Fearne Calloway in Gucci at the Feywild Film Fest

This was not the first post I planned to make in my series on constructing a historically plausible Fearne Calloway costume from Critical Role campaign 3.

It’s very rare that Instagram’s suggested posts are of any relevance, but some times the actions of Instagram giveth more than it detracteth from a formerly good platform.

This post from @style_and_haute_couture featuring Dakota Johnson and Elle Fanning in green swooshy fantasy dresses just came across my ‘you might like this’ feed and, well …

I find it useful to look at extant garments when adapting and designing costumes. It’s useful to see real bodies in similar clothes as opposed to idealised 2D figures. Both of these gowns remind me of Fearne’s outfit. The off the shoulder and the classical revival draping are both good examples of dresses that could inform a Fearne costume. Johnson’s gown looks like it’s made from a heavier weight fabric, giving slightly more structure and coverage, showing that this is an option for those who want a more opaque option.

Fannings’ “princess drag,” worn at the premiere of the Maleficent in 2019, with it’s floral detail, ribbons, draped skirts and flounce sleeves just feels so familiar though …

Let’s take a moment to look at Hannah Friederichs official Fearne images as played by Ashley Johnson:

So then, of course, I had to see more of Fannings’ Gucci choices and …. Well

Images sourced from INSTARimages.com, Getty Images, jimmychoo.com, net-a-porter.com via Tom&Lorenzo here, here and here.

The draping, colour, and the flowers might be from the Maleficent gown (Custom Gucci Gown with Floral Appliqués and Gloves 2019).

From the peach gown (Custom Gucci Gown with Floral Embroidery 2019) which was worn at the Cannes Film Festival, we can see the high-low skirt, the blue waist/bust flower and, of course, the cape.

The last gown is also from Cannes, but 2017 (Gucci Green Floral-Embroidered Crystal-Embellished Gown from the Fall 2017 Collection) and this gives us the flowers at the hem.

Looking at these three extant gowns can give us a better idea of fabrics to choose in making a Fearne costume. I’m kicking myself right now because my initial thought was to make the cape from some kind of satin or polished silk but I bought metres of chiffon (I know, I know) instead. I do have a much paler delustred satin in my stash that I will now consider using instead.

Similarly, the floral hem shows how flowers can be added to a light weight fabric like chiffon or tule if there is some kind of stabilising lower layer. This is something I know I’ve been struggling with - and I’m sure others have as well. The flowers here look much floppier and less defined than commercial silks or faux flowers.

I’m still forging ahead on my historically plausible outfit, but I will now be drawing from this fantasy princess couture as well.

It’s all Gucci.