So you want to fit in with all the Barbie costumes this Halloween but still want to have a costume related to Hunchback?
That is a very unique and super niche problem. To be a fair a pink Esmeralda look COULD work very well. There is also the fact that Esmeralda, Phoebus and Quasimodo were all given the doll treatment.
But which character from a version of Hunchback of Notre Dame has that stereotypical Barbie look? Who is blonde and wears pink? The Answer is….
Julie Zenatti as Fleur de Lys Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris’ Fleur de Lys . Fleur de Lys’ costume in this version is relatively simple, especially the design from 1998-2015. It’s consists of a pink sleeveless dress with darker pink dye marks and some sparse crystal details. The length is a dealer’s choice as you can make it mid-calf to floor length. Also low-high (or high-low) hemlines are fine as they are used in some productions. Though if you want, you can go shorter. If you already have a sleeveless pink dress, or gown, in your closet go for that one but if you don’t have a pink dress on-hand here are some options.
Try to avoid dresses with boho styles as that doesn’t fit Fleur de Lys. Think classic or even glam looks.
Pink Dress Options
Lilly-Jane Young as Fleur de Lys 2012 Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris
Julie Zenatti as Fleur-de-Lys with Patrick Fiori as Phoebus, Notre Dame de Paris
For shoes any type of heel can work so long as it’s pink. This is a “Think Pink” costume. To be honest as long as the shoe is pink go for it. Maybe not a sneakers though.
Anne Meson as Fleur de Lys in the Las Vegas Cast Notre Dame de Paris
In Notre Dame de Paris, Fleur de Lys is typically blonde, the foil to Esmeralda. Some productions however opted to have Fleur de Lys use their natural hair colors. In those productions the Fleur de Lys straighten their locks and the Esmeralda has wavy hair. So if you don’t not want to wear a wig or dye your hair at least straighten it. You can also add flowers or crystal into your hairstyle.
Disney’s Esmeralda’s costume is a great Halloween costume idea. This is because it is super recognizable and made up for easy to get pieces, some of which you may already have in your closet.
But Disney’s Esmeralda has another costume, well technically she has three but no one going to wear her white prisoner costume plus who would recognize that one? I’m talking about her Red Festival of Fool look. Which also highly memorable.
Esmeralda’s Dance Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
This one is a little hard to DIY. You might be to be a little more crafty with either sewing and/or with a hot glue gun. Never doubt a hot gun glue, they are great in a pinch. But let’s see what one can buy readily for this costume.
What you’ll need for this Costume:
Since you’re going to need Sheer purple fabric for the flutter sleeves and gold trim, let’s start with those.
The Sleeves
Between you and me, the purple of the sleeves is more of a magenta and you can just use a scarf instead of getting fabric. Also this means you can have a finished edge if you use the hem. Also note if you’re going for it Esmeralda’s sleeves have slit up the center.
Esmeralda’s trim in the movie is flat but you can go in other directions since there are a lot of gold trim option out there (pun always intended). So one option is more screen accurate and the other is a little more fun.
Wrapped around her hips, Esmeralda wears a long sheer purple. If you’re feeling enterprising you can make one, basically just make a long rectangle. If you feeling less enterprising get a sarong.
2nd option for this is if your feeling like going an extra mile you could paint stars, moon and suns on it and create the scarf she leaves with Frollo.
Most of the jewelry she wears are from her other costume so you can click here for options for her hoop earring, cuff, bracelets and anklet however the tiara is a bit trickier.
One option would be to get a plain gold headband and wear it across your forehead. You could also fashion it from the gold trim and some Velcro or a hook and eye. You could use try some epoxy sculpt to make a more screen accurate tiara.
However if you’re as hung up on being accurate you could also just get red and gold tiara to get the impression of the look. A Tiara like this one.
Tiara option #4: Didder Gold Tiaras for Women, Red Rhinestones Tiaras and Crowns for Women Elegant Princess Crown with Combs Tiaras for Girls Wedding Crowns for Brides Women’s Headbands Prom Birthday Party
I love Notre Dame de Paris and I love costumes so here some ideas for more costumes for the show.
Let me just preface by saying these ideas are adding, not subtracting or even really changing existing costumes in the show. Also I only have ideas for three characters.
So let’s start with the idea that is the least likely to happen, (also I do not think any of these ideas will get used in the show but if they do that would be great.)
1st idea: Quasimodo’s Grand Reveal
Gringoire spotting Quasimodo during the Feast of Fools
When Quasimodo is first seen in the show he on the cathedral rock wall structure and the audience sees his figure descending down. I think it could be cool if he had a cloak that really accentuates his form. Maybe with a wired structure or something. The cloak could be made in such a way it’s pulls a parts prior to his song for a dramatic true reveal. Might be hard to execute but could be done. It’s not like the his entry isn’t enough as is, this would just be extra spectacle . Or they do opposite and hide Quasimodo’s form with the cloak till his first song making him more of a reveal.
2nd idea: More Esmeralda Costumes
Hiba Tawaji as Esmeralda
As I said I like costumes so more costume is always a plus and it’s more of a plus when they added thoughtful. Esmeralda doesn’t necessarily need more costume changes but there are places in the show that they could go and would work for the narrative. In theory she could be a different dress for the Fête much like in the Disney movie. This one is least necessary but I just wanted to mention it as possibility.
At the end of act 1 she meets Phoebus for their tryst. In a few movies versions Esmeralda gets a costume change for their meeting. Also the show did use a red rose fringe dress for promotion that depicted this scene. The dress was used for the London cast, 2001 French Cast also maybe the Russian cast too. So this would a very good place to add another pretty costume for Esmeralda.
Shirel as Esmeralda in the Red with Laurent Ban as Phoebus Notre Dame de Paris 2001 French Cast
Beginning of Act 2 Esmeralda as been arrested for killing/attacking Phoebus. She is recused by Quasimodo. In the book Quasimodo gives her some new clothing which is white and a nun’s habit. Not saying that for “Vivre” but it would be nice to have different costume from the prisoner one. Also in the original cast Esmeralda had her ruffle dress plus a lab coat looking item which she wears after “Vivre” though that could be for practical reasons. So she had two looks in the 2nd act, at least she did in the pro-shot. Maybe something white and a little ethereal and ephemeral to counter the previous costume which is now a heavy textured costume.
3rd idea: The Noblelady Fleur de Lys
Lilly-Jane Young as Fleur de Lys Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris 2012
This idea would be the easiest to add to the show. A lot of the costumes have multiple layers, like coats and vests. Though over the years the production have played around with it, Gringoire still have his coat as does Frollo. Clopin has lost his coat in favor of a vest. Esmeralda has long since lost her lab coat thing. Phoebus’ chainmail get taken off and on but Quasimodo and Fleur de Lys never got an extra layer. It makes sense for Quasimodo but for her….
I think Fleur de Lys should have detachable sleeves for the 1st act and for the curtain call and them have off for act 2. This would give her more prim elite noblewoman appearance in 1st act and then 2nd act when she use her sexuality to get Phoebus to make sure Esmeralda hangs her bare arms would further get the point across. She’s showing some skin to manipulate her man though showcase the power dynamics in their relationship. It would show how her character has changed throughout the show.
The type of sleeves I would like to see for her is not historically accurate but none of the costumes in this show are so it doesn’t matter. I would like to see her with long sleeves with a tippet. A tippet is hanging piece of fabric off a part of a garment. For Fleur de Lys it would a long streamer attract to the upper part of the sleeves. In this picture of Buttercup from The Princess Bride, the silver part of the sleeve is the tippet. So that and the sleeves would be detachable.
I could see the performer having fun this these especially during the curtain calls as the Fleur de Lys performers tends to spin and hold her arms out. Plus it would make her look even more noble and would be a subtle change from the first act to the second act.
So are my costume ideas for Notre Dame de Paris. If i could pick one it was be Fleur de Lys sleeves, even the designer went in a different direction it would be great for the character.
So you likeThe Hunchback of NotreDame enough to dress-up from it for Halloween? However you don’t want to be too on the nose. You also want to be weird, or clever or just not a “character” from the novel.
Well here is a list for you. It is a List of Vaguely Hunchback costume ideas that can be as big and crazy as you want or something more last minute.
Also these don’t have to be strictly for Halloween, any costume party would do.
There are ten costume ideas. There are in no real order.
Enjoy
A Gargoyle
Notre Dame’s Gargoyle
For whatever reason Gargoyles are NOT a popular choice for Halloween and I think that is a darn shame. Not ONLY are the monstrous but they ward off evil spirits. They are also iconic for Hunchback as they a prominent feature of Notre Dame and they are liken to Quasimodo.
A Medieval High Justice
Jehan Frollo, Sir Cedric Hardwicke 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame
A costume basically inspired by Disney Frollo or the 1939 version. You could also do the scepter Priest which is from the book.
Goat
Djali Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
An Animal costume is classic costume choice. Goats also have scary connotations so it works on that level too. If You WANT to make it Book Djali make the horns gold and add some card that spell Phoebus in a pretty script. Disney version add a hoop earring.
Poet Juggler
Gringoire balancing a chair Jetlag version Hunchback of Notre Dame
This one is open to interpretation. Basically inspired by Gringoire. You could opt to make a prop chair to balance in your teeth too. A prop chair would be great at parties.
Printing Press
Richard Harris as Frollo and the Printing Press
A weird and out there pick but also very creative. You will be the only one.
Hennin Princess
Danielle Dumont as Fleur de Lys, 1956 Hunchback of Notre dame
Inspired by Fleur de Lys. You would be free to choose any color and decoration you want so long as you have the headgear. Though you are free to add Fleur de Lys in you want.
A Knight
Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
Inspired by Phoebus. A basic staple idea although you go with the Burgundian in style. That would require research. Or you a do a Medieval take on a Roman look which is sort of what Disney did. Or you could just be a very shiny Knight as handsome as the sun.
An Alchemist
Frollo (Alain Cuny) practices alchemy, 1956 The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Frollo did practice Alchemy in the book. What would an Alchemist wear????? Up to you. Some wear red jackets with the Flamel cross on the back.
A Stained Glass Window
Notre Dame’s South Rose Window
Yet another Creative weird pick. This one could be very striking and crazy. You could take inspiration from the Notre Dame Rose Windows or some other motif. This is the one I’d most liked to see done.
A Bell
Garou as Quasimodo with a bell
And last but not least, A Bell. You can’t have Hunchback without a Bell. You could go ONE STEP further and be Belle Bell. Do with that as you will.
Which of these ideas would you pick???? I’m Curious.
It’s Halloween time and that means costumes. Now we all know that Disney’s Esmeralda makes for a great Halloween costume as the components are easy to attain and on their own are very wearable for everyday use. It’s also very recognizable and warm enough for late autumn.
BUT is it the best version of Esmeralda to wear for the spooky season?
Is there a better Esmeralda Costume to wear while you acquire candy?
This is a ranked list of movie versions of Esmeralda’s primary costume that would work as a Halloween costume. It’s not a ranked list of the best costumes of Esmeralda from the Hunchback movie adaptations but rather how it works for an average person to go out into the world and get noticed as person dressed like the character Esmeralda.
I will also included tier levels from F-S just for fun. Sorry about not have the graphic but that is more fun in a video format anyway.
There are 8 major movie versions so it’s a list of 8. And this all for fun!
Number #8
The 1999 version Quasimodo d’El Paris
Melanie Thierry as Esmeralda
It’s a red dress. It’s a pretty red dress but unless you are wearing a wig – no one is going to notice this one as a costume. It will just be assumed you are not wearing a costume which not good for a costume party. Also only a super-die-hard fan of Hunchback version might notice or a die-hard fan of French comedy movies MIGHT notice but probably not, it’s a red dress.
F Tier
Number #7
The 1982 Version
Lesley-Anne Down as Esmeralda, 1982 Hunchback of Notre Dame
It’s not nothing. It does read as a costume but it’s more akin to a random person who doesn’t go to Ren-Faires’ last minute costume to a Ren-Faire. They tried and want have fun but they are not super into it and then they wore the same thing to a Halloween party.
D Tier
Number #6
The 1977 Version
Michelle Newell as Esmeralda
You’re going to be confused as Juliet all evening.
D Tier
Number #5
The 1939 Version
Maureen O’Hara as Esmeralda
You could see that this is more of an “Esmeralda” but only if you were told. Otherwise Ren-faire plus some pointed jewelry that indicates the character. Side note one COULD make it more of “costume” by going grayscale with the colors or you could pick your own colors but I just will say that the original design was red corset and blue skirt.
C Tier
Number #4
The 1923 Version
Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
Because of the whole 1920s interpretation with the look, it skews less Ren-Faire and more “fancy dress party” which is basically Halloween. Would people look at this costume and say “Esmeralda?” Probably not but it works for a Halloween event. Plus you can do whatever you want for the colors or lean into the grayscale angle, like with the 1939 version.
B Tier
Number #3
The 1997 Version
Salma Hayek as Esmeralda, 1997 Hunchback of Notre Dame
I know I have been dismissive of “Ren-Faire” costumes but this one is just enough where it looks like you didn’t just throw on a costume you had that you got randomly. It looks like some thought went into it. It could be the colors or the dye job on the fabric but something more went into it.
B Tier
Number #2
The 1956 Version
Gina Lollobrigida as Esmeralda, 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame
Like the 1923 version, the period specific interpretation, 1950s in this case, helps adds to the costume concept. Does it fully say Esmeralda? Maybe not but it’s fun and would serve you well at Halloween party plus the Sexy vibe does help.
A Tier
Number #1
Disney
Disney Esmeralda Hunchback of Notre Dame
Yeah don’t pretend you didn’t see this coming either. It just works the best. It’s the Esmeralda we all know and the one that comes into our minds first. Helps that it’s Disney. Everyone will know right away who you are. No need to ask. They know.
Hey all, I’m sorry I haven’t been updating and I’m sorry that I haven’t finished watching/reviewing The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo. I’m not going to go into reasons or excuses as to why as they pertain to matters of my personal life and I am not going there on this platform. All I really can say I’m not sure when I will get back to those review posts. Just know that I would like to at some point. For now posts will remain sporadic.
And now an unrelated story.
Helene Segara as Esmeralda Notre Dame de Paris
So I also write Hunchback content on Hubpages. Way back in the before times of 2011 I did a page on Esmeralda’s green costume from Notre Dame de Paris. She wears this costume throughout the first act. You can see that hub here.
On this page I compare the different versions of the costume from production to production. Mostly the costume is fairly consist from cast to cast with minimum differences in the overall design. Basically aside from the Italian version, which deviated in design very early on from the Original French version and the Korean version being darker, the costume has remained mostly unchanged from the original 1998 design.
There some changes though. For instance the costume was getting tighter and shorter especially from 2012 to 2015. Good for sex appeal but not for dancing. In 2021 I decided to update all my hubpages which is still an ongoing thing since many require a lot more work. I should mention that prior to my update of the Esmeralda’s green costume page I hadn’t updated it since 2015, a year before the current World Tour production, can’t really say cast since the cast has changed since 2016.
In the 2015 update of my page, I added an observation which basically said that the costume needed a redesign because the newer iterations lacked movement. And in 2016 they did update the costume along with some others in the musical.
Hiba Tawaji as Esmeralda
The new version of Esmeralda’s green costume has lots layers of lightweight fabric to show off the performer’s movement.
COINCIDENCE?
Maybe. It is suspect though given the timing. Perhaps my obsessive breakdown of the costume gave the production the idea to do a redesign. Perhaps it was parallel thought. Perhaps my page was one voice amongst many asking for a change. I do not know. More than likely it’s a case of parallel thought and the production and I had the idea independently of each other. The simplest explanations are typically the most likely.
Would I like to think I had something to do with it? Yes I would.
It is nice to see that the costume got more movement since that should add to the overall experience for the audience who is watching the musical live. And I guess I can comment on that further when I see it next month (July 2022) in New York City!
A Were-Human/Mermaid, A Sea Witch in Disguise and a Prince
It’s a Little Mermaid DIY Costume Buying Guide! Because it’s a the spooky Halloween season there needs to be more costume content.
So it’s The Little Mermaid’s turn.
Ariel’s Human Costume
Ariel’s Blue Dress
Ariel, the titular Little Mermaid, as a plethora of costumes to wear for Halloween fun spooky times. They are great and super iconic. But oddly enough it’s the blue dress she wears on her outing with Prince Eric that is quite similar in type to Esmeralda’s costume which is why it’s the Ariel costume of this post. PLUS it’s good if you live in a cooler climate. What you will need. A light blue long blue shirt or Blouse, a long blue skirt, black corset, black kitten heels, a big blue hair bow and red wig
Ariel’s Top
You could also go for white or dye it if you feel like it. It’s not hard to dye things just can be hard to get the color right.
In The Little Mermaid, Ursula disguises herself as a human and enchants Eric using Ariel’s voice. So it’s a double costume because you’re dressing up as someone in dress-up, costume inception.
Ursula as Vanessa has three looks but again this one has the elements of Esmeralda’s costume plus the other two looks are under-garments and a wedding gown but hey it’s Halloween so those looks would not be out of place.
Vanessa’s purple outfit consists of a dark purple corset, light purple skirt, and golden nautilus shell necklace. For shoes you could go for anything BUT she does where black flat and it does look like heels during the beach scene. You can get wig of you need one and a cloak since again she wears one on the beach when she enchants Eric. Girl is a siren.
Vanessa’s Top
Allow me to be real with you, it’s HARD to find something like Vanessa’s top on offer at Amazon. I tried. Also I’m ignoring the lace up detail.
If you need a wig by all means get one. You can also get a dark purple cape for added warmth. For shoes, see the Ariel’s shoe recommendations as Vanessa is pretty much a villainous Ariel look-like. But for shoes you can get away with whatever you think suits.
I’d say any blue pants you have. Eric’s pants are a slim fit but whatever you have should work. His pants do seems to be knee length with a cuffs but it’s not a deal breaker if your look lacks this detail.
While Loki was a great show, a major highlight was Alligator Loki.
And sure you COULD dress up as Loki or Sylvie or Mobius, Miss Minutes or Kang the Conqueror or any character from the show,
Alligator Loki is too good and super easy to create a look for this Halloween.
First get an Alligator looking costume
And the MOST Important Part
To make it a Loki Variant
Honestly you could get the Loki horns and be whatever Loki Variant you wish. Sky is the limit on Loki Variants but Alligator Loki is so good and should be the costume of 2021.
Share this idea! Make Alligator Loki happen this Halloween and beyond.
Gina Lollobrigida as Esmeralda, 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame
The time has come to start getting our Halloween plans in gear. For many costume-goers the go to Esmeralda costume for Halloween is the Disney version.
And that is great but diversity is the spice of life, so more Esmeralda costumes are needed. If I wear to dress-up as Esmeralda for Halloween I would go with the Gina Lollobrigida version of Esmeralda.
Why? Because while I love the Notre Dame de Paris green dress it doesn’t read as Halloween costume, Gina Lollobrigida’s costume does even if people don’t recognize it. Plus it’s more of a costume of Lollobrigida more than Esmeralda herself. Like when people don a pink strapless gown with a short blonde wig and wear some diamonds, are they dressing up as Lorelei from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or are they dressing up as Marilyn Monroe???
So let’s just say you’re lazy or not the best at sewing what can you purchase to assemble to get a costume of Gina Lollobrigida’s Esmeralda? Here are the elements you will need. Don’t be afraid to cut them up to get a more authentic look to Gina’s costume. And should have some of this on-hand already? Lucky you, you’re one step closer to costumes and candy and an Esmeralda costume!
Wide V Neck Shirt
Esmeralda (Gina Lollobrigida), 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame
For the shirt, go for a red fitted shirt with a wide v-neckline. You can of of course cut a deeper v-neck and add some cuts to the sleeves for that tattered effect. For the more enterprising types, you get some fabric paint for the stitching details
Esmeralda (Gina Lollobrigida) dances, 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame
For the jewelry you will need gold coin earrings and lots of gold bangles with coin details. For the earrings two tiers are closer to the costume. You should be ok with any gold bracelets so along as they are not too detailed or have stones. You will want a few on each wrist.
Esmeralda (Gina Lollobrigida) with Phoebus (Jean Danet), 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame
The other things you can add is the knife prop and the glamorous 50s’s cat eye. You can also throw in a wig if you want. I couldn’t find a good enough knife/dagger on amazon. If I do I will add it.
I have become fascinated by the culture of youtube videos where people buy basically low quality products off of sites like Wish and Romwe just for the curiosity of what the low cost products are like in real life. It does seem that youtube is a sea of these types vicarious purchasing videos as evident by all the haul and product base review videos.
Now I have gotten at least two items from Romwe in the past and I hated them and I have no desire to get anything off of Wish but I want to play in this content sandbox too so I decided to see what Wish had to offer for Hunchback products.
Wish Disney Esmeralda Costume
Turns out it seems like to search through Wish you need tohave an account, screw that. A cursory google search brought me to a $93 Esmeralda costume, which looks like a really good costume. However, Wish is notorious for using other people’s images to sell the products so is this actually the costume someone would get in that mail?
Aliexpress Disney Esmeralda Costume
The same picture is used on Esmeralda costume on Aliexpress along with some other pictures of clearly different Esmeralda costumes. Also there are two different sellers on Aliexpress “selling” this particular costume.
myshow26 Disney Esmeralda costume
After a bit more research I found this costume on eBay where I finally could read the watermark which reads myshow26. This is not a person but a cosplay company. They sell a lot on amazon.jp. The only myshow26 costume I could find on amazon.com was Ariel’s Blue dress. So while this product may not be the best quality at least the sellers did not steal someone’s cosplay picture to sell the product. It is in fact the product they are selling (in theory.)
Now for the record I don’t want to waste any money for curiosities of what this costume is actually like in person,so I failed there but the culture of buying products for the sake of entertainment is very interesting to me. The people on youtube buying these cheap products are making their money back on ad revenues at least the bigger channels are but it still stands that people are being entertained by someone else’s consumerism.And if I were to get a advance degree in sociology or even anthropology, I would love to study it more or just read reviewed articles on the subject for fun.
