Provincial Belle And Gaston Costumes

Hello sweet friends! Welcome to this year’s costume extravaganza featuring Provincial Belle And Gaston Costumes from the live-action movie.

Every year at this time I challenge myself to create at least one, if not two, costumes on a budget. For this year’s tour de force I gave myself a strict guideline that the clothing must be created with things I already had on hand.  

Provincial Belle And Gaston Costumes

Let’s start with Gaston. 

In a good portion of the film, the character wears a red vest and a white ruffled shirt. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had created a red 18th century inspired vest the very first year that I began costuming. It was whipped up from a linen tablecloth and red Rit dye. 

Butterick 3896

For the white ruffly shirt, I used an out-of-print pattern, Butterick 3896. It had been purchased at an estate sale a while ago. 

Although the pattern states “Making History” please know this is not a historically accurate shirt. It has no underarm gussets and is constructed similarly to a man’s modern shirt. I personally will not be using this pattern again for this reason. 

As this was for a simple costume I did not use traditional linen. The white muslin fabric was from my sewing stash but you could also use a sheet. 

Gaston wears brown breaches and traditional 18th century/Regency era boots. 

Information on how we created Gaston’s boots is featured in this week’s video.

For the pants, we simply borrowed Sweet Guy’s brown breeches that were recently featured HERE. 

We did purchase this wig and this red ruby ring to create Gaston’s signature look. 

It’s not cheating because they are accessories not clothing. Wink.

There’s no man in town as admired as you
You’re everyone’s favorite guy
Everyone’s awed and inspired by you
And it’s not very hard to see why

No one’s slick as Gaston
No one’s quick as Gaston

Plus he uses antlers in all of his decorating!

Live-Action Village Belle

The real challenge was outfitting Belle. Although the costume looks rather simple when you break it down it actually has nine different pieces, not including her socks and boots. 

How to create her pantaloons, chemise, fischu, and pockets can be seen in this POST.

There was also a VIDEO. 

This left her petticoat, skirt, necklace, and outer corset (vest).

The petticoat was made from a vintage sheet and an Edwardian-era flounce. I did not use a pattern. It is simply a fabric tube with a drawstring waistband. An in-process shot was shared on Instagram. 

The skirt was created from an antique skirt I had purchased at a French flea market a few years ago. You can see a close-up of it in this video. 

Technically Belle’s apron is much thinner in width in the movie. But I had already created the perfect apron last year. As it is also made of antique fabric I had found in France there was no way I was going to cut it down. 

Belle’s Corset and Necklace

So, this left Belle’s corset and necklace. 

I had purchased a PDF pattern from Etsy shortly after the movie had come out. I figured it was high time to use it. However, I did alter the construction a bit. You can see the changes in detail in this week’s video. You can also view how the necklace was made. 

The corset fabric was made from a white cotton canvas tablecloth that I dyed indigo. The red rooster lining fabric came from Walmart. I had purchased it last year with home decor in mind but never used it. The jean fabric was leftover from a long-ago project. But it originally came from the Dallas Fabric District. 

The red and white ties were made from leftover Christmas ribbon. The silver aiglets (lacing points) were purchased a few years ago when I thought I would be making a Renaissance-style costume. Such a costume is still on my bucket list. 

As for Belle’s boots I had purchased those last year on eBay for my 1890s Sporting Outfit. The leather, lace-up ankle boots are made by Sketchers. You can find similar styles HERE. 

The socks are from Free People several seasons ago. Although they do still carry similar styles. 

Bonjour, bonjour!

Look there she goes, that girl is strange, no question
Dazed and distracted, can’t you tell?

She’s nothing like the rest of us
Yes, different from the rest of us is Belle!

The Reveal

First and foremost: Gaston’s FACE in the photo below! I still crack up. 

I love my GASTON so much!

My husband is not a costumer. There are only two reasons he agreed to put on a wig, wear a ruffly shirt and gaudy ruby ring. 

He is a good sport and loves me very much. 

Three cheers for Gaston!

Let me take a moment to say if you are thinking we are too old to play these characters you are 100% correct. 

But Halloween is an enchanting time full of fun. So have a Snickers bar. 

Let’s focus on happiness and joy. And the fact that I purchased very little to create these two costumes. 

The Total Cost

As previously mentioned all of the clothing came from items that were already in our closets or created from leftover fabric, dish towels, sheets, etc. The only things purchased were:

• Wig: $20.88 
• Boots: $39.00 (They are currently priced higher, no doubt as a Halloween premium price.)
• Ring: $13.99

Total: $73.87

The total price is a bit higher than some of our previous Halloween costumes. But I can see both the wig and the boots being worn for other costumes in the future. 

Just a reminder that the links I provided for various products are affiliate links. Click HERE to read my full disclosure policy.

Total time: I have been working on the costumes off and on since August. Eight items total had to be sewn to create these looks. It probably took well over 60 hours +. 

But let’s just say literal blood, sweat, and tears were poured into them. The corset was tricky in that it was my first time installing grommets. The awl to create the holes in the fabric slipped and went into my other hand. The results of that painful catastrophe can be seen near the second and third grommets from the top. I left it as a hard-won trophy.

This Week’s Video

I’m going to tell you right now that the BEST part of this week’s video is the hilarious outtakes! Just click on the image to view. 

I hope you enjoyed this year’s costume extravaganza!

Many thanks to our son for photographing and videotaping crazy old Maurice err his parents.

I’ll see you Sunday.

Laura