Fairy Tale Prince and Thumbelina

The Wardrobe UK Costume Con came and went and was a very lovely affair. It took place from 20th to 21st November, in a friendlyhotel in Birmingham. The convention was small and intimate, with enthusiasts who were not only very friendly, but also true experts in their fields. I had a most enjoyable weekend and would like to thank everybody for the warm welcome.

The Prince and Thumbelina, his Princess. I'm very happy that I got an award for Best Hall Costume on the Theme of "Fairy Tales".

In-progress photos and information

I am going to the UK Costume Convention Wardrobe in November and the theme for the Hall costume on Sunday is "Fairy Tale"

Now what better than to go as a generic German Fairy tale character a la Brothers Grimm. After all, I am German and grew up with those stories and still love them in all their dark glory.

You have to know that once upon a time, many many moons ago, I made the first costume ever that I can recollect making/helping to make: I wanted to be a prince. I was 6 at the time. To be precise, I wanted to be the prince out of the wonderful Czechoslovakian fairy tale adaptationDrei Nusse fur Aschenbrodel (three nuts for Cinderella) that has been aired each and every Christmas on German telly since it was filmed in the early 1970s. I love it to bits, after all those years.

Just a Prince is a bit boring, thus I decided to have my Princess with me, in this case Thumbelina. I bought a "fashion doll" (it's not a Barbie, it was either £15 for that one or £3 for a no-name one) and I am making a Medieval style gown for her.

I found some lovely thin linen scraps for her underdress, which I embroidered in gold with my Pfaff sewing machine and while rummaging threw the stacks of fabrics, found some plum coloured velvet scraps that were big enough and gold poly brocade for the sleeve lining.

I got a Simplicity pattern and am doing the Houppelande style gown as indicated to the left.

I've got everything cut out and zigzagged (don't you just hate the fluff everywhere when working with velvet?) and am raring to start on the dress.

It's quite hard to make such a tiny costume I find, because the bits are extremely fiddley. On the other hand it's great fun and cheap as long as you have notions and fabrics flying around that would be useless for real costumes.

Now onto the Prince, I have been thinking a lot about that. What does a generic fairy tale prince look like? Is it medieval style or Renaissance style or even Elizabethan style, let alone Rococo style?

I found a pair of soft brown leather over the knee boots which still fit me and I've been keeping for many years, so I guess I'll go with the medieval version. Not authentic of course, after all, it's a fairy tale costume!