Over the next few weeks we are profiling a few of the costumes used throughout the series’. From the way they’re made to why they were designed the way they were. This week is The Wedding dress worn by Ebony when she married Zoot in Series 5. Click any of the costume pictures for a larger view.
Ebony has long been the wearer of red and black and even her second wedding outfit has red and black features.
During Series 5 Ebony was brainwashed by Java through the Paradise reality program. She was convinced that Zoot was back – a vision in her dreams had come to life. Java took this manipulation of Ebony to extremes and even convinced her that she was marrying Zoot.
This outfit has dark undertones which show Ebony’s state of mind at the time and also the frightful belief that Zoot – terroriser of the city – had returned.
For starters this costume is all one piece. Everything is attached and would probably be quite difficult to put on.
The whole dress is made of a very shiny silver nylon fabric. It shimmers and is so finely woven that is is very smooth to touch.The top front of the dress is a tightfitting bodice with thin straps that sit wide on the shoulders. From under the bust to the waist the dress looks like a cage – it has been crossed with vertical and horizontal straps but through the middle is a wide strip of fabric that does the dress up.
There are eyelets on either side and they’re pulled together and done up with a long black shoestring.
At the waist the dress has large belt loops through which a large black belt is threaded. It is a black leather belt with silver/black netting sewn over it. The belt is about 7.5cm wide. The buckle is silver/black with holes through it and the wardrobe team have added red and silver plastic jewels.
The lower half of the dress is slightly a-line but still not too much. It reaches right to the floor and up the front is a split that probably reaches to half-way up the thigh.
At the back of the dress the straps actually meet in the middle which helps them sit so far out on the shoulders. Off the straps sitting just behind the shoulder are sleeves for the dress. These are made of the same material that is sewn over the belt. It is black netting with silver tiger stripe patterns. These are elasticated at the top are a tight fitting around the arm until they reach just below the elbow. They then flare out and hang very low as you can see in the photo.
Also attached to the back of the dress is the train. It is made of the same material as the rest of the dress but has been creased all over with an iron to give it that creased look and give it some texture. It is a large oblong piece and has been attached at the lower back of the dress in the middle.
On her head Ebony wears a type of tiara or crown. It is made of heavy wire and has all sorts of pieces attached to it including glass, beads, perspex, and heavy aluminum foil. Attached to this is her veil. It is made of very thin nylon netting. It is long at the back and has an extra piece that hangs over her face.
Take a look at the picture.
Ebony’s necklace is very pretty and reasonably simple to make. It is made of sixteen rows of strung beads. Some rows are white and some are black/blue. The necklace is twisted around one or two times before being done up so that the threads sit a little tighter together when worn.