Child's Christine Daae Masquerade Costume from Phantom of the Opera

“Masquerade… paper faces on parade. Masquerade… hide your face, so the world will never find you…”

My youngest literally knows every word spoken and sung for both the Broadway and the 2004 movie versions of “Phantom of the Opera,” so it really wasn’t too much of a surprise as from where her motivation came from for this costume.

To help her decide exactly which costume she wanted, I went to a site that has side-by-side comparisons of the Broadway and the movie version costumes. Her selection was Christine’s Masquerade gown from the movie.

Her decision made, I for one truly enjoyed re-watching the movie many multiple times as we brainstormed. So off to EBay I went (I so love the internet!), and found a Victorian style pink flower girl dress. It was pretty cheaply made, and bright Pepto-Bismol pink and white. I had to pull off a half dozen bows that were just hot glued to it (I did say cheaply made right?). So I then dove into my stash (ok my horde) of lace and proceed to sew what felt to be about 5 pounds of ivory lace, trim and flowers onto the dress to tone down its uber-brightness and try to add a degree of softness and subtlety to it.

The signature bustle of this dress was actually pretty easy to replicate. I used several yards of rose colored tulle, gathered, and sewed it into big puffy ‘pockets’ that I stuffed more tulle into each as filler. I then hot-glued and sewed sprays of roses and ribbons at each tier of the bustles.

We knew we needed something to give a recognizable visual clue that this is a Phantom related costume (and not just a random pretty pink princess). We were lucky to have met Franc D’Ambrosio (who holds the record for the most performances as the Phantom – 2,600!) after his performance at a local venue. He graciously signed masks that we had brought with us to the performance – which worked out absolutely perfectly with this costume!

A few finishing touches included a dollar store wig, homemade flower hairpins, a faux engagement ring on a necklace chain, plus a Phantom of the Opera trick or treat bag (not pictured), completed this perfect Masquerade costume!

Her smile says it all – this was the perfect costume for my “Christine!”