Belle's Blue Dress

It is a supposition not quite universally acknowledged that a brunette must be the biggest fan of Belle among all Disney Princesses -- or maybe it's just me. I'm not sure why, but most people just assume that Belle is my favorite princess. She might've been at one time, back when the movie first came out (I *think* I was in 2nd grade at the time?), but she quickly fell in the ranks for me.

While I do love libraries and bookstores, I'm a really finicky reader. If something grabs my attention, I will get lost in a book (or webtoon, fanfic...) for hours, easily. But if not, I will re-read the same paragraph over and over before realizing just how bored I am and give up entirely. I think that's why I usually opt for movies over books. If the story is bad, I've only wasted two hours, tops. I've had unfinished books feel like a waste of several hours. I think Belle would probably be more forgiving of a lackluster story than I am. (And she's definitely more patient when it comes to grouchy men... I would not be able to put up with Beast lol...)

All that aside, I really love Belle's blue dress. It's so classic and effortlessly pretty. I actually prefer it over her gold ballgown. I've even almost made her blue dress as a costume to wear to a convention (and not have to use a wig!) or for Halloween, but never quite got around to it.

When American Girl released their version of Belle's blue dress (complete with Mrs. Potts and Chip), I was pretty dang tempted. Still, as I've been on a sewing kick since last year, I thought I'd try my hand at making the dress myself first. While I was sewing my most recent jumper dress, I realized that there were parts of it that were similar to Belle's blue dress. I had some leftover fabric from when I made my mom's Alice in Wonderland dress (I thought the other shade of blue was closer to Alice's), so I decided to use that for my attempt at "pattern hacking" the jumper dress pattern.

"Ahhh, isn't this amaaazinggg..."

In the end, I think I did pretty good! I turned the top of the jumper dress into a bodice with a higher and more square neckline and added a simple rectangle skirt. The apron ended up being a little too long, so I had to go back and adjust it, but overall, it came together pretty easily. I didn't want to attempt the shirt, so I used Felicity's summer dress as a stand in. It worked... mostly... The top looks amazing, but there was so much skirt fabric, I struggled to hide it under the dress.

At this point, I was 90% sure that I wanted to get the American Girl version of the dress instead of making a second attempt, but I also wanted to be careful with my gift cards. I've been saving them since Christmas, hoping that AG will release something really fun for the historical dolls -- another round of birthday outfits or maybe some of their summer outfits. I know a lot of people get bored of seeing the same items released and re-released, but when you missed out on almost ALL of those things as a kid and would rather have them new and not have to scrub years of grime out of them before putting them on your dolls, it's really nice when AG releases them from "the vault." But then AG announced their double points deal, and that ended up sending me over the edge. I decided to grab the blue dress and get those glorious 110 points. I'm getting closer to that reward certificate... someday...

The dress arrived today and I have zero regrets!

"I want [tea] in the great wide, somewhere..."

Is the dress blindingly shiny? Yes. Would it make a Belle cosplayer cry? Very probably yes. Do I care? Absolutely not. The silhouette is beautiful, the details on the bodice are a lovely touch, I like the addition of the lace to the bottom of the skirt, and those shoes are *chef's kiss*. The dress looks more elegant in satin and reminds me of the dress my 1992 Mattel Belle doll wore. A+++, I fully expect Belle fans young and old alike to go nuts over it. In fact, my mom -- who is definitely a Belle fan -- ordered hers right away and I think she's going to LOVE it.

Mrs. Potts and Chip are a super cute addition to the set and I love that the dolls can actually hold Mrs. Potts thanks to a small clip that hooks her onto a finger. Nice design choice, AG!

But there's one thing that's better than teapots and teacups... a keyblade!

You knew this was coming, right? XD

Mia makes a pretty good keyblade wielder, if I do say so myself. ;D

She's gonna poke someone's eye out with that thing.

Beware, heartless! She's got a keyblade and she's not afraid to use it! ;D

#MiaRyder