Like many other people, I became entranced with Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of The Phantom of the Opera and set about re-creating some of the amazing costumes Christine wears in the show. Most of my costumes were built in the early '90s and are based most closely on the originals the Sarah Brightman wore in the London show, since the photos in the book were the only reference material I had at the time. Later I added some programs from shows around the world (Toronto, Canadian traveling cast, Sydney) and was able to take some design cues from them. The one costume I wish I had made but didn't was Christine's beautiful blue bustle dress; I never found a fabric I liked that matched closely enough for me to do it—but I'm still searching, so possibly I'll have some new photos to add if I ever do find the right material!

My re-creation of Christine's dressing gown with the Hannibal costume underneath. The bodice is made of alternating red and green cotton velveteen, heavily boned like a corset and laced up the back. It's trimmed with yards and yards of antique gold braid, red and green faceted crystal beads, and red and green glass flat-back stones. The dressing gown is of floral-patterned jacquard with embroidered trim at the cuffs and used as a tie around the waist (like Sarah Brightman's in the original London production). This shot is from a series of studio photos taken as publicity stills with a friend of mine, Wally Wingert.

Another shot of the Hannibal costume, this time without the dressing robe and with the diadem Christine wears as a member of the chorus. The skirt is made up of hundreds of red and green cords divided into alternating sections, with the center portion highlighted by red, green, and gold faceted beads (actually the same beads used in the Los Angeles production—a lucky find!)

A shot from the same studio session with me in Christine's white bustle wedding gown from the final scene of Phantom. The gown was made using white floral brocade, white lace, and more than 50 yards of ruched white ribbon for the trim. You can see more detail in the photo below.

Christine and Raoul's wedding portrait? No, it's a friend of mine and I at a Victorian ball. Since I wasn't strictly doing the Christine costume for this event, I left the curly fall at home. You can see the detail on the skirt a little better here.

This is my re-creation of Christine's masquerade dress, which is modeled on a traditional ballet dancer's tutu. There are 10 layers of pink tulle in the skirt, topped by a layer of white tulle with silver sparkles woven into it. The stars down the front are metal findings I found at Berger's in Los Angeles; the bodice is hand-sewn with thousands of alternating clear and silver faceted crystal beads. The necklace is edged with layers of bright blue organdy I finished with on a serger with silver thread, and competed with a layer of silver beaded fringe. The boots are white leather Victorian-style laceups that I painted silver and re-laced with pink laces. I won best re-creation in the Journeyman division at Baycon in '92 with this gown, as well as Most Beautiful.

A re-creation of the gown Christine wears as "Aminta" in the Phantom's opera, Don Juan Triumphant. Designed as a Victorian conception of a Georgian gown, the dress has eighteenth-century elements such as elbow sleeves and an open bodice laced over a stomacher. The skirt is in two layers, with the overskirt in tiers, each of the tiers done in scallops with lace edging (this is copied from the London version; the American version had embroidered flowers along the flounces). The underskirt is of gold and black lace layered over the same pale peach faille as the rest of the gown. The embroidered panels decorating the front of the bodice I found in Chinatown, as I did not have an embroidery machine when I made this gown. The bodice has beaded fringe on the shoulders, and the sleeve flounces are in three layers, with the topmost flounce having a black lace edge accented by hand-sewn bugle beads. I won best re-creation in the Novice division at ConFrancisco, the 1993 Worldcon, with this gown.

A close-up shot of the Don Juan dress, where you can see a little more of the lace detailing. This was also taken backstage at the WorldCon in San Francisco; it was just a quick snapshot, but it came out so well I've had people ask me if it was a professional studio portrait. (The photographer was a professional, which is probably why it looks as good as it does, because he only had about 45 seconds to snap each contestant.)

This photo was taken at the Phantom of the Opera convention held in 1993 in Los Angeles. I'm pictured with Davis Gaines, the longest-running Los Angeles Phantom and a truly talented, warm, and gracious person. I was able to get an enlargement of this photo and take it backstage, where he happily signed it for me and even remembered my name! Davis just had a one-man show here in Southern California (unfortunately, I was unable to attend) that was extremely well-reviewed, so he has definitely made a name for himself post-Phantom. Maybe someday he and the gang will get back together for a reunion show (I hope, I hope!).

Another shot from the Phantom convention in Los Angeles. Hey, if one Phantom is good, two are better, right?

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