Kelley Kullman - The Cosplay Book of Ballgowns: Create the Masterpiece of Your Dreams!

Publisher: Amy Barrett-Daffin

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Senior Editor: Roxane Cerda

Editors: Beth Baumgartel and Liz Aneloski

Technical Editor: Helen Frost

Cover/Book Designer: April Mostek

Production Coordinator: Tim Manibusan

Illustrator: Linda Johnson

Photography Assistant: Gabriel Martinez

Cover photography by Amie Photos_

Instructional photography by Regan Cerato and Kelley Kullman

Styled photography as noted

Floral Patterns provided by Ozz Design/Shutterstock.com

Published by FanPowered Press, an imprint of C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549

COSPLAYER: Cowbutt Crunchies

COSTUME: Loki from Thor (original design)

Photo by Sam Saturn

Dedication

Dedicated to our cats, our families, and
also to our cosplay family! Youre the best!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A huge thank-you to the amazing photographers weve met throughout the yearsKyle, Sarah, Sam, Amie, Alex, Charles, Lenore, David, and Nate. And, of course, to the fantastic cosplayers who contributed their works and words to this book: Youre all an inspiration!

Our cosplay family

Photo by Mineralblu

COSPLAYER: Cowbutt Crunchies

COSTUME: Seraphim from Sakizo

Photo by Alexandra Lee Studios

INTRODUCTION

For many, cosplay is about extravagance and creating larger-than-life outfits. And theres nothing more extravagant than the indomitable ballgown! Ballgowns can be found in all corners of pop culture and historical reenactment, from superpowered princesses to ladies in waiting. Beloved by master cosplayers and novices alike, ballgowns are a favorite due to their versatility and variety.

COSPLAYER: Ilabelle Cosplay

COSTUME: Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Photo by Mama Kat Photography

Create the Cosplay Ballgown of Your Dreams!

Dont be intimidated by their size! These monster gowns can be broken down into easy-to-understand components, which, once assembled, come together to create a head-to-toe garment that looks fantastic on cosplayers of all shapes and sizes. At its core, a ballgown is composed of three main pieces: the undergarments, the bodice, and the skirt. However, your choices dont end there; selecting the style of these main pieces heavily influences both the level of sewing difficulty, as well as the final gown shape!

As long time cosplayers who adore these fabulous dresses, weve created our fair share of ballgowns over the years, from original designs to re-creations to historical silhouettes. In this book we hope to provide a one-stop resource to help guide newcomers and experienced cosplayers alike toward creating the gowns of their dreams!

COSPLAYER: Cowbutt Crunchies

COSTUMES: Princess Bubblegum and Marceline from Adventure Time (original designs)

Photo by Charles Lan Photography

BALLGOWN BASICS

COSPLAYER: Cowbutt Crunchies

COSTUMES: Necromancer and Apprentice from Sakizo

Photo by Sam Saturn

Ballgown Anatomy

What exactly is a ballgown? While most people have a good idea of what a classic ballgown is, understanding the pieces and construction methods helps explain why there is such a huge variety of dresses in different styles, periods, and levels of formality.

Not all gowns are created equal! From classic Disney styles to modern, sleek dresses to historically influenced garments, changes in the bodice, undergarments, skirts, and embellishments can create drastic changes in the overall look and feel of your cosplay! Translating a two-dimensional or fictional characters design requires understanding not just the basic anatomy of a ballgown, but things like silhouette and proportion.

Understanding the basic parts of a ballgown is an important start in the journey of ballgown creation.

COSPLAYER: Cowbutt Crunchies

COSTUME: Helgasercle from Tree of Savior

Photo by Sam Saturn

UNDERGARMENTS

Any layer of your garment that isnt the finished dress layer is an undergarment. The goal of undergarments is to create structure under your finished dress to achieve certain shapes and sizes, or to modify your body in certain ways.

CORSET Corsets are boned garments for the upper part of the body, designed to shape the waist and bust area. While the word corset as a technical term refers to a relatively modern garment and build, in cosplay, the word often refers to anything from sixteenth-century bodices to eighteenth-century stays (fully boned undergarments) to modern, cupped fashion corsets designed to be worn on the outside. Whether worn as underwear or incorporated into a fantastical bodice, they are useful, and beautiful, in a huge variety of designs.

HOOP SKIRT/BUSTLE Skirts that are worn as one of the innermost layers of a ballgown are referred to as hoop skirts. They are highly structured garments which use boning and sewn channels to create a variety of shapes and sizes, which in turn support heavy skirts. Traditional hoop skirts go under the entire skirt, while bustles usually only add support to the back of a skirt. Like corsets, the shape and build of hoop skirts has changed through history, but cosplay has adopted them as a must-have for mighty silhouettes.

PETTICOAT/CRINOLINE Underskirts, often worn over hoop skirts but sometimes by themselves, are designed to provide body and volume under a finished skirt. They also come in a variety of shapes, to match the variety of skirt shapes, and are often made of organza or net fabric.

MODERN UNDERGARMENTS Items like bras, body shapers, binders, padded shortswhile these are less traditional ballgown garmentstheres no rule that says they dont work! For example, a good bra and shapewear can swap out for a corset. Modern undergarments can be an excellent option if youre pressed for time or materialsand can also help if you have a limited budget.