Reenacting is a fun and rewarding hobby. Whether you portray famous historical figures or your own fictional character, reenacting is a form of time travel for those of us who feel they were born in the wrong era. However, reenacting can be overwhelming and very expensive. I hope through this blog to help those new to the hobby, or even those veteran reenactors, to enjoy reenacting without breaking the bank. Blog posts will address things like developing your character, traditions and etiquette for different time periods, and affordable but accurate clothing options. So step back in time to days gone by...

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Gone With the Budget!

Gone With the Wind is one of my favorite movies!
I am actually fluent in GWTW being that I can quote most of the film:).

In addition to being a fan of the movie I also enjoyed reading the book as well as reading books about the making of the movie.

Aside from being a big fan I also love the dresses.
Of course, my favorite is the BBQ dress.

So I decided to make the BBQ dress.
 Reproduction fabric is available but at $35 per yard with 18 yards needed another option had to be found.
And so the search began for a fabric close in appearence to the original. I decided to find a comparable green and white fabirc and cover it over in sheer white organza in hopes that it would have the same effect as the original dress.
I finally found a fabric that would work at Joann's on sale for $5.60 a yard.
The organza was also on sale and I chose to use dark green crushed velvet for the belt instead of real velvet (a difference of about $20 a yard:).
The boning was leftover from a dress I purchased at a thrift shop for $1.

I used a bodice pattern from an old Simplicity ball gown pattern and made the skirt without a pattern.
This allowed for only about 7 yarrds of fabric as opposed to the 18 yards required for the actual BBQ dress pattern (yes I have the reprint pattern which can be purchased at the gift shop at the GWTW/Marguaret Mitchell museum in Atlanta).

It took some creativity but I think the overall effect is very similar to Scarlett's BBQ dress.
Instead of spending $600+ to make an exact copy, my dress came in just under $100.
Frankly Scarlett, I saved some money!

What's your favorite GWTW dress?

10 comments:

  1. It turned out beautifully, better than the movie version! Can't wait to see the drapery dress (or in terms of Carol Burnett, the drapery rod dress). I just have to smile when I think of it.

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  2. Oh my whiskers!!!! You sewed this?!?!! How incredible!!! I agree with KD - this is better than the movie version!!!! You are incredible!

    "Her" and Romeo

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  3. iTS beautiful.I must start making some of these things one day I just have to get started,

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  4. WOW!!!! YOU ARE AMAZING! And I love your header picture, Kim! My favorite dress from the movie is the RED VELVET number Scarlett wore to Ashley's birthday party.....YOWSA! Can ya whip that one up? You are so talented and you must be having a blast. Isn't it nice to have an interest and JUMP right into it?

    THANK YOU FOR YOUR VISIT!!! Have a fabulous rest of summer...I AM then it's back to school end of August...OH NO!!! Anita

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  5. Kim this is gorgeous! Now I want to see you in my dear!!! You will be beautiful!
    hugs from here...

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  6. Wow!!! Wonderful job with the dress!! So glad to have found another Victorian lover here in blog land. I'm your newest follower and hope you will stop by my blog.....Pretty Victorian Delights.
    Blessings.....Sue

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  7. Fabulous... I've always loved this dress and you've duplicated it beautifull..BRAVO !!!

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  8. Great job! And I love how your necklace turned out! I have a hard time choosing a favorite~
    Lovely blog and costumes... and kitty. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. Oh geez, the reproduction pattern demanded 18 yards of fabric?? That is absolutely insane...your dress turned out just as nice, if not nicer, than other repro dresses out there!

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