~My Elena Gown ~

                                             Spanish Ball Gown 1840’s

 I enjoy all the costumes in the Zorro movies, but my favorite has always been Elena’s red and black gown that she wears while dancing with Zorro.

 I had the opportunity to create crocheted lace while recovering from an ankle injury two summers ago and this dress was the perfect design to use it on .Although my fabrics are  slightly different due to budget I tried to get my gown as close to the original as possible. I’ve included lots of close up pictures and research photos of Elena’s gown.

Dress Description:

The Bodice –The bodice is made from a tapestry style fabric and it fully boned to give it a corset like appearance. In the front of the bodice the point and the neckline are all trimmed with piping of the same color. The scoop neckline is trimmed in gold and black lace that I gathered around the front The black and gold lace was very fun to make. I used a gold fabric paint stick and just started coloring! The center back laces with black grommets and cording that I laced up corset fashion.

The Skirt- The underskirt is tiered with four layers of cream-colored ruffles. Each ruffled tier is trimmed in crocheted black lace and handmade red ribbon roses. The overskirt is made from a black taffeta style fabric and is split in front to allow the underskirt to show.

The Petticoat-The petticoat…. I used 23 yards of netting and lots of lace to make this very full and perfect for dancing petticoat. Layers if cream lace make up the ruffles and the netting was carefully applied to give the correct fullness.

The Corset-Well I originally made this corset to be worn with the gown...,but alas that was not to be. I found that this style of bodice looked much better with a built in corset. So I still have the first corset and use it for Civil War styles and displays....It was a lot of fun to make and I was so pleased with how the embroidery looked.

  Many thank to threadsofelena.com for the movie stills and ideas