Beauxbatons Uniform | 2016

Beauxbatons Uniform | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Made for : Trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Background : My favourite costume to come out of the Harry Potter films besides Hermione’s Yule Ball dress, were the school uniforms of the French wizarding school – Beauxbatons. I knew that for my second trip to the Orlando park that I wanted to go in costume and I thought that the uniform would be more practical to walk around in than a ball gown. It was super worth it. All the staff were super nice and kept letting me skip lines or stay on rides so that I could ride them twice in a row. I even got given a free Butterbeer.

Things used :

Hat : I commissioned the wonderful Tess of Dressed By Tess to make me a Beauxbatons style hat. She did a phenomenal job and was very communicative through the whole process. Always sending me progress photos and making sure that she had the exact blend of blue wool that I wanted.

Cape : I originally brought McCall’s 4139 to make the cape from. I believe I made a mock up and then discarded it because this pattern had seams at the shoulders which I didn’t want. So I cut out a circle instead and then took the neckline from that pattern and applied it to the center of the circle.

I had to draft a collar for it because the cape has two. The under one has long pointy collar points and the top one is more of a standard collar shape. I don’t remember what fabric was used for the under collar but I think the top collar was made from the same satin as the cape with a layer of dark blue floral lace over top to give it a nice texture.

I used the wrong side of a light blue satin for the majority of the cape. I chose to use the wrong side because it was less in-your-face shiny than the right side. The cape was lined in the same satin, just a dark blue.

I used a hook and eye to close it in the front.

Dress : What a Frankenstein this piece turned out to be. It was a combination of three patterns : McCall’s M7314 which I used as a base for the bodice, Simplicity 1880 which I used for the skirt and finally, Butterick B4929 which I used for the sleeves.

McCall’s M7314 was a great base for the blouse, all I altered was adding three pleats in place of the bust darts and changing the shape of the collar. The sleeves of the Butterick pattern fit right in, that’s the beauty of a gathered sleeve. I did change the cuffs though, in a similar way to the collar on the cape. I added a double cuff with the under one being made of the mystery fabric and points added and the top one made of the satin and lace combo.

The skirt was made from Simplicity 1880 though I rotated the seams so that there were two in the front and two in the back rather than one at each front, back and the sides.

Just like the cape, the dress was made from the wrong side of some light blue satin. The skirt was lined in the dark blue satin.

Stockings and shoes : I wore plain black sheer stockings and I could have worn my heels that I made for my first version but I also wanted to be comfortable at the parks so I opted for my black ballet flats.

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