Make the Helena Dress
Seen the My Chemical Romance music video for Helena? Fell in love with the dress and want to create it for yourself? This article is for you!
Steps
- Decide how close to the actual dress you want it to be. It's from here where you can determine what you need and how much of it you want. Get one with a slit somewhere on the front, to show the red fabric underneath.
- Get a plain, knee length or longer, black strapless dress. Buy enough fabric for each component of the dress.
- Underneath the dress, you'll need to make a slightly curtained red skirt, any deep red satin will work for this.
- After that, you'll need a petticoat-like item made out of black tulle. You can make this as dense as you please depending on your will for how much poof you'd like. There's no need to tailor this, as it's supposed to be slightly mismatched anyway.
- Attach the tulle to the red skirt, to make it one piece. The tulle should JUST stick out from underneath the red. You can later choose to attach it to the black dress, although this isn't necessary.
- On the dress itself, you'll need some form of black satin for the top part to create the illusion of silk. You can either attach it directly or lace/button it from behind.
- Use some leftover tulle to ruffle along the top of the dress on the opening.
- Finally, you'll need the chiffon to create a thin red belt along the waistline. Sew it onto the dress.
- Add some flat shoes, a smokey-eye-makeup, and flaunt your new dress!
- After finishing this skirt, you can simply add a little accessories on it. Make it look more different,such as custom pins, PVC patches pinned to your new dress. It is simple and stylish. This will refresh your whole being. If you think it's useful, customize now before you make a new dress!
Tips
- If you want the bodice to be fitted, like in the video, I suggest a simple black corset with the tulle still gracing the top. It won't ever look that fitted without boning, so when I say corset I mean a real corset, not a corset top that is only called a corset because it laces up.
- Also, for the hair, a simple black headband will suffice, although in the video she has a tiny bit of netting/tulle falling right above her left eye.
- If you want, use some leftover chiffon to ruffle down to the opening of the satin. It gives it a smooth, flowing look.
Warnings
- The amount of stitching you'll need to do this will depend on how permanent you want the dress to be. Be careful and watch your fingers!
Things You'll Need
- Black Tulle
- Plain Black Strapless Dress
- Red Wine Colored Fabric
- Red Chiffon
- Black Satin
- Lace and/or Buttons
- Black headband (optional.)
