princess for a day: ariel

Not to be confused with Arial, the font, which is what I first typed. Ah, font nerd jokes.

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Happy Halloween! It's time to dress up like whatever you want! For me, this will probably mean a sleep-deprived college stude..wait, that's what I am everyday. *sigh* If only I could dress up like a princess!

Ariel's not the easiest princess to dress up as in her "normal" state. It might be because she has a mermaid tail, and we have people legs. Well, most of us have people legs; I don't want to offend any mermaids out there. But can we say that it's the challenge that makes her interesting? But for those who have an affinity for not wearing mermaid skirts, she fortunately gets to wear that pink 80s monstrosity lovely 1980s-inspired ball gown. I'm not a big fan of the 1980s, especially the formals (except, of course, for my mommy's wedding dress; that was beautiful).

Ariel doesn't wear too much in the clothes department as a mermaid, just a little purple shell bra. Of course, for we humans, something greenish is also necessary to camouflage our lower appendages. 

When I first approached this, I thought instantly of 1940s playsuits. The tops on those are absolutely darling!

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If you mentally add a long mermaid skirt, with ruffles and maybe a train to act something like a tail with fins. Something like this, perhaps. 

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But of course, with the right coloring (which is essentially the major component in redoing a princess constume), a different silhouette could be used and still be Ariel! What about a crop top and a maxi skirt in a purple and green (respectively)? I could imagine a modern Ariel wearing just that. Or even a high-low hem skirt with a green chiffon overlay--it'd be kinda floaty like a mermaid tail, dontcha think? 

For Ariel's ball gown, there are a multitude of eras to pull from. Of course, you could embrace your inner vintage Molly Ringwald and go eighties.

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You can even sew it yourself from all the ruffled, puffed sleeve patterns on Etsy!

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I'm going to have nightmares about that one. 

You could also bring out your inner Cosette and rock it 1830s romantic style. They were all about the giant puffed gigot sleeve with the narrow long sleeve underneath.

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Or you could be really, really, really ambitious and break out the 1660s. They also loved the puffed sleeves, full skirts, and tight bodices.  (Which is about four more layers of ambition than I have, frankly, but I'd love to see someone else do this--maybe for Costume College?)

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Honestly, I'm pretty sure the make or break element is having that bright red hair. Fire engine red, anyone?