I love all of the female costumes in Moulin Rouge - well, I just love Moulin Rouge, period ;) - and the psuedo-Victorian look is one of my favorites. Ever since I made my Tango Underwear, I've been hooked. I love the necklace Satine wears with this costume - sparkly! shiney! pretty! oooh! - and the dress has both fur and velvet. Sooo me.

This is my 'budget' version for $25. The most time consuming part was glueing all of the rhinestones to the silver settings and determining what pattern I wanted all of the drippy jewels to be in. Though it's nowhere near as stunning as the original, I'm rather pleased with the effect. This is also the first time I've attempted anything with jewelry construction so I'm just happy it doesn't fall off my neck when I wear it!

       

I found the Jessica McClintock licensed version online, but it was pricey for $230 and I hesitated. I waited and waited, since I knew I would make this costume eventually but it was nowhere in the near future. And of course, the necklace went out of stock! But with a helpful hint from a fellow costumer, I called a few stores and finally found one. Two of the smallest rhinestones are missing but a little metallic silver paint and you don't even notice they're gone. Plus, I got a 15% discount for the 'damage' so that made me even happier!

   

To help achieve the correct silhouette with this costume, I decided to make a black Victorian corset. Here are the muslin pictures (out of duck cloth, with temporary lacing strips). In the last picture, I was trying to decide where the top edge should be - that's why it looks lopsided. LOL. This is the same pattern that I used for my white Star Wars CanCan corset.

       

To see the reference images used to make this costume,
check out my Satine's Gothic Tower Dress Research.