Fitting a garment is always a process—one that calls for patience, a keen eye and a good understanding of body movement and design. Finally we’re ready to fit the Marie Antoinette costume we worked on for the “Dance…no matter what” dance production by Les Danseuses Adult Ballet studio and I thought I’d share a few insights from the journey. It was a rewarding, if slightly challenging, experience that highlights how essential multiple fittings can be when aiming for both comfort and elegance on stage.
Fitting 1: Getting the Foundation Right
At the first fitting, a few major issues immediately stood out.
Firstly, the styleline on the centre front panel was completely off. The neckline was too closed and did not reflect the reference images of the typical style the ladies wore in that century. To correct this, I had to remove the centre front panel fabric entirely, update the pattern piece and re-cut the piece. This alone made a huge difference to the overall look of the bodice.
Secondly, the back of the bodice was too big. There was excess fabric that created a gap when the dancer moved. To fix this, I pinned out the extra and planned to take in the seams to contour the back more closely. A secure fit is essential, especially to convey the refined, high-end elegance of nobility.
Another observation was that the bustle needed more shape. We decided to add extra padding with netting at the back to help lift and define the bustle more clearly. This small change added lovely volume and improved the balance of the entire costume from the side view.
Lastly, the bodice was too short, which caused it to pull upwards during movement, exposing the waistband of the skirt. Although we separated the bodice and skirt for practical reasons discussed in previous blog posts, our desire was to visually create a seamless dress so that the princess styleline continues all the way to the hem of the skirt. Therefore we had to fix this problem, so I extended the pattern pieces to add length and re-cut the panels.
Fitting 2: Fine-Tuning the Silhouette
With the major structural issues addressed, our second fitting focused on refining and enhancing.
We saw that the shoulders needed to be taken in slightly. They were gaping at the neckline, causing the shoulders seams to slide off the shoulder. Once pinned correctly, the posture of the bodice improved dramatically, lifting the shoulder seams and allowing the neckline to lie nice and flat against the chest.
While the bodice had originally been too short, it was now too long. I anticipated that this might be the case, because I deliberately added an additional 5cm to the altered measurements, because I figured it was easier to shorten the bodice once we did the fitting with the skirt waist in the right place, than to redo the whole thing again. The added length helped to disguise the waistband on the skirt, but it created excess fabric that rode up and formed wrinkles. The solution here was easy, a simple shortening of the hemline to give a clean, wrinkle-free look.
Costume fitting is often a balancing act—literally and figuratively. Each alteration needs to support both the aesthetic and the dancer’s range of movement. It’s easy to forget how much the smallest adjustment—a centimetre here, a bit more padding there—can dramatically improve the final outcome.
My best advice is to stay observant during fittings. Listen to how the dancer feels in the garment and don’t hesitate to revisit earlier decisions. Every body is unique and your ability to adapt and problem-solve is just as important as your stitch work.
Thanks for reading! I’ll be sharing more updates as this costume reaches its final stage—stay tuned!
What is a Queen without a train? Watch out for our next blog post in the NEW Marie-Antoinette series, where I discuss the making of the train. Keep a lookout for the final design still to come.
Blog posts in the Marie-Antoinette series:
PART 1: Versailles
PART 2: What else can go wrong?
PART 3: How many patterns does it take to make one dress?
PART 4: Creating the drama element…the Skirt
PART 5: The most intricate and time consuming part…the Bodice
PART 6: Fitting…the most important step
Upcoming blog posts in the Marie-Antoinette series:
PART 7: What is a Queen without a train?
PART 8: A gown fit for a Queen!
PART 9: The show must go on
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