry day but Peyton showed up with Little John and Chloe so we decided just to go for a walk and watch the movie "Cinderella" (more about that later).


 Peyton was sitting holding Little John and that's Chloe looking over her shoulder from the back of the chair.  Where the baby is....Chloe is.
Then when we went for our walk Vallie got tired because she's use to my "Old Lady Walk" and Peyton and Chloe walk much faster so she hitched a ride on Little John's stroller.  She's so funny and it's like Chloe's making fun of her in the picture.

I don't know how many of you ladies have seen the movie "Cinderella" but the blue gown she wears in the movie fascinated me so I did some checking.  Being a person who sews and stitches I wanted to know more about the dress.  After some research this is what I found.

Behind the many layers, the gown is a feat of structural engineering. We started with the underwear: the corset and the crinoline (skirt cage), which was made of steel.
Each of the eight versions of the gown is also slightly different. One was 2in shorter and a couple were 4in for the times when Lily had to run; another had holes cut in the sides of the skirt for harness work.
The hems got incredibly dirty as the shoot went on. That proved a headache – these dresses aren’t something you can just throw in the wash.
And it also wasn’t the most practical design. During filming, Lily and Helena Bonham Carter, who plays her fairy godmother and wears an equally huge gown, had to get used to it taking an age to be dressed. In the end, we got it down to a 20 minutes.

THAT DRESS... BY NUMBERS

3 Miles of thread in the hems
250 Metres of fabric in each dress
4,000 Hours it took to make eight different versions of the gown
10,000 Swarovski crystals hand-applied to the dresses
20 Minutes it took to get the dress on
4 Inches one dress was shortened by to help Lily flee the ball at midnight
The trickiest thing Lily had to do in the gown was dance with her prince, played by Richard Madden. They practised endlessly, but poor Richard kept treading on her hems. Of course, when it came to actually shooting, they were faultless.
While I was delighted with the dress’s reception, I was surprised by the obsession with Lily’s tiny waist. People seemed to think it was setting a bad example to young girls. Some even accused the studio of digitally altering it. Ridiculous.
The reason her waist looks tiny is because the skirt is so huge – it’s an optical illusion – and she’s wearing a corset. The film is set in the 19th Century and every woman in the film is wearing one, even the maids.
I understand people get upset when incredibly skinny models appear on the catwalk or in photos. But Lily is not a super-skinny girl – there’s nothing wrong with her body. Cinderella is a girl known for kindness and courage, so it’s sad people just kept talking about her waist size.
The top layer of the gown is silk crepeline, a very lightweight, fine silk. The layers underneath are made up of a synthetic called yumissima, an incredibly light (and very expensive, about £150 a metre) material which floats when thrown in the air. 


All of this just amazed me and I would love to be able to wear a dress of that type.  Today's clothes are so boring to what people use to wear.  But then I usually hang out in my pj's.  LOL

Blessings to All,
Barbara

9 comments:

Carolyn said...

Those pups are funny. Every animal seems to have its own personality. You can't help but love them. I love that dress. How beautiful and all the detail that went into making it. Thanks for sharing. I would love to dress that way. I love those fancy full skirted dresses.

Robin in Virginia said...

I enjoyed reading the history behind the dress, Barbara. Thanks for sharing it with us! I am still chuckling about Vallie hitching a ride with little John. What a wonderful visit you had!

Marilyn said...

Glad you had a good time with Peyton and Little John.
The doggies are cute too.
Vallie is smart!
Marilyn

Annie said...

The doggies steal the show as usual! Love Chloe photobombing the first shot. And it's just too cute to see here peeking into that stroller. Sounds like a very nice visit and way more fun than laundry!

That dress is really amazing. Perfect for a Cinderella!

Vickie said...

Vallie is so funny. What an extremely interesting dress!

Barb said...

So pleased to see a post from you Barbara , Little John has grown so much. So back to having more you time , I am amazed your husband has gone back to work ,but you must be so relieved it is over and he is on the road to recovery. Love Cinderellas dress but I would look like a beached whale if I wore something like that,. Vallie is so cute and Chloe looks really protective of "her"baby, I really must update my blog too, time flies by. So my dear ,stay warm and safe ,we have had so much rain this winter I am thinking of windscreen wipers on my specs and a boat to get about in. Take care and many hugs .

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

What a stunning dress...Thank you for sharing your findings with us!

marly said...

Vallie had the right idea. I hate dressing up and my uniform has become sweats. That's not good because they are comfortable even with weight gain, therefore, weight gain!!

Sherry said...

What a beautiful dress!!!