All the patterning for the dress was done from scratch. The bodice and skirts are a heavy weighted satin and the bodice is fully lined, interfaced, and steel-boned for structure. It’s lined in a custom printed Haunted Mansion fabric because it was for Halloween. (and who doesn’t love The Haunted Mansion?) The belt and cuffs are made of a fake leather material to add a pop of texture.

In total, there’s 28 yards of horsehair braid in the skirting hems to give it the flowy look that I wanted. A 6-tiered hoop skirt is underneath to help support the weight of the skirting. Her character is known for her elegant movement and I wanted to still have that even with her being in a large gown. And what girl doesn’t love a dress with some good spin to it?

All the designs on the skirting were pulled from high res photos of the doll design, put into both Illustrator and Photoshop to redraw them so that I could have a clear and solid base to work with. I created a curve to the designs so that they could be applied to the dress smoothly and easily. In total, there was 50 feet (or 16.5 yards) of heat transfer vinyl used to create the designs on Esmeralda’s skirt.

I opted to take some liberties with her jewelry, finding pieces that had coins built into the chains. I thought it was a fun and unique detail that works for her character as when you first meet her in the film, she’s dancing for coins. She would definitely make her own jewelry with some spare coin.