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Making of - Black diamonds, the movie ;-) - bodice - shoes -gloves - stockings - swing - top hat - actual size of the costume - pictures of the finished costume - comparing this doll costume with the original costume

Moulin Rouge Black Diamonds

Original costume

So far I have used over 1,000 Swarovski crystals, a full package of silver cut beads as well as 2 yards of Swarovski Rhinestone banding on this particular doll costume, and I'm constantly using more.
In the pictures below, some of the scales at the side of the doll corset are still not beaded... It's not finished by far - the beading on the tails, the shoulder straps, the crystals on the hat and shoes, the fishnet stockings, the gloves et cetera plus the swing which I'm also intending to create for this costume are still missing, but I hope to finish this doll costume really soon!
Stay tuned for updates! :-)

The costume is finished!

After almost one month (!) of work, 2,000 Swarovski rhinestones in crystal and crystal AB, 4 yards (!) of Swarovski rhinestone banding, four pairs of star-shaped earrings - also set with Swarovski crystals - and two full packages of beads - all hand stitched to the outfit - this doll costume is finally finished now!

As no camera could ever capture the sparkle of those crystals, here's a small movie first:

A longer and more detailed version of this video (4MB - the above shown movie 'just' has about 300kb) can be seen on this page.

Here are the pictures of the costume. As I have already mentioned, the digital photo camera can't capture the sparkle of the crystals - but it's obviously totally confused by the lights that flash from those crystals, so the pictures are not the *very* best, I have to admit.

The costume consists of several pieces. A short description of them in the table below, a longer explanation with more, detailed pictures can be found below this table.

The stockings, with sewn-on shorts - made from black satin, closing on the backside with snaps, and set with rhinestones. The stocking material is incredibly fine mosquito netting.	The shoes, originally plain Kingstate pumps, but for this costume set with Swarovski rhinestones accordingly to how the original shoes were decorated	The top hat - black satin with felt and plastic stiffening, decorated with three bands of Swarovski Rhinestone chain
The bodice - consisting of the 'corset' part which is set with almost 2,000 Swarovski rhinestones and hand beaded with tiniest, silver lined cut pearls. Those pearls are indeed each individually hand sewn - they are not glued on!	The swing, which plays an important part in the movie. It is made of black satin ribbons, Swarovski Rhinestone banding, black satin and heavy cardboard. It can be put up to a hook and will carry Satine!	The gloves, which have opera length and were made of black satin.

The weight of the bodice is incredible. Due to the excessive beading and the amount of Swarovski rhinestones used, it weights over half a kilogram (that's over one pound!).
The tails on the bodice are decorates with silver lined bead fringe. Under this beaded fringe there's a layer of sequin material, which is also decorated with Swarovski rhinestones.
I used four pairs - eight single - star-shaped earrings to decorate the entire costume. After removing the pin, they were securely attached to the costume.
The backside has a difference to the original costume: It's laced, while the original had an invisible closure. I could have easily (as in: much easier than setting in grommets which are so small that they can practically hide under my fingernails without me noticing this!) have used some velcro tape here, but I personally think that a real laced closure looks much better - no matter if it's on a human or a doll costume.
I've taken the utmost care so that the shoulder straps cover the entire arm gap, which was not *too* easy, actually.

The shoes, originally Kingstate pumps, were decorates with Swarovski rhinestones according to how the original shoes were decorated.

The stockings are sewn to black satin shorts, which are also decorated with Swarovski rhinestones. This way no bare skin will show under the bodice.

The swing, on which Satine sits, swings and sings in the movie, was also made by me. The 'ropes' are nearly half a yard long and can be attached to a hook in the ceiling (or elsewhere).

The top hat was made from a tiny, 'Good luck' top hat from New year's eve. It was covered with the same satin with which the costume is lined and of which the shorts and gloves as well as the swing cover are made of, and decorated with three rows of Swarovski rhinestone banding.

And just to remind you of the actual size of the costume... some pictures with my hands on it ;-)

Finally, here are pictures of the complete outfit - with and without the swing:

Some more pictures taken in sunlight:

And now compare some pictures with the original costume:

original	this doll's costume		original	this doll's costume
original	this doll's costume		original	this doll's costume
original	this doll's costume		original	this doll's costume